looking at setting up a web site for a new business idea that I am trying to get goin

Is there a website where I can design a web page and play around with the design before I have to give a domain name and email address? I would just like to practice a bit before commiting myself to anything.
 
or investigate installing wampserver on your pc and running wordpress locally ... but this demands knowledge which you haven't got at the moment so is probably a non-runner.
 
Thanks for the links and the info. I had fun messing about a bit.

How much would it cost to get someone to set up a one page website with a few pictures, prices and contact details? Any recommendations for someone in South County Dublin. I might approach the local college?.
 
Is it difficult and costly or even worthwhile to have background music added to your website? Assuming that the music you use is royalty free.
 
To be honest .... background music on a site is an annoying distraction ... unless of course it's music/band etc. related site ....

If you do add music give users the option of turning it off!

Re. difficulty ... it's not .. depending on how you do it.
 
Interesting. It's a site selling a French item. I thought that a bit of French accordian music in the background might add a bit of ambience, but I take your point.
 
It is generally recommended to steer clear of background music as it is annoying to many. Think of people surfing during a break at work, or those listening to other music.
 
I have used Weebly.com for 3 websites over the last year and they are great. No huge techie skills needed, you can use their domain so you don't need to go registering your own (eg: www.yourwebsitename.weebly.com) and they provide lots of great templates if design is not your strongpoint. You can set up paypal facilities with them and considering they are free, I think they offer a very impressive and flexible option.

I totally take on board other poster's points about good design and professionalism. If you want a really impressive website for business it's probably not a good idea to go the free route. But Weebly are a great option for community groups and small volunteer organisations who haven't the money to spend on a website but who need a presence on-line and a way to communicate info to their members.

No affiliation to them, just a satisfied user.
 
If someone is searching a product that you might have on your website and if your site is attached to another site like weebly are you likely to be buried in page 56 or similar of the Google search engine? What is the likely hood of someone remembering your site name if the have to stick dot com dot weebly after it?
 
The first companies to appear on the google search engine are the ones who have paid to be there. But after that it's a bit more complicated and you may need to employ a professional to oversee your on-line marketing strategy.

I think a lot depends on the name of your company/site and how reflective it is of the product/service you are offering. And if you are competing in a crowded market place with hundreds of companies offering the same thing that will have an impact too.

With regards to remembering the full address of a site, speaking from personal experience I rarely do; I either check it in the history, or do a google search making sure to use the actual company name (rather than the service it provides) to pinpoint it.

If they are customers who are returning to the site, most computers are set up to retain the history of sites visited so will quickly prompt the rest of the address.

But I take your point - the .weebly.com bit on the end is not an advantage. It's a free service and they cannot compete with a paid-for professionally designed site. Incidentally though you can register your own domain name separately and then just design the site through Weebly.

When weighing up all the options you have to think about how your customers will be driven to your site - will they be likely to already know about you (and therefore have your name), will they be looking for local generic suppliers (in which case they may go to Goldenpages online or google the area you are in) or will they search via service description, for example? These considerations should be taken into account when deciding on the website name.

If you think your product is going to be primarily sold to ad-hoc websurfers finding your site you should probably consider paying for professional advice.

If however, the website will be part of a multi-layered PR and publicity approach focussed on specific customers who can be targetted in a number of ways you might get away with something along the lines of Wordpress or Weebly.

Weebly has worked for me because I consider most people interested in the groups I'm promoting already have a high degree of motivation to find them. Either that or they have already heard about us and now just want to find out more information.

But obviously this is not the case for many people - especially when you are actually selling something.
 
DianeC401 said:
The first companies to appear on the google search engine are the ones who have paid to be there. But after that it's a bit more complicated and you may need to employ a professional to oversee your on-line marketing strategy.

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Click to expand...

the first 2-3 advertisements are certainly paid up members of google, after that its SEO skills. Freely available at a google near you.
 
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