Help starting a website.

[O]

I need to start a website.
Information about myself, the services I offer, a gallery, e-mail address, etc.
Unfortunately I have zero experience in this area and would appreciate any help or advice I can get.

 

[CaptTurbo]

Only launch it if it has a professional look. I cannot believe some of the websites that are put out there. Go to craigslist and you see people attempting to hire web developers for 10 or 20 an hour. The going rate for a very good professional is about 60 to 80/hour.

There is a reason why. My advice would be to spend about 6 to 12 months learning HTML/DHTML CSS Stylesheets. They choose a language to hand your form actions and any dynamic portions. I suggest ColdFusion but I am biased. .Net and PHP are also solid choices.

 

[Sandan]

.net limits you to Windows servers

JSP and the like are portable

 

[Brian in Mesa]

Chandler Mike used to build sites for churches and businesses...

 

[Gaddabout]

I'm a web professional. It's not enough to know HTML, CSS, or even javascript. If you've never dealt with digital imaging or layout of any kind, you're going to bang your head against the wall and never get what you want.

You can buy professional, customizable templates for $60. I'd do that, then learn as much coding as you need to learn to get it up. You can get a smoking deal on server space from a place like Yahoo! ... it's like $11 a month for lots of space and they'll even register your domain name for you. All the management is browser based, so you won't need any additional FTP software.

I'd be happy to try and answer more questions for you if you need them.

 

[O]

I've been looking at a lot of hosting places, hostmonster, startlogic, godaddy, etc.
Everyone seems to have templates.
As I said it does not need to be a complicated site. A home pafe, a gallery page to display pictures of my work, a page about myself and perhaps a contact page.
It does need to look very professional though.

 

[dreamcastrocks]

I'm a web professional. It's not enough to know HTML, CSS, or even javascript. If you've never dealt with digital imaging or layout of any kind, you're going to bang your head against the wall and never get what you want.

You can buy professional, customizable templates for $60. I'd do that, then learn as much coding as you need to learn to get it up. You can get a smoking deal on server space from a place like Yahoo! ... it's like $11 a month for lots of space and they'll even register your domain name for you. All the management is browser based, so you won't need any additional FTP software.

I'd be happy to try and answer more questions for you if you need them.

This is the best advice that you can get. Even if you are a good coder, if you don't use Photoshop, or some other sort of imaging software to help you out, you will get frustrated.

 

[bankybruce]

I've been looking at a lot of hosting places, hostmonster, startlogic, godaddy, etc.
Everyone seems to have templates.
As I said it does not need to be a complicated site. A home pafe, a gallery page to display pictures of my work, a page about myself and perhaps a contact page.
It does need to look very professional though.

As a former GoDaddy employee, I would believe in thier products. Thier 5 page websitetonight is nice and easy to use. If you have any questions about it let me know, I am really good with it

 

[jw7]

I think the above advice is great about building a website, and there are several options and whatnot.

The main question is how do you get people to visit? Is this a website that you want to put on a business card so your current clients can visit? Do you want new clients to visit? Those are two completely different strategies.

Personally, I refrain from doing business where at all possible where they do not have a website, so this is a necessity.

One of the best sites about this is sitepoint. Just do a search on that forum and you can find a ton of answers.

 

[CaptTurbo]

as someone who rpovides hosting I detest shared hosting with larger companies. Of course I mainly build ecommerce, large traffic sites so my sites and those of my clients cant be constrained. But for a simple info site shared hosting is ok.

I do not agree with needing digital imaging tools to do layouts. I do agree that a template like one from templatemonster.com is a great way to get a nice layout.

Then once your up SEO development is the key. Im lucky in that my clients hire my wife to do that as she is very good and has a very successfull track record.

 

[CaptTurbo]

Oh and also, despite another post html, javascript is vital. It is the core of what you will be working with. Especially if you want MAC and windows users to view your site.