Creating a basic website - can it be done for free?

[TR888]

My husband is a decorator and would like to create a very basic website to advertise his services. The idea is to be able to post a link to it on social media so he can show some photos and his contact details - not to take payment through it, for example.

He's spent a good couple of hours trying to set up a Wordpress account. He can see it on his phone but when he sends me the link, it's empty and I get a message saying that his page can't be found. Is it because he's gone for the free version? Does he have to pay, realistically? Any help would be much appreciated.

Isn’t WIX a free service.

Yes, WIX is free. I'm just starting mine, but finding it difficult, but that might just be me and my lack of tech skills.

Has he bought an attached a domain name?

If he’s only going to use it to link via social media, why not just use social media?

People would rather see photos in front of their face rather than follow a link!

I would use decent images on social media instead. A poorly designed website would out me off, SM with experience would make me more inclined to buy services from a one man business.

You can set up a website for free, but if he's already defeated by Wordpress.com then I'd say you'd be better off either using social media or paying someone to help him set up a basic site.

He should definitely set up a Google My Business account.

Thanks for your responses, it's all very useful. I'll definitely ask him to look at Google my Business, thanks again.

Wix would be worth looking at. I think it is free if you aren't adding on any 'shop' or 'hotel' etc.

It is fairly simple to use, and works well with the app for mobile and is all integrated with things like social media and google for ease of use.

I think social media is good for updates of photos of his work also, but a website is better for being able to list things like prices etc. I know most jobs he would price up individually, but I guess he has a day or hourly basic rate for certian things plus material so its good for customers to be able to get a vague figure in there mind before contacting. As better for adding reviews from past customers.