The Wholesale Forums

[bargains4life]

I have a few things I can sell but before that I want to make a professional looking website.. I posted on one of the freelance websites but the amount bidded is out of my reach, in upwards of $1200 USD. Is there a cheaper way to design a website .. or do i have to use thier services...

and where can you find the best hosting and domain name service these days that is reliable and cheap.. ??

[tom456]

It can be pretty cheap to run and maintain a website, I run two and have a few domains that are inactive.

You should register your domain name at 123-reg Its fairly cheap to do so, starting at just £2.59/yr.

Apparently BetterWebSpace are very good, they have great customer service and I think they are pretty competitive with there prices.

Now you have a web site, and you've probably spend around £30. There's no need to worry about paying this again for at least a year.

This is now where it starts to get a little different for your personal needs.

If you want an online store then you need to get a copy of CubeCart. This is a free eCommerce application the only money you need to pay is to remove the Powered by CubeCart and Copyright to CubeCart. There are different solutions for this like osCommerce, ZenCart etc. These are fairly easy to use ounce installed, you then can personalise your store with a Template or get a Template custom designed. This all depends on your budget.

However, you may want to build a website to just give information. For this you will need a HTML editor like Dreamweaver or Frontpage, other free software is available. You could also choose this option for a wholesale website to list prices etc. and contact details. I do this and have designed quite a few websites like this.

Building a website is a very broad topic, there are so many areas to explore. You could make a Forum like this, a Adsense site, even your own Auction site.

Depending on what route you take you determines how much it will cost. $1200 would get you a pretty decent site. I spent around £20 on my site PT Electronics. On PT Games I spent in the region of £200.

Hope this will be of some Help to You!...

[Anthony]

Any ideas what your budget is?

[BillyA]

I assume, like me, you have no programming experience and cannot write html code. Although a professional webdesigner can give you everything you want, they can be expensive. If you're budget allows for it, for under $50/month you can get a hosted shopping cart site that looks very professional. These sites are extremely easy to set up and come with full tech support.

Take a look at:

Yahoo Stores
Volusion
MonsterCommerce

Also, take a look here for comparisons of various shopping cart software packages:

http://shopping-cart-review.toptenreviews.com/

[elludovico]

Check your PM

[wragge11]

Are you selling stuff by PM there?!?!

Just to clear it up, as that is against the forum rules!

Dan

[elludovico]

Nope, I was just ready to help bargains4life and to give him some advice. Anyway, I talk to Anthony about this post

c u
Ludovic

[ib4b.co.uk]

If that $1200 was for a shopping cart then forget about it.

I went with a reliable host who had everything I needed. The hosting varies between £12-45/year so I took a 2 year host out costing £35 a year. I bought cubecart for £45ish and that was it. I do have some knowledge on .html but didnt on php or anything, I just went to the free mods and got what I needed.

Some of the freelancer prices are stupidly high and some stupidly low. Try to get someone in between with a good rating.

[accent]

As a former freelance web developer I can categorically say that $1,200 is peanuts for a properly designed web site with a solid back end. Heck, you can pay ten times that for a well designed logo from a reputable agency and don't even ask about brand management.

If you're looking at providing a professional web presence, aim to spend around USD $5,000 for a unique look, logo and a bit of SEO. The investment WILL pay off if your marketing strategy is good.

It's an overhead like anything else. You get what you pay for.

You can't blame freelancers for charging $1,200. If you want a unique web site, it's dirt cheap. They need to make a living too.

Would you pay £50 to refurbish a high street store and expect it to look unique and function well?

Another thing, configuring a site properly to host credit card payments and hold customer data is not for the inexperienced, you need professional advice, if not the reprocussions to your business and customers can be severe. If in ANY doubt at all as to how to security test a site and your legal obligations, use a complete hosted solution from a reputable firm and use basic branding only.

I've seen this topic discussed so many times before, people skimp on their web site and regret it later when they rebrand at a huge cost. It's your store front, you're customer presence, why try to be cheap about it?

Ultimately, your site combined with your marketing is what sell your products.

[accent]

If I am given permission by a moderator I will pass on the details of a reputable design agency who can provide a complete solution. It wont be cheap, but quality never is.

They are based in the UK, and no, it's not my company and Im not on commission!