To Start A Web Site

[Howie]

Hey all This winter I am going to be getting a website for my Company. I have not a clue what to expect. Is this something I should turn to a professional for or is this something I can muddle through myself? It will not be an intricate site by any means. I own a landscape and Design Co. Here would be some examples of what I am after; http://www.pattiegroup.com/ http://www.hmlandscaping.com/ http://www.jfdlandscapes.com/ http://www.wheelerlandscaping.com/ There are so many different options. - Do you have to buy a design package to begin? What are the costs? - Who, with their own website knows approx. how much something like this would cost to maintain once it is up and running? -What is the deal wit ha host? I have written out pretty much my mission statement and lists of what I would want on the pages. Also I have a lot of before and after photos. ~ Thanks in advance I think this will be a good learning experience.

[Kaniaz]

I can offer some general overview/guidance I guess. Running a website is something you can more or less stumble through but there's a lot of pitfalls and places where you can easily fall down and make a really bad looking site if you're not careful. The route you take does depend on how much time you've got on your hands. In an ideal situation, and if you're willing to learn how to make a good site (using HTML and so forth) then you could do that, but it takes quite a lot of time to initially learn and you'll probably be tempted into looking at software packages. You could come up with a quick site in a day if you wanted on your own, but it would probably look nothing like those you've linked. You might want to consider a professional if you want something done quickly and with a good outcome. - Do you have to buy a design package to begin? What are the costs?[/b] No, you don't have to. You can design websites with little more than, say, Photoshop and Notepad (this is what I do), although that requires you to learn a certain amount of coding/HTML knowledge - none of it is exactly hard but it is a matter of time, and some people do have more trouble grasping concepts that can seem simple to others. Paying (usually quite a bit) of money for an 'instant website' package is a possibility and it will give you results in a quicker, easier fashion, but these packages often cost too much for my own liking and a lot of the time the sites seem to come out a bit 'cookie cutter' or break in certain browsers. If I were you, I would at least look at other options before shelling out quite a bit of cash on one of these. - Who, with their own website knows approx. how much something like this would cost to maintain once it is up and running?[/b] It costs me about $45/yr to maintain Kaniaz.com with its domain name and all that. It's not that expensive, but the price you're paying will depend on how popular your site is (you usually pay a premium for more bandwidth). If you have a site without too many images and generally smaller, you can have more throughput of users at the same price. You're not looking at too steep a cost. I get the feeling your site is generally low traffic - you are not building the next CNN.com, right? - so you shouldn't have too much trouble with that. -What is the deal wit ha host?[/b] This requires a certain amount of understanding of underlying concepts behind the internet, but it's not too hard. You pay a host (basically another company) who offer you space on their servers/computers where you can upload your site. You could, if you had the technological expertise and a good connection, run the site from your own computer, but it would always have to be on and you'd have to figure out how to use some generally complicated software - this is barely ever a good decision and you can basically rule this out. Hence you pay the host to run the server for you, and often they'll help you with your site - you just have to upload files to it. Almost every site (except some more technological ones) use external hosts, Dreamviews.com, Kaniaz.com, more or less any site you'd know or visit. You usually pay on a yearly basis. I use Site5 as my host, and they will definitely support your needs. Take a look at their prices and see if you can get the hang of it, if you're interested. If you want, take a look at this simple HTML tutorial and see if you think the effort would be worth it. It would take time and would probably require you to have someone on hand to help you with these kind of things (if you want a result this side of Christmas, count it out now) but in the long run, once you've learnt the skills, they're worth it. Alternatively, look at something like Dreamweaver which is supposed(&#33 to be good. It's your choice. And they said I was never helpful.

[Howie]

I had a feeling you would be the first to reply Kaniaz. That is a ton of help. More than just a little guidance. I appreciate it. Off to check out your site and the HTML Tutorial. T Joe said he is willing to help me this winter. Thanks again, Howie

[Merlock]

My advice: hire a freelancer. It'll be professionally done for half the cost of large development companies. Check the freelance boards for more details, it's a good bet.

[Howie]

My advice: hire a freelancer. It'll be professionally done for half the cost of large development companies. Check the freelance boards for more details, it's a good bet. [/b] Thanks Merlock. Fortunately for me it looks like T Joe is happy to help me out. He knows his shit. Compared to what he does at work this may be an easy side project. We will see. I still would welcome any comments!

[Pyrofan1]

http://www.phpfreaks.com/forums/index.php?board=8.0

[Howie]

To the point. Thanks Pyrofan1

[Burns]

My hubby also does professional websites, so if what you've already got lined up doesn't work out, let me know.

[Seeker]

Yeah, Joe will work for beer and chicken wings. I'd let him take a stab at it. I'm assuming it is just informational, right? Anyway, he is in the area and can provide on-site assistance. You are not planning on having any type of secure payment system? If you want to go cheap, all you really need is some web-server software on your PC, a static IP address, and a high speed connection. You might look into some of the local advertisers in the area. we have a local one "Radio Web Villiage" For your money, you get radio advertising and a free webpage.

[arby]

remember though... only you can really make the site the way you envision it. only you can make the site truly reflect what you are getting at.

[Howie]

Thanks everyone. You have been a great help. I do have an idea how I would like it. And it would not be a real complex site. Information based, as you said seeker.