Website design, who to use.

[screenman]

How hard can this be, choosing the right people to upgrade and or redesign my two websites. I have had quotes from £16,000 down to £350. I have had people wanting upfront payment in most occasions and of course the top of google words mentioned.

Seems from the outside there maybe a few scammers in the trade.

 

[Markymark]

How hard can this be, choosing the right people to upgrade and or redesign my two websites. I have had quotes from £16,000 down to £350. I have had people wanting upfront payment in most occasions and of course the top of google words mentioned.

Seems from the outside there maybe a few scammers in the trade.

Can I pm you a recommendation?

 

[Levo-Lon]

I got mine done by a lad at my wife's software company..350 and im on page 1 of google without paying for it.

i did get a good price but You really dont need to spend a fortune,its all in the wording for search ..

i get pestered by Yell to take up their amazing google page one deal 2 fooking k a year ..lol
i say why look on yell to find a trade,just google what you want and hey presto..
i have a free Which listing and police recomended page in house with them..

its all a con with the click and pay lark web page stuff as far as I'm concerned..

if you wanted to talk to the guy who did my site @screenman i can give you details

 

[Deleted member 35268]

I've been in the Website design business for 20 years, and prices will vary from the individual in the basement, to the full service agency.
It's a highly competitive market.
Top of the google rankings is not everything - having a bespoke look and feel would be higher on my list.
A Wordpress build would be highly advisable.

 

[screenman]

Things is there are a lot of small business people out there like myself who are good at what they do, but useless when it comes to wesite designs and most companies want us to do the lot, worsd pictures, lay out, colouring etc. what we need is for a company that will do the design and wording etc. maybe even pictures. Somebody who has some artistic skills maybe, proof reading skills and the suchlike.

My artistic skill are such that I cannot even draw the curtains.

Here is one of my sites, I do not feel I am advertising to you lot so I hopefully am not breaking any forum rules, mods please remove it if you want to. I will not be offended.

www.deltakits.co.uk

 

[Pale Rider]

Get it done by someone who can spell as well as build websites.

 

[screenman]

Get it done by someone who can spell as well as build websites.

Funny you should say that, I have looked at many website designers sites and found them lacking in many ways, spelling being one of them. Likewise proof readers sites.

Whilst we are on this can somebody tell me why spell checker does not work on this forum for me, please.

 

[Pale Rider]

Funny you should say that, I have looked at many website designers sites and found them lacking in many ways, spelling being one of them. Likewise proof readers sites.

Whilst we are on this can somebody tell me why spell checker does not work on this forum for me, please.

Just taken a quick look at the front page in your link - bad case of what I call capitals disease.

There are random caps everywhere.

For example, the script for the training videos link: "Click here to view our Windscreen repair training videos."

The cap W for windscreen is incorrect, there is no reason for it other than the ignorance of the writer.

Does this matter?

Increasingly less so because more and more of your customers will be equally ignorant so won't notice.

It annoys the likes of me and inevitably leads me to think the company/job it might do for me will be equally scruffy.

 

[Andrew_Culture]

I'm not exactly chucking my hat in the ring here, but I have been building sites and specialising in SEO since last century.

A lot of people make the mistake of building a site that has prettiness as the top priority, but converting traffic to paying punters is much more important. Nobody ever bought a product solely because they were impressed by the way the designer showed off their skills.

The whole 'top of Google' thing isn't a con, but it is dependent on many, many factors. You will probably quite naturally float to the top for a search phrase like 'Tamarind Teapots in Tiverton', but if your core business is debt recovery then you'll have to work a lot harder to be the first result people see.

Good quality writing is now almost more important to Internet Marketing than anything else. I'm not talking about correct writing, the focus should be on persuasive writing.

Remember, conversions or GTFO.

 

[Andrew_Culture]

Just taken a quick look at the front page in your link - bad case of what I call capitals disease.

There are random caps everywhere.

For example, the script for the training videos link: "Click here to view our Windscreen repair training videos."

The cap W for windscreen is incorrect, there is no reason for it other than the ignorance of the writer.

Does this matter?

Increasingly less so because more and more of your customers will be equally ignorant so won't notice.

It annoys the likes of me and inevitably leads me to think the company/job it might do for me will be equally scruffy.

I see this sort of issue as being in the same field as the old 'no blue M&Ms' but that some bands put in their riders. If they can't be sure that the promoters / venues have the ability to sort a bag of M&Ms then how can they have confidence in their ability to rig the lighting tracks not to fall on their heads.

 

[swee'pea99]

Nice Mr Culture knows whatof he speaks. He built a website for me to replace my old one, and it's not only a helluva lot better as a website, it's also pretty high up in the google rankings for some pretty challenging search terms (I'm closer to debt recovery than Tiverton teapots in that sense), whereas the old one used to be on page 27 or something.

 

[Andrew_Culture]

I got mine done by a lad at my wife's software company..350 and im on page 1 of google without paying for it.

i did get a good price but You really dont need to spend a fortune,its all in the wording for search ..

i get pestered by Yell to take up their amazing google page one deal 2 fooking k a year ..lol
i say why look on yell to find a trade,just google what you want and hey presto..
i have a free Which listing and police recomended page in house with them..

its all a con with the click and pay lark web page stuff as far as I'm concerned..

if you wanted to talk to the guy who did my site @screenman i can give you details

It's well worth being on every directory you can find if you service a geographical area. We call it 'building citations', but actually paying for any directory listing anywhere? Nah. Really not worth it.

 

[Pale Rider]

I see this sort of issue as being in the same field as the old 'no blue M&Ms' but that some bands put in their riders.

Reminds me of a band who had to have non-vintage Moet et Chandon champagne.

As the manager put it: "No Moet, no showy, no Chandon, no band on."

Apologies to @screenman for the drift, but i suppose it does illustrate the value of a snappily memorable phrase.

 

[swee'pea99]

Isn't there some artiste who insists on a basket full of puppies? Sure I heard that somewhere...

 

[Brains]

Isn't there some artiste who insists on a basket full of puppies? Sure I heard that somewhere...

IF you could get hold of them, (and you wont, as they typically have a P&C clause) there is a book to be written about Band 'Riders'.
Beyond the usual booze requests I've seen:
Michelin star restaurants.
Wooden toys
VERY expensive chocolates
Incredibly detailed menus, down to individual ingredients, per member of band/crew, for 4 meals a day, for a 30 day tour
Room specifications that even top hotels blanch at
Insistance of bypassing baggage and customs at airports
Ridiculous vehicle specifications

Overall its the top American Bands that were the worst, whilst the request may be on the outer edge of possible in the USA, it's not even conceivable in Europe as we simply don't have 1,000 sq meter suites with en-suite infinity pools, or the practicalities of travelling around Europe in a stretch limo, or wanting a back stage dressing room with certain facilities when playing a theatre that is older than their country, and if they are lucky they may get a sink. And no, you are a foreigner, so you can't just cross the border without waking up, getting out, showing the guy your passport and having your baggage riffled through.

And finally a letter from your mum, to the guys on passport control should not be enough to let you into the country (although that actually worked ....)