Where to Start With a Website ?

[HoosierLife]

Ok so I want to create a website. I have a domain picked out that is available...good start. Now what do I do next?

I set up a cheap website for a church recently using justhost.com. Came with WP and a bunch of other stuff, only $3.75/mo to host and like $10-$12 for domain if I recall correctly. I didn't know how to use WP so I used their free weebly site builder (I think that's what it's call).

Now I realize I'm gonna need something a little more substantial, but I think it allows WP blogs and all that stuff too.

I'm looking for a site that will eventually bring me some leads, and I know a few people who can design the site.

So if I just got the site from justhost or godaddy or whoever, could I then get someone to build a great WP site/blog and do some SEO stuff to drive business to my site?

Or would it be better to pay someone upfront?

I'm kinda short on marketing cash, which is why I'm hoping to get the cheap site and upgrade as I go.

Your thoughts?

 

[Josh]

Re: Where to Start

For hosting I'd suggest hostgator, much more functionality for less money than godaddy.

If your shot on marketing cash, SEO is not going to be for you. Even just paying for tools to do your own stuff is can be pricey and there is a huge learning curve. You can learn a lot online and there are tons of things you can do to start driving traffic, but odds of you being able to start a site from scratch and have it generate leads for you are extremely slim. I'm not saying this to give you a hard time, it just is what it is. To put it another way, anyone that says cold calling is tough hasn't tried to do SEO.

Every business should have at least a basic website, so for that reason it absolutely makes sense to have one, but even buying the SEO tools and taking the time to learn SEO is going to be a substantial investment. Paying someone competent to do it would probably be even more cost prohibitive.

 

[HoosierLife]

Re: Where to Start

Has anybody taken a look at justhost.com. I tried comparing to hostgator.com but I don't know what I'm comparing.

 

[Tahoe Ray]

Re: Where to Start

Has anybody taken a look at justhost.com. I tried comparing to hostgator.com but I don't know what I'm comparing.

That's like a prospect trying to compare insurance policies.

Take in advice from the experts on this site who know what they're talking about. If you're short on funds it will be the best education that you could hope for....

 

[Guest]

Re: Where to Start

Ok so I want to create a website. I have a domain picked out that is available...good start. Now what do I do next?

I set up a cheap website for a church recently using justhost.com. Came with WP and a bunch of other stuff, only $3.75/mo to host and like $10-$12 for domain if I recall correctly. I didn't know how to use WP so I used their free weebly site builder (I think that's what it's call).

Now I realize I'm gonna need something a little more substantial, but I think it allows WP blogs and all that stuff too.

I'm looking for a site that will eventually bring me some leads, and I know a few people who can design the site.

So if I just got the site from justhost or godaddy or whoever, could I then get someone to build a great WP site/blog and do some SEO stuff to drive business to my site?

Or would it be better to pay someone upfront?

I'm kinda short on marketing cash, which is why I'm hoping to get the cheap site and upgrade as I go.

Your thoughts?

I used Weebly to set up my agency website. It was very low cost and the best part for me was the guides and walkthroughs they had on setting up your site. I've been very happy with them.

 

[HoosierLife]

Re: Where to Start

I used Weebly to set up my agency website. It was very low cost and the best part for me was the guides and walkthroughs they had on setting up your site. I've been very happy with them.

Yeah and I know how to use weebly. Does anybody know if hostgator comes with weebly?

 

[Josh]

Re: Where to Start

Yeah and I know how to use weebly. Does anybody know if hostgator comes with weebly?

It does not, two very different critters.

 

[pcbinsurance]

Re: Where to Start

There are many "free" website builders out there. Always remember, you get what you pay for.
Invest in a premium Wordpress theme and hire someone (for not a lot of money) to put it all together and do the initial SEO. If you provide the content, you should be able to do all of this for around 100-300 bucks and host gator is a cheap monthly fee.

 

[HoosierLife]

Ok another question. I have 3 domain names that I want, but I wanna redirect 2 of them to the main domain. Namecheap.com only charges $3.99/yr for a domain. Can I get a domain thru hostgator/justhost and then get the other two domains thru namecheap and just redirect them?

 

[YouGotMyMoney]

Re: Where to Start

Yeah and I know how to use weebly. Does anybody know if hostgator comes with weebly?

Weebly.com, is a free website builder that allows you to create a website or blog on their platform for no charge. You would get a free subdomain such as FloridaInsurance.Weebly.com, or you can pay extra to use your own domain such as FloridaInsurance.com on the Weebly Platform.

This shouldn't be confused with website builders, that come in the Cpanel section in your hosting account.
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Ok another question. I have 3 domain names that I want, but I wanna redirect 2 of them to the main domain. Namecheap.com only charges $3.99/yr for a domain. Can I get a domain thru hostgator/justhost and then get the other two domains thru namecheap and just redirect them?

the real question is, why do you want to redirect these domains?