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Thread: DIY Websites

  1. #1
    Member of forum Woodchip's Avatar
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    Default DIY Websites

    Gday,
    Thought some here might be interested in this if they dont have a web site for their business, & are considering making one at minimal cost.

    While its a basic format, im sure it can be tweaked to make it into something special.

    The cost for me has been:
    $12p.a. to register a domain name (2yr minimum period, so thats $24)
    $30 p.a. web hosting for a decent hosting platform (not the most basic type)

    I followed this fella's instructions pretty much word-for-word, if I can do it anyone can, it is made using a Wordpress template & he goes through every step involved including buying a domain name & getting a web host account set up, through to adding the content into all parts of the template, it would be hard to go wrong!

    Firstly I followed this video:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Jv47_VIBOQ

    Then I found another video from the same bloke using a "theme" that I thought was better http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3UbBsotUzCU , so I swapped themes over, once you follow the first video, you really build your confidence with changing things around to suit what you like.

    The different things I did to the video was buy my domain name & webhosting from a company that has an australian department so if I needed to phone them it would be easier, & I think they were cheaper than the one the fella mentions too. www.crazydomains.com.au

    Here is my site I am building (didnt know whether to publish the address yet, as its no where near finished!, but here it is anyway) http://www.bluewatermaintenance.com.au please bear in mind that its not finished & I have just thrown some of the content in there to experiment & learn, I havent released the address yet in any advertising material.
    So far it has taken me a couple of hours of spare time for the last 5 days, to get this far.
    Any questions, just ask me, hope it helps,
    cheers
    Woody
    Cert' II & Cert' III Arboriculture
    Carpenter & Property Maintenance
    www.bluewatermaintenance.com.au

  2. #2
    Senior Member happymowin's Avatar
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    Default Re: DIY Websites

    mate, wow, thats wonderful !!!

    i have been looking into this sort of thing, too, and its a MAZE of information thats hard to navigate thru

    please post anything more you can lewt us know about the good the bad and the pitfalls

    good onya !!!

  3. #3
    Senior Member AJD Mowing's Avatar
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    Default Re: DIY Websites

    No more flyers for you Happy
    Google have a free one as well
    AJD Mowing Giving Back Your Life

    http://www.ajdmowing.com.au/

  4. #4
    Senior Member 4 Gardens's Avatar
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    Default Re: DIY Websites

    I used fast simple websites - that's what they are called to do mine

    I can log on and change it whenever , but I don't droit much

    http://www.4gardens.com.au

  5. #5
    Member of forum Woodchip's Avatar
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    Default Re: DIY Websites

    My main worries about a DIY website are that it may look unprofessional???
    Could it do more harm than good??
    If a customer looks at your website & its too basic, will it put them off??
    rather than just having a few words & bits pieces of info, & a phone number to call you from a flyer, then when your at the property you can "close the deal" for want of a better expression.
    Anyway people that I have spoken to about what they do when looking for services, most say they "google it", so I think you really need a web presence, if your not upto the full DIY (but still want a website) there are places that can do it but the cost goes way up! $350 for 1 year to get someone to do it for you from the same mob http://www.crazydomains.com.au/web-design/

    cheers
    Cert' II & Cert' III Arboriculture
    Carpenter & Property Maintenance
    www.bluewatermaintenance.com.au

  6. #6
    Senior Member happymowin's Avatar
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    Default Re: DIY Websites

    lol, ajd, maybe, mate, maybe.


    and i think googles free one, you cant have your own address, its like www.google/something/something/happysmowing.com


    imho, "professionalism" is over rated in our industry

    what i think is that someone picks up the local paper, or your flyer, or googles you, then they just pick one, any one - lets face it, if they giove you a go and you stuff it up, its like a bad haircut - in 2 weeks no one will know or care, and theyll just get someone else the next time if you did a bad job - its not like we're building them a house theyll be stuck with forever. (yes, sure, you need a certain level of professionalism, but imo, some go too far.)

    so for my needs, a basic website (as long as they can shoot an email from it) is all i need

    i have an entry at true local (free listing) which is very basic, and i get a couple jobs a month from THAT.


    the only thing i dont know about is the "SEO" part of websites - how to get your site higher in google searches etc.

    perhaps the pros set all that up for you too, so maybe thats why they charge accordingly.

    but if something is so cheap to TRY, hey its not that big a risk to take, and if it earns a couple jobs a year, it pays itself off.


    i see this type of thing as a learning curve, you gotta start somewhere, even if in the end you pay someone a couple hundred to finish it off for you or do the "SEO" stuff.


    but a few guys on here seem to know about SEO, so maybe thats all good too.


    again, woodchip, thanks for sharing !!!

  7. #7
    Senior Member Lawn Mowing Professionals's Avatar
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    Default Re: DIY Websites

    Quote Originally Posted by Woodchip View Post
    My main worries about a DIY website are that it may look unprofessional???
    If you keep the design clean, uncluttered and easy to read and navigate it will look professional anyways... I haven'r watched the video's yet... but your site is looking pretty decent sofar!

    For this industry, I wouldn't be overly concerned about a "perfect" site... afterall, the website that we require is simply a glorified business card, brochure or flyer! I for one cant tell a DIY site over a professional site done in WP.

    For e-commerce sites, information based sites, custom websites... this is a different kettle of fish and YES, perception really does matter visually!

    What i would be concerned as an "inexperienced" DIY is getting the structure right and making sure everything is done right (functions etc) and to create the site to rank by using basic SEO techniques. I would assume, professional web designers would have an edge in this arena as they do it day in day out which at the end of the day ranking and exposure is vital to the sites overall success!

    I look forward to experienced designers feedback on here... I could be way offtrack and lead me in the right direction?

    Simmo.

  8. #8
    Senior Member Lawn Mowing Professionals's Avatar
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    Default Re: DIY Websites

    2 great minds think a like happy.... maybe i'm a figment of your imagination afterall

    Simmo.

  9. #9
    Senior Member NLALM's Avatar
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    Default Re: DIY Websites

    Mate that looks pretty good to me for someone with no experience like me in websites. Im a bit like happy in saying I think a website is needed in this day and age but it really only needs to be simple.

  10. #10
    Senior Member AJD Mowing's Avatar
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    Default Re: DIY Websites

    It has responsive design that's a good thing..
    Looks pretty good to me..
    AJD Mowing Giving Back Your Life

    http://www.ajdmowing.com.au/

  11. #11
    Senior Member happymowin's Avatar
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    Default Re: DIY Websites

    woody,

    looking into crazydomains a bit more :

    it seems the "website builder" is only a 30 day free trial

    looks to me like:

    you can PAY for the hosting, then use the site builder for 30 days free (hoping you have your site done by then)

    or you can PAY for the site builder, which gives you FREE hosting.

    look into it and be sure youre getting what you should be.

    and if youre on the 30 day trial version, better get your nose to the grindstone and finish that sucker off !!!


    cheers again for posting about this !!!

  12. #12
    Senior Member fairdinkum's Avatar
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    Default Re: DIY Websites

    The site builder is rubbish. I played around with it for a bit and found youre to limited by why you can do with it. Went and figured out how to use wordpress and found it much more versatile. And if you think you'd need to talk to tech support occasionally, I'd steer clear of crazy domains all together. It can take up to a week, sometimes longer, for them to reply to an email depending on what the problem is. My site was blacklisted on google for suspected malware and they couldn't even explain why. I had to figure it out for myself. And I had to wait a month just to reset my password once. Their speeds are not always so great either and their pricing is a bit misleading. I'm not sure if it's bandwith or memory allocation related. But I have another site which I look after for a mate's business hosted at hostgator and it seems to be a lot faster most of the time.

    Jason Forrest
    Fair Dinkum Lawn & Garden Care
    Servicing St Clair, Erskine Park, Colyton, South St Marys
    0407 435 642


    fairdinkumlawns.com.au

    facebook page

  13. #13
    Member of forum Woodchip's Avatar
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    Default Re: DIY Websites

    Gday Happy,
    I'm not using the crazy' web builder, I got my domain registered & web hosting with them (I bought the $2.50 per month for 25GB site which includes all the features of the more expensive one, just less GB's, they advertise the same plan as $1.25p.m but thats if you sign up for 5yrs!, I paid $2.50p.m & only needed to sign up for 12mths) payed for it all with PayPal. I am using Wordpress templates, as demonstrated in the youtube video links I posted (so dont need the crazy' web builder)

    Jason, I see what your saying with customer service from crazydomains....when I signed up for the web hosting its then they tell you it could take upto 48hrs to activate(after youve paid), I waited 24hrs then phoned them....first time the phone didnt even answer, no answering machine even. I phoned again 10mins later & spoke to a fella who seemed keen to help activate the web hosting, he looked into it & said to leave it an hour then I should receive the email with passwords etc, 3 minutes later I got the email, so that was good!. Probably best to call them if you need something rather than email.

    If I needed to do it again I might look closer at hostgator, if you enter the code (that the bloke in the video says to use, you get a 25% discount on hostgator hosting, it also helps the fella, he must be a reseller & gets a small commission, which is good because his videos are great & easy to learn heaps from them)

    cheers
    Cert' II & Cert' III Arboriculture
    Carpenter & Property Maintenance
    www.bluewatermaintenance.com.au

  14. #14
    Senior Member happymowin's Avatar
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    Default Re: DIY Websites

    ahhhhh

    sorry woody, i have yet to watch your linked videos - thanks for clearing that up.

    thru googling, i was looking into wordpress etc.


    i actually RANG crazys to ask a couple questions, was on hold for about 5 mins or less till they answered, (saturday arvo and all) and a nice indian chappie answered all my questions quickly.

    so id have to agree, phone, not email would be best perhaps.


    ive already picked out a couple of domain names i like, lol, have to get the wife to "agree"

    www.bestblowingintown.com might get me too many weird enquiries so i caned that one, lol.


    still really impressed you posted this woody, its like you read my mind.

    hey youre not reading my mind are you?

    if so say hello to that figment of my imagination simmo for me.

    cheers !!!

  15. #15
    Member Neil&family's Avatar
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    Default Re: DIY Websites

    Digital pacific are great and australian. Allways inform you on whats going on and very easy to get help when needed.

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