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Post by littleminnie on Dec 27, 2014 20:36:57 GMT -5
I am improving my business this year with a new name and logo and hopefully website. I would love information on how best to start a website. TIA.
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Post by billw on Dec 28, 2014 0:39:54 GMT -5
This is a bit like asking how best to start a business... there are so many possibilities that it is hard to give general advice.
What do you want to do with the web site? Provide information? Interact with users? Sell goods & process credit cards?
How complex do you envision the site being? How many pages? Will you need to have accounts to track individual details for your users?
How often do you think you'll want to update the web site, either amending existing information or adding new content?
Do you prefer to handle the technical details or let someone else take care of that and just focus on the content?
Do you want to have your own domain name, or are you happy with any web address as long as your site displays the right title?
The options range from something as simple as a free blog to renting a server at a service provider.
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Post by templeton on Dec 28, 2014 2:50:35 GMT -5
Further questions: who are your audience? A website might be OK for oldies like me, but lots of young folk only do FB, Twitter and the like. Will you be pointing existing customers to your info, or are you looking for a whole new clientele? I'm starting to try and get some seed listings up for sale - it should be straightforward, but the more I know, the less I know...  T |
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Post by Joseph Lofthouse on Dec 28, 2014 3:33:25 GMT -5
If I have learned anything about online marketing, it is that I cannot predict ahead of time what will be popular, or what will catch fire, or who the audience will be. I can't design a web site and expect it will be well-read, because invariably, the most inane topics end up taking on a life of their own, and pages that I really care about languish unread. How would I have been able to predict that my page about true potato seeds would be more popular than all the rest of my web site put together? I never anticipated the Glass Gem corn mania, and still don't have a page devoted to it. I intended my facebook page to be only for local people to let them know what I was taking to the farmer's market, but most of the people who read it regularly will never visit the market.
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Post by ferdzy on Dec 28, 2014 8:07:04 GMT -5
You might want to test the waters by setting up a page using one of the free blogging sites. You don't have to blog, although you can - it can be set up just to give information.
Important:
Don't forget the obvious! How can people contact you, where are you located, what are your hours, what are you selling? It amazes me how many websites either don't have this information at all or make you really dig for it!
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Post by nicollas on Dec 28, 2014 8:47:35 GMT -5
The question is what is the purpose of the website ?
As a web developer i'm often amazed by how little importance is given to website even for cases where the website and the possibility to target gardeners internationally could generate much more sells.
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Post by littleminnie on Dec 29, 2014 20:31:23 GMT -5
I would like a website as a blog for the CSA but also to possibly sell off of. Here is a link to a "farm" near me that has a website about what I would like. farmThe thing with this farm is that there is no farm where they say they are and they buy in produce. But I would like to do my newsletters online like this. |
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Post by philagardener on Dec 29, 2014 20:54:11 GMT -5
Well, at the bottom of their page there is a link to their web provider. They offer a free initial trial, templates for pages (which you liked) and $6/mo hosting for basic service. That might be one way to go, but as you build up archived content that would push you up line in their pricing.
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Post by ferdzy on Dec 30, 2014 8:48:57 GMT -5
And honestly, one of the free platforms would do pretty much what you want. I use Blogger and and perfectly happy with it. It's been updated recently to allow you to multiple pages, so you could have a static info page and blog page. Can't beat free!
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Post by copse on Dec 30, 2014 16:12:39 GMT -5
If I were making a new website I'd consider something like squarespace. From what I understand, it's top of the line template driven site development. It even has a logo creator. And you can play around with their tools and not purchase, unless you want to make your final site out there for people to use. There are coupon codes for 10% off out there. |
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Post by diane on Dec 30, 2014 16:20:58 GMT -5
That sample website is well-arranged, BUT:
how local is it to me?
It says it is in Big Lake, MN
Is that in Manitoba, Minnesota, Maine?
When I make a webpage for something happening in Victoria, I always include "Canada", because otherwise we get
queries from Australia
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Post by ottawagardener on Dec 31, 2014 16:06:41 GMT -5
I just redid my website using a drag and drop with a shopping cart and blogger function. I'm used to writing in html so I find it super annoying but I can see the appeal. Weebly has a free (minimal page) version of their drag and drop for website writing but you have to use one of their templates. I chose the plainest one  I also have Facebook and twitter and hear that the kids these days are into tumblr. |
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Post by reed on Jan 2, 2015 9:58:31 GMT -5
I recommend Weebly a lot, it's one of the easiest of the do it yourself site builders. It does allow you to take control with HTML and CSS if you want and it lets you download the source files for use with something like Dreamweaver or even good old fashioned line by line code. I'v used several to build sites to turn over to the owner to do their own updates and Weebly is the only one that has really been successful for that. I can teach them everything they need in an hour or two. Bad for me, no more income from that customer but they are happy. It is also completely free if you are OK with .weebly.com being on the end of your domain name. Adding shopping carts and the like will have costs of course. Here is a little site I made for a town across the river www.cityofwarsawky.org/index.html they have been doing their own updates for about a year and haven't called for help at all. Speaking of domain names, I like to buy them separate from GoDaddy or Network solutions. It is an extra step when time to use but you can do it. If you buy the name from Weebly, Wix, SquareSpace or any combo builder / host / registrar you might have issues if you ever want to move it. |
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Post by littleminnie on Jan 3, 2015 19:55:46 GMT -5
Thanks all. My brain got kind of zonked and I will come back to this.
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Post by mountaindweller on Jan 12, 2015 21:39:13 GMT -5
I really second on weebly. Even idiots like me can use it. It has the HUGE advantage to combine blog and website. I personally do not like blogs very much at least not as stand alone. Weebly is easy to use has enough possibilities and you get a neat website with an integrated blog instead of a blog only which is a rather unorganized thing.
What you need is: tons of photos (have your camera handy at all the time)
tons of text
With weebly you can setup a basic webiste in no time at all and you simply go from there. And I do not even get money from them (I should).
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I also have Facebook and twitter and hear that the kids these days are into tumblr.