Build own website or get a designer

[cumins]

Im thinking about building my own website but i havnt really had much experience in building them before so i was wondering if it was easy or just look for a website designer todo it.

[Jarvooo]

Its totally upto you really, what alot of people do is build them themselves from templates etc, and there are resources to do so, but the problem you have is the resource you use, thousands of other people will use aswell so search engine wise it wont be very good, also, having one built doesnt cost the earth and can help you in achieving everything your after in your website to. If you want to talk about it and find out the costs, drop me an email to colin@jarviswebandgraphicsolutions.co.uk - id be delighted to offer you a quote so you can evaluate whats going to work best for you.

[damion]

Well it just depends on what you are after and what you can do? If you need any further advice I will be happy to help, email me anytime from my website and I will get back to you.

All the best,

Damion.

[Joshua Mason-Allen]

If you have a few days to invest and you're quite sharp you can learn all you need to for a semi-decent looking website. There are websites like w3schools which taught me how to do a lot of the stuff I've needed over the past couple of years. As Colin said, there are many templates and tutorials availible on the web which you can use for the foundations and experimenting with if nothing else.

There are things like graphics that might be a problem, if like me, your art is awful. On the other hand, comissioning someone to do a banner image or background is much cheaper than commissioning the whole thing afresh.


If you need a simple website to convey some information and not much else, you can probably work it out for yourself. If your website is going to be your source of trade and only contact with clients: perhaps meaningful investment where required should be considered.

It's a matter of prudence and necessity.

Regards,

[gear7.co.uk]

10 years ago (back when I was at secondary school still!) I used to do a bit of website design and could have happily built a site that looked as good as most that were out there. These days though, design and coding have moved on significantly - css xml and xhtml have made things possible that were either a) not or b) only possible in 1 browser back then.

Anyway....what I have done is build a 'temporary' website using my outdated knowledge (and Dreamweaver, for my sins, simply because it's quicker than notepad and I actually have a copy), which has given me a chance to get some content up, which can then be recycled into a 'proper' site in the (near) future. So for you the process would be to build a temporary site with either templates or a site-builder tool, and go from there.

Worth looking at Google Sites, possibly? Offers lots of functionality and is quite easy to use.

Chris

[ronetw]

Im thinking about building my own website but i havnt really had much experience in building them before so i was wondering if it was easy or just look for a website designer todo it.

Hi cumins

It really all depends on your knowledge, if your just starting out, as already said you can get some really good resources of the Web but you can also get books from any good book shop along with websites such as sitepoint. :o).

However, if your looking for a professional job to be carried out then personally I'd recommend getting a professional in and letting them do what they know.

[lordlancaster]

Im thinking about building my own website but i havnt really had much experience in building them before so i was wondering if it was easy or just look for a website designer todo it.


Building a basic website is fairly easy (if you've got time on your hands and really want to learn how to do it).

However, to do a good, professional-looking website is much harder and that's why there are professionals who do this for a living. (There are plenty of them hanging about on this forum should you need one)! ;)

You need to ask yourself what the purpose is, how quickly you need one and how important it is to have a professional, slick site. A simple yet highly effective 'web presence' can be achieved by making sure your Shell LiveWIRE Social Network profile (www.shell-livewire.org/network/cumins (http://www.shell-livewire.org/network/cumins)) contains up to date info about yourself (and your business).

All Social Network profiles come with a free blog, allow you to add description and contact details for yourself or your business, upload photos, videos, network with other businesses and chat with other members online. It's also very well indexed by all the major search engines so anything you post on there through your blog will achieve high ranking on Google for example.

In addition (or instead of) you can also create a free blog using WordPress (http://wordpress.com/) or Blogger (https://www.blogger.com/start) which will let you add basic info about you and your business very quickly and intuitively.

For anything more sophisticated than basic info (like an online shop) I recommend calling in the experts unless you've got lots of time on your hands.

There are some good deals on websites for Shell LiveWIRE members in the Shell LiveWIRE Exchange sub-forum here:

http://www.shell-livewire.org/forums/showthread.php?t=24365

[sitebuilder]

Hi

Our company offers an online website builder called SiteBuilder (http://www.sitebuilderdiy.co.uk/) which comes with a full content management system, so you can update all aspects of your site at any time, anywhere. If you're looking to sell online, it is also e-commerce ready and includes stock management and catalogue management capabilities as well as a host of other features.

Check out our latest offer for Shell LiveWIRE members here;

http://www.shell-livewire.org/forums/showthread.php?p=150049#post150049

I hope this helps. If you have any queries, feel free to give me a call on 0191 2612991 or drop me an email at helenh@SiteBuilderBespoke.co.uk

Kind regards,
Helen

[Spodaz]

Hi,

I remember the very first website I developed was back in Netscapes web edit application back in 1996, I then knocked something up in application from Sierra Software I think and then did another horrible looking site in Publisher around 1999, I was using Bravenet.com tools to enhance my site at the time.

I then discovered Frontpage and finally got something a little more professional looking in fact for the time it was very nice, and i used the various versions of Frontpage for many years as I liked it's simplicity.

I then got the what was at the time Macromedia Suite now Adobe CS4 Web software such as Dreamweaver, Flash etc but being honest I did not and still do not like these.

Now having had a mac for years and used software specifically for the mac, I can create very nice websites with relative ease (using Photoshop for graphic work)

I think the tools are out there and some of them are very intuitive so it does not require much learning, however, should you want something professional done quickly then get in touch with the pro's!

[Jarvooo]

Hi

Our company offers an online website builder called SiteBuilder (http://www.sitebuilderdiy.co.uk/) which comes with a full content management system, so you can update all aspects of your site at any time, anywhere. If you're looking to sell online, it is also e-commerce ready and includes stock management and catalogue management capabilities as well as a host of other features.

Check out our latest offer for Shell LiveWIRE members here;

http://www.shell-livewire.org/forums/showthread.php?p=150049#post150049

I hope this helps. If you have any queries, feel free to give me a call on 0191 2612991 or drop me an email at helenh@SiteBuilderBespoke.co.uk

Kind regards,
Helen

Stuff like this in essence seem okay, but offer the same elements as many free software applications out there so i dont see the value in them, the designs arent custom and what you sell to one, or what one uses as a resource, can be used by hundreds of others so basically, defeats the object of having a fantastic unique design

[sitebuilder]

Stuff like this in essence seem okay, but offer the same elements as many free software applications out there so i dont see the value in them, the designs arent custom and what you sell to one, or what one uses as a resource, can be used by hundreds of others so basically, defeats the object of having a fantastic unique design

Hi

I agree there are a lot of do it yourself website builders out there and most of them provide a 'what you see is what you get' package. But I would recommend to all those wondering whether to go it alone or seek a professional, to have a go of the free trial on our website as the flexibility SiteBuilder provides within its templates is exceptional and allows users to create some really great and individual designs.

[Jarvooo]

Hi

I agree there are a lot of do it yourself website builders out there and most of them provide a 'what you see is what you get' package. But I would recommend to all those wondering whether to go it alone or seek a professional, to have a go of the free trial on our website as the flexibility SiteBuilder provides within its templates is exceptional and allows users to create some really great and individual designs.

Thats my point though, you cant possibly offer individual designs if the service is available to everyone, for example, person x wants a template like template x, then another person and another want it, not to mention if others already have it, the coding is going to be the same with different content, search engine wise thats going to penalise everybody. Unique websites are what makes the mark search engine wise and thats not something you offer, for a business wanting a website, id say it was imperitive that that kind of thing was taken care of - something no "design online" type practices can offer albeit a simpler solution for alot of people, and to be honest no free charges or monthly fee's are going to make that any better in the grand scheme of things.

[lordlancaster]

As a web designer, you're bound to not like this sort of thing Colin, but I guess it's horses for courses. SiteBuilder won't be suitable for everyone, but for others it could be all that they need to get started.

Room for everyone I suppose and the content itself is more important than the style / template of
the site.

The new buzz phrase I've coined today is 'Content is King'

[notoriousgib]

Im thinking about building my own website but i havnt really had much experience in building them before so i was wondering if it was easy or just look for a website designer todo it.

It all comes down to what you are doing with the site. What is the purpose of your website? Are you looking to promote yourself, a service/product, e-commerce or are you just dipping your toes into building a website. You could go the template route, you edit yourself or work from scratch however sometimes it is best to leave the professionals to it. A well coded site that is compliant and structured will enable you to promote it easier and get better rankings with search engines. I can tinker and play around with html but wouldnt say i could neccesarily build a website, so I turned to a professional. I would have paid ten times the amount I did for it knowing now how much business it generates for us.