Where to start?

shanefitz360

Hope this is in the right section.

I am currently running through some ideas in my head about an e-business, the main factor of which is obviously a site! However, I have very limited knowledge of websites and am totally lost as to where to start. I know about domains, hosting etc but have a few simple questions that would love an answer to.

1. How much does a web design generally cost? (simple site, something like <10 pages with simple features such as a forum)

2. If I buy a design, how do I do change things on the site without going to the designer, or if there is a problem would I easily be able to fix it?

3. If I want to code the site myself, where is the best place to start? (learn html, dreamsweaver etc)

Thanks in advance for any answers, and any obvious questions I've missed could you please answer/give advice.

waynefrancis

shanefitz360 wrote: »

Hope this is in the right section.

I am currently running through some ideas in my head about an e-business, the main factor of which is obviously a site! However, I have very limited knowledge of websites and am totally lost as to where to start. I know about domains, hosting etc but have a few simple questions that would love an answer to.

1. How much does a web design generally cost? (simple site, something like <10 pages with simple features such as a forum)

2. If I buy a design, how do I do change things on the site without going to the designer, or if there is a problem would I easily be able to fix it?

3. If I want to code the site myself, where is the best place to start? (learn html, dreamsweaver etc)

Thanks in advance for any answers, and any obvious questions I've missed could you please answer/give advice.

1. How much does a web design generally cost? (simple site, something like <10 pages with simple features such as a forum)

This is really depends on your budget,some webmasters will charge more and some less (generally between 100-500 webdesign only),on my suggestion if you start and really a newbie starting a site with a forum on it would be a very tedious work for you.You should more spare time to moderate posts or you can hire someone,this is another issue.Forum also takes a bigger diskspace and bandwidth on your host,this is what I have known from others.So it is not advisable.

2. If I buy a design, how do I do change things on the site without going to the designer, or if there is a problem would I easily be able to fix it?

There are some softwares related to design and graphics and video editing.One of them is sony vegas,clip arts,adobe and others,also you should have some experience on this.

3. If I want to code the site myself, where is the best place to start? (learn html, dreamsweaver etc)

You should a basic understanding on html,php and others,there are lot of ebooks around just google it,but again it needstime and practice.Remember practice makes it perfect.


Note: My suggestion,if you want to make a site try making a blog using wordpress software,this would be great and believe it or not google loves wordpress blogs.

If you need help,just let me know.

tomED

A professional web designer will charge anything from 1,500 to 4,000 for a basic brochure website. There are plenty of cheap and nasty companies out there, you get what you pay for.

Here's a good article from a web designers point of view that might put things in perspective for you : http://www.jameslarkin.ie/2010/02/14/what-should-i-be-charging-for-webdesign/

If you want to change the "design" yourself, don't bother with a web designer, go grab a template and learn to do it yourself.

But if you're serious about your web presence, get a pro to do it.