getting a website sorted

[HelloOutThere]

Hi there has anyone got any suggestions how to set up a website in the easiest way? for my new business

Thanks!

We recent put together a simple guide to getting a new website...you might find it of interest;

There are two ways to go;

1. Get someone to design a bespoke site for you
2. Use a template like 1&1

Advantages of option 1 (if one properly) are quality and flexibility.
Advantage of option 2 is cheapness

You might find this step-by-step guide useful to look at, as it explains in 10 steps how to commission a website;

www.makeusawebsite.com/blog/the-business-owners-guide-to-commissioning-a-new-website/

Adele
MakeUsAWebsite

My husband did one for a hobby project and it was really nice. He used a system called Wordpress (basically it allows you to edit all the content and even I can use it so it must be good! lol) and then he installed a free theme which made it look professional. Check out Woo Themes for good themes.

There are two Wordpress versions, you need the one which is installed on to webspace. We use BigWetFish for hosting and they offer hosting with Wordpress ready installed :-)

Definitely agree it's worth giving Wordpress a go as apart from hosting ( which you need to pay for for any website) it is free or at least very cheap depending on which theme you choose, easy to set up and use and very flexible. If you want to be pointed in the right direction about where to start, PM me - not trying to sell anything honestly, just enthusiastic about Wordpress!

Depending on budget I would definitely think about getting someone to do it for you. People can always notice homemade websites. All depends what you want out of it.

Have a look at developers/designers on elance - good value and I have had some great freelance work done this way

Simon at UKSitebuilder rewrote DHs a couple of years back - he arranges discounted hosting for us too.
We do all the maintenance and updating.
But he's on the end of the email if we get stuck
excellent arrangement
(he knows me by this name)

I sell on Etsy but am starting my own website too as I don't want all my eggs in one basket. I looked at various options like BigCartel, IndieMade, Shopify, Weebly and so on. But I think the cheapest and most customisable option is for me to use Wordpress on my own hosting, with a theme by Woothemes as someone said above. I've used Wordpress before so I'm familar, it's just the ecommerce side of things I'm getting to grips with.

Wordpress is a cheap and excellent option if you are okay with a bit of fidding about behind the scenes and are reasonably computer literate. There are lots of support forums for Woothemes if you use a design by them (some of their themes are free) so this is a plus.

WordPress rocks. It simply rocks.

Also, there are thousands and thousands of themes out there - you don't have to compromise. I ended up at Elegant Themes which are paid-for themes because I wanted something very modern, clean and responsive (when it adapts for Mac/PC/mobile) and have been very happy with it, particularly as their trouble-shooting crew respond quickly to issues. But don't take my word for it, keep looking. Google your business type plus wordpress and you will find loads of examples.
My host is 1-2-3reg who have been fine for me.

However you do need to be at least slightly computer literate - even with a theme you will have to load all your own content and images and figure out where you've gone wrong if it looks wonky - so if you break computers by looking at them, get someone to make it for you. That said, if you get someone to do it really cheaply, I'll put money on the fact they'll just pre-load a theme

Completely agree, WhatHo - especially the last bit

I've been liking the look of elegant themes, they seem very classy.

any recommendations for hosting to go alongside wordpress? I had a website for a previous business that had problems with spammers sending emails as if from my email accounts.

Also there seemed to be an issue with at least one spammer using the same server (i.e. used the same ISP) so we got blacklisted in a few places.

Great advice! I am looking to start a website, possibly using Blue Host to host: link and a theme from Elegant Themes on a Wordpress platform. I think I have got that all right - its confusing when you aren't terribly computer literate (but I am learning as I go along).

DH has experience in creating websites, and often hires people to do things from elance and finds that a good way to get ad hoc IT work done affordably.