What would help you in setting up your website?

[shivermekimbers]

Hi all,

I've been working on the web for a few years now, doing a mixture of building websites, design, copywriting, and usability so have a good range of skills. I've been feeling like I want to do something that is helpful to people in some way for a while and am thinking that this could be through sharing my skills to help people starting out to set up a website. Unfortunately in my industry there is a bit of disdain for self-builders. And I can see why as people doing it themselves instead of hiring somebody means that a designer isn't being paid and a lot of bad websites end up on the internet. I can't do anything about the former as not everybody has the money to pay a designer (if I couldn't do it for myself I wouldn't be able to pay somebody!) but I can do something about the latter and help people to create better quality websites that are not just aesthetically pleasing but are also built on a solid framework (lots of themes, for example, look pretty but have such shoddy coding that they will no doubt cause problems as the web changes).

So, what would you want to know that would help you in building your own site?

I hope it's OK to post this here. I plan on doing this on a not-for-profit basis.

Well, I am planning on creating my own website and at the moment I feel like a rabbit in the headlights. The whole thing seems totally overwhelming... especially when you mention 'coding'. That word makes me want to run to the hills. So in answer to your question - everything. That is, everything from what.... ermmmm... host (is that even the right word?) to use, how to start, how much time to put aside, what coding is (exactly).... Have you thought about setting up your own blog with a step-by-step beginners guide to building a good-quality, well-designed website? I am assuming most people who start their own websites have a bit more knowledge than me, so hopefully someone with some better ideas will come along. But that's my total amateur perspective.

I don't want to be negative, but do you not think that people with little money will increasingly use tempates like Squarespace where you don't need much knowledge to produce a decent looking site?
(Just trying to make sure you don't put too much time and energy into an overcrowded industry .)

My question would be: Do you know of a good, fast UK hosting company for a budget of £10-£20 per month (SEO v important to my business so speed of loading/uptime crucial.)

I think the thing that people don't get is how important SEO can be and they usually rush to get a site then wish they had done it all differently, from choosing a URL onwards so help with that would I think be useful generally.

Why would you do this on a not-for-profit basis? This is an industry, why are you trying to undercut people?

If you want to help people, do some volunteering for a charity or something.