I need a website...pros and cons of doing it yourself?

[AfishhCalledElvira]

I am looking at moonfruit at the moment to build my site- has anyone used this and what do you think about it? Is it better to pay out and get a site designed or is this just as good? My concern is that I'm going to have to chop my content back to get it into their pages?

Also I know what I want my domain name to be- any recommendations for companies to buy through?

I purchased my domain through 1&1 and created my own site using their website "template" service. It was actually surprisingly easy and does not require you to have any special IT skills and is good value.

Ultimately I am sure it is better to get a site professionally designed but when you are just starting out as I was then the cost was not justified.

Have you looked at Wordpress? It partly depends what you're going to be doing as to which solution is best for you.

I buy domains through 123-reg who seem to be reasonably priced and reliable.

It really depends on what your content is going to be and who your target audience is.

What you need to consider is the real basics. If its for the elderly it has to be stupid proof (sounds harsh, but its true). everything must be a click away. if its for kids , it has be colourful bright and fun and not so much on the navigation. Photography it will have to have galleries etc.. you get the drift.

If your idea is just to display information about yourself and a product / service that you offer a template is the perfect choice. Moonfruit does look ok, but you have not suggested what your content is ?

Most domain provider templates, site services are pretty good as they need to be to get your business. However I would really avoid software like wordpress, frontpage as they do not offer the complete flexibility that you may need.

Personally i would build my own and i have done in the past for.. believe it or not a website building business. It did mean i spent several months learning actionscript for Flash and XML and other coding languages, but i'm better for it.

good luck with the site.

I'm a hypnotherapist and the content is aimed at adults. It's fairly content heavy in the submenus but ultimately is an introduction to me in providing my contact details? I was toying with the idea of an online shop to sell my self hypnosis CDs though but that's a bonus really rather than a must have at this stage.

I need to move quickly really as I'm also desperate for new business cards but I need them to have the same look and feel....

for registering a domain, depends a bit on whether .co.uk (I'd suggest 123-reg.co.uk and have used them for years) whereas for a .com I'd say look at name.com, mydomain.com or godaddy.com as all have fairly keen prices for .com, .info, .net