Logo and web site design on a tight budget

[entrepreneurmum]

Hi - any top tips for getting a logo and website designed. I have barely any budget (about £500) but I really need a shop window just to get me started and to point people to. Has anyone done anything similar with a budget like this?

I do it myself on photoshop (£50) and by buying a template online. (£10-£50)

An "out of the box" website is best if your budget is tight. The likes of self-hosted Wordpress (free) for information/brochure-type websites or community edition Magento (also free) for e-commerce is ideal.

Both have a learning curve, but there are plenty of tutorials out there. There are free 'themes' (for look and feel) widely available for both, or you can buy premium themes - e.g. Themeforest.

Most hosting companies will let you set up Wordpress or Magento in just a few clicks - e.g. Heart Internet. The likes of Vidahost (as an example) will even install it for you as part of your account setup. Vidahost starts from £17 per year, Heart is about £30 (+VAT for both).

Domain name costs from about £3.49/year and can be registered through hosting company or direct through the likes of 123-reg.co.uk.

For logo design, try peopleperhour.com and look at each designer's portfolio until you find one that appeals.

£500 should be plenty for a small start up business, so long as your website is of fairly limited functionality.

I would get a logo designed by a designer, have it supplied in various formats, then use it on your website. You can buy DIY packages but really you get what you pay for! I would suggest getting a web builder to put something simple together for you in Wordpress or Joomla.

Most web designers charge about £40 per hour and a simple site should on,y take them a few hours. I'm a graphic designer and I charge £150 for a logo and branding advice (colours, typefaces etc). More than happy to help if you want to PM me! If not good luck with your new venture.

Ask around local small businesses. My web designer does loads of local businesses he hosts my website, built and maintains for £500 for the first year and £250 a year after that.
My logo was designed for free by a local printer who I buy my business cards from etc.

You could also try the likes of People Per Hour. It`s about £2_300 for a basic website. I am currently going through the pain barrier of doing it myself though via wordpress as that is free!