Web stuff

[waldo]

I'm looking at starting my own web site... I already have the domain name on the books but need some advice on web design... any thoughts? All good and bad experiences welcome thanks Bill

[Bob White]

Look at Brian's (accuspecllc.com) and Chad's (structuresmart.com) ---

Mine is down for a few months, but I shamelessly copied stole from Brian, Chad and Mark Cramer when I "designed" my site ---

[AHI in AR]

There are some good designers out there who can do a custom site, but they aren't cheap. Another option is to buy a well done template and customize it, but you have to acquire some knowledge that most HI's don't usually have to do that properly. Even with a great site you need to learn how to optimize your site so you get good search engine rankings. Of course, you can pay someone to do all that if your budget is large enough. Admittedly, I did mine myself because I'm cheap. It's far from perfect, and I've been lax in updating it like I should.

No matter what path you take in designing the site, I think details are important. If you aren't blessed with an innate ability to spell and punctuate reasonably properly you can hurt yourself. Have someone else who can do those things rewrite your text. Keep in mind that most web designers are fluent in computerese; their skill set doesn't usually include impeccable spelling and grammar. Visitors to your site judge you by what they read. After all, that's all they know about you at that point. If those visitors ARE fluent in the grammatical arts and your site is a train wreck, they'll likely go elsewhere. I've seen some sites where the creator of the site didn't even use a basic spell check function, much less have someone check for the use of homonyms or other common problems.

IMHO, one last thing I'd recommend avoiding is the overuse of large fonts with wild colors. Admittedly, this may be an issue that not everyone feels as strongly about as I do. But unless you want your site to look like a McDonald's billboard or a ransom note from a kidnapper, I suggest that you avoid using a lot of overly bright primary colors and differing fonts.

I'm sure others will disagree. I have no training whatsoever in advertising; I only have my own preferences. Those preferences may be completely at odds with what the marketing gurus will tell you.

[Scottpat]

As Kevin has said you can find many folks to build you a website or if you have the time, energy and a little bit of luck you can do it on your own. My website is a homemade site, and it shows. It shows in several ways! Some good and some bad. It is not fancy but it does pull up very well "organically" in the markets that I want to work in. It also pulls up very well in some areas I don't care to work in, but I will if my clients pay my travel time that I build into the fee, then I'm happy to work for them!

Making your site easy to read and navigate is what you are looking for.

[energy star]

GoDaddy.com

It is very inexpensive and you will learn alot.