Team-BHP - Designing a new website

Quote:

Originally Posted by vivekiny2k (Post 1292082)

it's not the problem with the registrar. it gives me all access. i am not able to host it thru google.

I ended up pointing the default entry to 0.0.0.0, so if it's mozilla, it automatically searches thru google and points to my page, in IE it just fails with page not found. much better than sending it to godaddy.com

add a 301 forwarder to www.yourdomainname.com in your godaddy domain manager.

@vivekiny2k. If you are serious about your domain space, you will be better off hosting with a reliable host. You need a decent Linux hosting. There is no free lunch. Free hosting will not give you any serious support and will be dreadfully slow for your users. Cost of hosting is not really high. When you really have pages of importance, you must have control over them.

Visibility in the search engines for freely hosted sites is low. Setting up issues like non www part to www part and creating any subdomain as you move along will be a breeze if you host with a decent linux host.

Just the right thread at the right time.

Well, I already have a website www.graceopticals.com this was designed by a free lance designer. He works at O&M. Now I am planning to get a second website for another business. To be honest the previous guy charged me a bomb and I have my second thoughts on going back to him.

I am not professional at things like this. This is what I need.
1. 10 pages
2. Fast, no download time.
3. CMS

Ideally whats a good price to pay for designing and hosting? What are the other things to look out for?

Thanks in advance.

Quote:

Originally Posted by beejay (Post 1725876)

I am not professional at things like this. This is what I need.
1. 10 pages
2. Fast, no download time.
3. CMS

Beejay, why not go for a ready template from TM? Stupendous range of designs, you are sure to find something you'll like. Relatively cheap too.

CMS : Either Drupal or Jhoomla. Drupal is a little more complex to set up, but manages growth better. Jhoomla has a better range of templates. You can't go wrong with either.

Hosting : Since its a new website, start with shared hosting. You'll see packages at 500 rupees per month. Upgrade as your traffic goes up. I can't recommend pair Networks - World Class Web Hosting enough for their shared server packages.

Unless you are a geek well versed with designing and coding, you will probably be better off with assigning this task to someone who does this for his living. You will be concentrating on what you do best - running your business instead of tinkering with codes.

With that said, CMS like Joomla, Drupal or WordPress ( yes you can do what you want - with WordPress too ) can be quite to easy to manage if someone sets them up for you. They are exceptionally powerful and can almost do anything you want them to. But the learning curve is a bit steep - especially for making them visible in the eyes of Search Engines. No matter how great your site looks, ultimately people have to come to your site to buy the merchandise you offer. This is where search engines come. At least 80 % of the traffic will come from search engines.

There is no one size which fits all. You have to decide what works best for you.

Taking your site - graceopticals.com for example, the pages are done in flash. But what is visually so attractive is not so attractive in the eyes of search engines. Google has just about 2 pages ( that too in swf ) in its index. If these pages have been made to be more search engine friendly, you will have more visitors to your site. More visitors translate to more potential customers.

For a site started in 2005, this site has poor visibility in the eyes of Google. Don't end up doing the same mistake with your new site.

Quote:

Originally Posted by GTO (Post 1727395)

Thanks for the links GTO. Some of the templates are really good.
The problem is I am a newbie when it comes to things like this. I think I will just give it to some professional and hack his brains out. I have a picture in mind and just want to get there.
This thread has some awesome inputs and I am sure to get a good website done. Honestly, CMS is something that I picked out of here.:)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Prowler (Post 1727561)

Taking your site - graceopticals.com for example, the pages are done in flash. But what is visually so attractive is not so attractive in the eyes of search engines. Google has just about 2 pages ( that too in swf ) in its index. If these pages have been made to be more search engine friendly, you will have more visitors to your site. More visitors translate to more potential customers.

For a site started in 2005, this site has poor visibility in the eyes of Google. Don't end up doing the same mistake with your new site.

Absolutely right. Like in my reply to GTO, this thread has been very informative. Previously all what mattered to me was how the site looked. Now I understand there is a lot more to it than that.

Now, what should I tell my designer/ developer if I am not using flash? What are the other ways to do it? Now your post has made me include search engine friendliness apart from my initial requirements.

One more thing, when you said poor visibility. The site usually figures up in the first page when I google.

Ok. We will take this a little further. Your site comes up first for a search of "grace opticals" in Google. That presupposes that the user knows the stores name. But for new customers, will they search using that keyword ? Place yourself in their shoes and look for search terms they would use and make out pages using that term. This in short is all about Search Engine Optimization.

But one thing is your competition is not much. So it is easy to rank as it is with little effort.
When you are done with your site, drop me a note. I will take a look and offer suggestions gratis.

BTW, I earn my living as a Web Architect and I have been in this for over a decade - just in case you wondered if I am qualified enough to offer professional advice on a subject like this.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Prowler (Post 1729182)

BTW, I earn my living as a Web Architect and I have been in this for over a decade - just in case you wondered if I am qualified enough to offer professional advice on a subject like this.

Thanks. Will definitely keep you posted on my website. I am still to figure out the right person to do it with at this point of time. Do you have any good leads?

Also, whats doing up a website on html mean? I spoke to my previous site designer and told him I do not want it in flash this time, thanks to you guys, and he told me we will do it in html.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Prowler (Post 1729182)

Ok. We will take this a little further. Your site comes up first for a search of "grace opticals" in Google.

I just tried to check out that website. And I am told that my version of flash player is not good enough. I took my cue and closed the browser.

My point is simply this. Don't force customers to load new plug-ins or watch lengthy flash videos, just to take a peek into your website. I see this a lot in Indian websites, they are so flash heavy, I give up before I see the website. Try visiting Adobe website, they won't force you to load flash player despite being the company that makes it. Go to Microsoft website, they won't force you to load some Active-X plug-in before letting you in.

Websites are not about the demonstration of the high-tech skills of the web designer. It should be about the company and its products/services. Just go the Adobe website, and you can instantly see what you came there for in the first place. You won't be forced into downloading anything or have a flash video forced down your throat.