Advice on creating a website.

[EddieWalker]

Thank you everyone for your advice and links. Looks like I have some homework to do!!!

One thing that I have in my favor is I'm booked up with Jobs into May and the phone is still ringing. I'm not advertising in any way, just word of mouth from previous clients. There is no real reason for this except that I feel it's something that I should have. If it takes me six months to figure it out, that's fine. If it's beyond me and I need to hire it done, that's good too.

I went to a Business Expo today with the hope of finding somebody there who builds websites. No luck.

There is one company here that seems to have some nice looking sites and design ideas. so that's always an option, or Plan B.

I also have some yard signs that I give to clients when I finish a job for them. Some will keep them up for months, others leave them up for a few weeks. These have been great for other jobs in those same neighborhoods. I have a bunch of pics and some information on a blog that has worked really well.

Eddie Walker 903-530-3884 License No. 35524

As you can see, this is impossible to remember. It's also several pages long and the only way to see it all is to just keep going and going from page to page.

www.edwardwalker.net is my new address. This is much easier to remember. People driving by and seeing my sign can remember it. One day I'll also sign my truck and put this address on there.

I've looked at the sites from the Private Messages and I'm impressed. Thank you for mailing me the links.

Eddie

 

[LMTC]

Edward? EDWARD? Who the heck is Edward? snicker....

 

[marimus]

I would be very wary dealing with godaddy in general, not just for hosting.

I had several domains registered with them, which they basically held to ransome due to a billing error in thier system.

They claimed my credit card provider issued a chargeback for a domain purchase (2 years after it was paid for). And they shutdown all of my domains untill I paid up, plus a reversal fee, plus $50 per domain for reinstatement.

After about 20 hours on the phone, faxing bank records, etc etc they eventually admitted that there was probably never a chargeback, but they couldn't reeinstate my accounts untill I paid up in full, including the original fee plus the reversal fee plus $50.

I was so sick of dealing with them at this point, that I just paid up for one of the domains, and left the others.

They have since stolen all of the domains they held me to ransome for, and now they are full of spam links - and registered to godaddy

 

[dfkrug]

Peregrine Helicopters

Good examples, JER. The above page is simple, informative, and not
over-blown. I like it.

Eddie:

If I can just add yet another $.02.....

As a DIY kinda guy, you might want to consider something that is easy
enough to create AND EDIT yourself. Something that requires you buy
no software and hire no web design gurus. You may already have the
tools. Many ISPs offer online tools to create a website, and the tools are
so simple that the learning curve is less than an hour. If you want a
fancier page with animations, sound, etc. you can always do that later,
with your favorite expert or with off-the-shelf software.

My new ISP is Verizon and their tool allows me to create a quick-and-dirty
page in an hour or two, including editing my pix. JER's example above
could be done in an hour or two. Verizon gives me only 5 or 10 MB of space
without paying more, but I could easily buy many MB of space. Even AOL
had FTP space 16 yr ago when I first became a customer. AOL recently
dropped their web space for users, but Verizon's is WAY easier to use.
My super-simple website linked below took just an hour or so, and it takes
only 5 minutes to change and re-post.

CIRCLELAKE mentioned MS Office. Even MS Word allows you to convert any
document (with photos, links) into HTML for upload to some server.

 

[DieselPower]

I still say do it yourself. The main thing to keep in mind is KEEP IT SIMPLE. Personally I hate flashy over designed sites. A business site should be simple and to the point. Customers shouldn't have to navigate endless amounts of pages to get the information they came there looking for. With all the free do it yourself site design programs available you might be supprised just how easy it is to make your own site. I would suggest you give it a swing yourself first. If you find it's to hard you can always hire a company to do it for you.

My site is basic and to the point. It shouldn't take a user more than 3 clicks to get to a specefic product they are looking for. Texas Refinery Corp. Specialty Lubricants and Greases TRC

 

[jk96]

Eddie you mentioned photos were important. You might take a look at

FotoPlayer - Flash photo Gallery Software

its a free flashed based program with a ton of different templates and customization options for your website. You can link to it from your homepage, customize your background to match your website, add text, music, etc etc and is pretty easy to update and add new pictures as needed.

Here's a link to the photo page for my fireworks website using fotoplayer

Aerial FX Photo Album

 

[Sigarms]

Maybe a graphic the will be my symbol. I don't have a symbol, but probably should have something.

Take your time while creating your company logo.

Remember, you want your customers to think of your business when they see your logo.

Some guys can really get overly created and it gets to "jumbled" (hopeing that it's really draws attention, which sometimes does not work), and some are on the other end of the spectrum with their name, and and say for contracting, a hammer/saw or ladder.

Yard signs, business cards, proposals, vehicles, websites and company paperwork should have the logo.

You don't want to create a logo, then six months come up with another idea that you think is better and change it. Then again, you don't want a logo that you don't like, but have it on all "business tools", kicking yourself because you can't change it, or stuck with it for the time being.

Be creative on the color of your vehicle and see if you can make it unique somehow which is both pleasing to the eye, stands out somehow, but also includes the information about yourself. I had one customer who was a tin smith/sheet metal fabricator that had a F-350 done in a very interseting purple (actually a nice looking color) with a custom ladder rack (painted the same color as well). He had a very nice looking tin man put on both sides of the truck that caught your eye (the silver on purple worked really well when you saw it). The money he put in that vehicle was well spent for the amount of new customers who called him when they saw his truck.

 

[KentT]

Eddie, I also sent you a PM. Hope it's of value...

 

[EddieWalker]

KentT,

Yes, your PM was very informative. Thank you.

I've received quite a few PM's on this topic and appreciate the effort taken to help me out on this. I've enjoyed looking at your websites and what some of you guys do for a living or hobby. I really had no idea, so it's been a bonus for me.

I'm on total overload with all the information and will start printing out replies so I can make notes on them, then hopefully make a semi-informed decision.

Steph an I usually stay up till midnight with nothing to do but watch TV, surf the web and do a little paperwork. When it's dark outside, I have nothing but time to do something like this.

After several years, I've finally come up with a logo that's clean, simple and easy to create for the RV Park. I have a guy cutting it out right now and hope to incorporate it into a railing that I'll be making for my gazebo.

Figuring out a logo for my remodeling business has been one of those things that has left me empty. People offer suggestions all the time, but they are all pretty much the same thing. A house or power tool. While those are part of what I do, they are also very common for just about every contractor. I don't want to make it complicated or too vague, but it should reflect what I do. No rush, just one more part of the puzzle that I'm forever working on.

I'm finishing up a bathroom remodel today and will have more before and after pictures.

Eddie

 

[MossRoad]

Eddie,
From your past posts about your business and your projects you seem to have pretty good organizational skills. I'd bet you could pick up this web stuff in a matter of minutes. It isn't that hard. Web pages are very easy to do yourself. Find a reliable hosting service. Most of them offer free website building tools which make it very easy to do yourself. If you are not satisfied with your end result, then you can look around for some help. A good place to look for help is a local community college where students will do this type of work for free, just for the experience.