building a website. dont know much about computers

shugy

Just as the tittle suggests. Im going to try and build a web-site following a youtube video but thought id come on here to see if anyone has done it before who doesnt know much about computers. Any videos ve watched to date, they seem all american based and wondering would this matter. Will i run into any difficulties because im here in ireland with hosting or other.

If you know of any videos thats suited to us here in ireland that i can watch, please share or pm me.

TBH, even thou im a bit clueless when it comes to computers, im very confident i can pull this off. The website will be mainly what i do as a handyman/builder and basicly just lots of pictures, written stuff and maybe a video or 2. Ill also be linking in my facebook page where i have my work pics.

As of now, ive purchased my domain name a month agao, watched a few videos and thats about it

superb choice of username

Just no :blink:. I know a bit about computers and tried to build a website a few years ago, but it turned out looking crap.

It is not easy to get looking good, and if your a professional, you want people to buy into your quality build work etc, you should have a quality looking website. It's better to not have a website as to have poor quality one.

Just pay a few grand (3-4) and get one professionally done. It'll last years. If done right, will boost your sales etc and get back your money.

Factor in the CT deduction, VAT reclaim etc, it'll be well worth it.

shugy

superb choice of username wrote: »

Just no :blink:. I know a bit about computers and tried to build a website a few years ago, but it turned out looking crap.

It is not easy to get looking good, and if your a professional, you want people to buy into your quality build work etc, you should have a quality looking website. It's better to not have a website as to have poor quality one.

Just pay a few grand (3-4) and get one professionally done. It'll last years. If done right, will boost your sales etc and get back your money.

Factor in the CT deduction, VAT reclaim etc, it'll be well worth it.

3-4k!! i was offered a decent one for 600euro and thought that was expensive because another guy says he can do it for 250 sterling. Ive seen some of his work and its decent enough. Im not looking anything fancy, just something to show my pics and what i do.

riclad

Get a book on html ,design .you,ll have to pay a hosting service ,
unless you use a free blog service ,

blogger.com, ,https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blogger_%28service%29
or tumblr.com
If you want to just put info ,pics, links to youtube,
blogger or even a free tumblr webpage will be enough.
american based means most of the websites will be us based as opposed to uk, ie
or eu based .
progamming or html all use basic international standard s.
i think blogger uses standard templates ,
you copy and paste pics ,text into the template ,
say start off at x user.blog .com
i think you can change the layout or template if you want something that looks different .
look on tumblr how to set up ,
google.it

if you are providing a service or running a business then its better to have your own domain ,
go to the library look for books basic web site design , html for dummies etc

ITS much easier to read a book,
as for videos, its hard to take in complex info .
books start off at basics what is a blog a webpage.

i would not learn to fix cars by watching videos .
i would buy a book first. basic car repair .
thats why schools still use books ,
you can read at your own pace ,
go back read again , make notes ,
a video is not the same as a book.

Say you have a blog you can put links in it to youtube video,s .
unless you are making money or advertising your business ,i,m
not sure i see the point of paying for a domain .
Unless you are providing a service or using the website for business services .
ie joe blogs building co

we are in the age of the web,
but 90 per cent of learning is done through books ,
audio or text .
or ebooks .
or pay a designer for a basic website ,
that you can put in text, video links ,pics,
ie you can update yourself .

maybe a blogger account would be enough.
look on google
diy builders blog .

http://theselfbuilddiary.blogspot.co.uk/

http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/blogging-for-dummies-cheat-sheet.html

shugy

riclad wrote: »

Get a book on html ,design .you,ll have to pay a hosting service ,
unless you use a free blog service ,

blogger.com, ,https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blogger_%28service%29
or tumblr.com
If you want to just put info ,pics, links to youtube,
blogger or even a free tumblr webpage will be enough.
american based means most of the websites will be us based as opposed to uk, ie
or eu based .
progamming or html all use basic international standard s.
i think blogger uses standard templates ,
you copy and paste pics ,text into the template ,
say start off at x user.blog .com
i think you can change the layout or template if you want something that looks different .
look on tumblr how to set up ,
google.it

if you are providing a service or running a business then its better to have your own domain ,
go to the library look for books basic web site design , html for dummies etc

ITS much easier to read a book,
as for videos, its hard to take in complex info .
books start off at basics what is a blog a webpage.

i would not learn to fix cars by watching videos .
i would buy a book first. basic car repair .
thats why schools still use books ,
you can read at your own pace ,
go back read again , make notes ,
a video is not the same as a book.

Say you have a blog you can put links in it to youtube video,s .
unless you are making money or advertising your business ,i,m
not sure i see the point of paying for a domain .
Unless you are providing a service or using the website for business services .
ie joe blogs building co

we are in the age of the web,
but 90 per cent of learning is done through books ,
audio or text .
or ebooks .
or pay a designer for a basic website ,
that you can put in text, video links ,pics,
ie you can update yourself .

maybe a blogger account would be enough.
look on google
diy builders blog .

I like the look of wordpress and know i could follow the videos if i just knew how to host it properly here in ireland. Most videos i have watched show hostgator but im thinking this is mainly for the US sites. My site will be for when i price jobs, my potential clients will be able to see visually my standard of work and also be able to read excellent reviews from past happy clients. My business is a handyman building type business where i build walls, tile kitchens, bathroom refits, painting and few other things like cutting lawns etc... Its nothing fancy and hopefully i can mange it on my own without paying to have someone do it for me. Ive already purchased my domain name few weeks ago, watch a few videos but like i said in the OP, thats as far as i am now but hopefully with a few tips from people on here, i can get this site up and running.

endacl

Squarespace. Piece of pi55 to build, cheap as chips, and 24/7 tech support.

Job done.

shugy

endacl wrote: »

Squarespace. Piece of pi55 to build, cheap as chips, and 24/7 tech support.

Job done.

Is that like wordpress or a hosting site?

riclad

Squarespace seems to be easy to use ,
they have loads of templates ,
maybe look for forum squarespace .
how to use squarespace setup
And the charge is reasonable .
you do,nt need to be a programmer to use it .

see www.squarespace.com

shugy

riclad wrote: »

Squarespace seems to be easy to use ,
they have loads of templates ,
maybe look for forum squarespace .
how to use squarespace setup
And the charge is reasonable .
you do,nt need to be a programmer to use it .

Is It easy for us here in ireland to get live with our .ie sites.I was reading hostgator had problems with our .ie sites. TBH, i like the look of word press for building the site, but hosting it here in ireland is where id be stuck.

daymobrew

shugy wrote: »

I like the look of wordpress and know i could follow the videos if i just knew how to host it properly here in ireland.

Search Google for "web hosting ireland"

shugy wrote: »

Its nothing fancy and hopefully i can mange it on my own without paying to have someone do it for me.

If someone who is a bit clueless about DIY said that they were going to do a bathroom refit, what would you say?
What is your time worth per hour? How many hours will creating a web site take? Will it be good? Will it be a false economy?

bmay529

I did something similar about a year ago and it is working great. I wanted a responsive website so that the content would adapt and look good on whatever device was used to view it, i.e. phone, tablet or PC. I decided to use Wordpress and selected one of several free responsive templates available. You have to make sure your hosting co supports Wordpress (I used Irish Domains who do). Other than a small annual cost for the domain/site name everything else I did was free. I found the "Tyler Moore" (US) Wordpress website brilliant and essentially told me what to do with "step-by-step" guides and even a help forum which was great on the few occasions I got stuck. PM me if you want more info... I have a web site page outlining what I did.

shugy

daymobrew wrote: »

Search Google for "web hosting ireland"

If someone who is a bit clueless about DIY said that they were going to do a bathroom refit, what would you say?
What is your time worth per hour? How many hours will creating a web site take? Will it be good? Will it be a false economy?

Building a very small web site to doing a complete bathroom refit are opposite ends of the scale. I would say i could spend a few hours messing about on a computer every night for a few weeks and can come up with a decent enough website. Completely different to you coming home and doing a bathroom refit! I know i could spend the 250sterling on someone else building it but i wouldnt have learnt anything from that. Id rather mess about on the computer in my free time after work building a site rather than spend the 250. I know its not alot of money but ontop of all other things ive spent on my business this year, it is to me.

shugy

bmay529 wrote: »

I did something similar about a year ago and it is working great. I wanted a responsive website so that the content would adapt and look good on whatever device was used to view it, i.e. phone, tablet or PC. I decided to use Wordpress and selected one of several free responsive templates available. You have to make sure your hosting co supports Wordpress (I used Irish Domains who do). Other than a small annual cost for the domain/site name everything else I did was free. I found the "Tyler Moore" (US) Wordpress website brilliant and essentially told me what to do with "step-by-step" guides and even a help forum which was great on the few occasions I got stuck. PM me if you want more info... I have a web site page outlining what I did.

Exactly how id like to do it. Will pm now

tricky D

shugy wrote: »

Building a very small web site to doing a complete bathroom refit are opposite ends of the scale. I would say i could spend a few hours messing about on a computer every night for a few weeks and can come up with a decent enough website. Completely different to you coming home and doing a bathroom refit! I know i could spend the 250sterling on someone else building it but i wouldnt have learnt anything from that. Id rather mess about on the computer in my free time after work building a site rather than spend the 250. I know its not alot of money but ontop of all other things ive spent on my business this year, it is to me.

My advice is to invest properly in your website. The savings you are thinking of could be the most expensive savings you make.

Beware as the time you spend a few nights a week turns into many many hours that you could be doing some thing more directly related and beneficial to your business. It's called opportunity cost and is too often neglected to a business person's peril. It's a classic false economy. Trying to spend so many hours to save £250 sounds like this. Think about how much your time is worth. If you value your time at $10/hour then after 25 hours you'll be effectively making a loss. There was a poster here a few years ago who boasted how much he saved by learning up how to do his site, but he spent hundreds of hours and the site was poor. He learned and implemented a lot of poor practices as he didn't know what the authoritative and up-to-date info sources were.

There's a formula for tradesman type sites that I have, but it has taken a while to develop and there are some crucial tick list items that you will never know about, especially considering the vast majority of 'professional' people developing websites don't know or use them. These are the difference in getting you right up the Google rankings, utilising html5 best for devices and a load of other factors.

Also at a glance at the top ranked few handyman sites out there, most of them are poor so you have an opportunity to rise above that competition but only if you invest and choose wisely. You simply won't be able to do that yourself.

riclad

Theres codes you put in the website , eg building company construction services irish company ireland builder dublin etc
i think these codes go in the robot.text file
seo google search engine optimisation , it helps your website appear on the first page of google if someone looks for a building company in ireland,
I presume you can claim a tax credit if you pay a company to build your website .
AS you claim a tax credit for accountancy fees or legal fees .
And websites have to be designed for mobile use as well as pc ,
as many people search on a phone or a tablet for services .

bmay529

tricky D wrote: »

My advice is to invest properly in your website. The savings you are thinking of could be the most expensive savings you make.

Beware as the time you spend a few nights a week turns into many many hours that you could be doing some thing more directly related and beneficial to your business. It's called opportunity cost and is too often neglected to a business person's peril. It's a classic false economy. Trying to spend so many hours to save £250 sounds like this. Think about how much your time is worth. If you value your time at $10/hour then after 25 hours you'll be effectively making a loss. There was a poster here a few years ago who boasted how much he saved by learning up how to do his site, but he spent hundreds of hours and the site was poor. He learned and implemented a lot of poor practices as he didn't know what the authoritative and up-to-date info sources were.

There's a formula for tradesman type sites that I have, but it has taken a while to develop and there are some crucial tick list items that you will never know about, especially considering the vast majority of 'professional' people developing websites don't know or use them. These are the difference in getting you right up the Google rankings, utilising html5 best for devices and a load of other factors.

Also at a glance at the top ranked few handyman sites out there, most of them are poor so you have an opportunity to rise above that competition but only if you invest and choose wisely. You simply won't be able to do that yourself.

There is a lot of truth in this post. You can spend and waste a lot of time creating a website... and take your eye of the real breadwinner that is your business if you are not careful.

You also need to understand what you want from a website and it is a good idea to write that down before starting anything. Wordpress has many plugins to help with optimising target words for search engines, providing analytics (incl Google), etc but you still need to understand what you are trying to achieve.

tricky D

riclad wrote: »

Theres codes you put in the website , eg building company construction services irish company ireland builder dublin etc
i think these codes go in the robot.text file
seo google search engine optimisation , it helps your website appear on the first page of google if someone looks for a building company in ireland,

This is so wrong.

First, that's not what robot.txt is for.

Secondly, what riclad is talking about is meta keywords tag attributes. These have been totally useless for at least a decade. They were abused so badly that no search engine of note pays any attention to them. Only Bing looks at them and only to see if you have spammed them which they rightly penalise. They have ZERO positive effect for SEO.


SEO isn't really the Dark Art people say, it's just there is so much bad information out there and so many so-called SEO professionals who are actually dangerously clueless. Same for web 'designers', as there's still plenty of Wild West snake oil being sold out there which is one the main problems the OP will definitely run into and more importantly, won't know better.

That's why the OP needs a real professional. Mind you finding one who truly knows their stuff and can give good value is another matter.

kodistar

Hi there,

All you need is go daddy Google it they build website for you and put it live for you within 24 hrs very easy to use and only cost you 250 a year.hope I helped.