Building a website - Software Development Query

[jmo21]

This is also my fear hence why I wondered the best way to learn about building a website. There are few ideas I want to explore as a Plan B

What software/Coding skills I need, so I can at least create something that can be tested with users and then refined further.

Also what type of software skills are need to build mobile apps?

Thanks

Forget all this for a minute, what research have you done into the market you want to get into.

I know this is a bit Dragons Den but I hope you have done some research before you go any further as to how this business will actually make money.

The website is actually the easy bit, assuming you get someone else to build it. As others have said, it could take you ages to build a decent dynamic site.

[v8gaz]

This may be an appropriate point to mention the platform that I'm curently using for developing my Plan B. we looked at coding from scratch, then discovered a great 'software as a service' platform. It allows you to creat business process flows in a visio-style environment, then turns this into working code. Very very fast turnaround on systems, ideal for prototyping, concept testing etc. The guys who run it took our spec and built a working prototype with one developer in 5 days.

It was developed to allow business users to modify apps when their business processes change, but its also great for getting from concept to demo in days.

Great for me and anyone else who wants a protoype site in 5 days, but probably not great for you code monkeys

If anyone needs a plan B developed sufficiently to get in front of investors, gimme a shout and I can put you in touch. Declaration of interest - my plan B partners and I love this stuff so much we became an introducer, so yes we will get a bung if you choose to use it.

[SueEllen]

This may be an appropriate point to mention the platform that I'm curently using for developing my Plan B. we looked at coding from scratch, then discovered a great 'software as a service' platform. It allows you to creat business process flows in a visio-style environment, then turns this into working code. Very very fast turnaround on systems, ideal for prototyping, concept testing etc. The guys who run it took our spec and built a working prototype with one developer in 5 days.

It was developed to allow business users to modify apps when their business processes change, but its also great for getting from concept to demo in days.

Great for me and anyone else who wants a protoype site in 5 days, but probably not great for you code monkeys

It's great for the code monkeys who developed the site and the associated software/platform behind it. They get on-going and interesting work.

Very few small businesses these days need their own uniquely designed web back-end. There is plenty of stuff out there and there has been for a while though some of it is pitta to use.

Anyway the real issue thelurker is getting people to his site.

Even if people find you via a search engine there are many little things that will put people of using you particularly if they haven't heard of you.

The fact that some web-only businesses have restored to traditional advertising i.e. TV, tube, bus, train, bill boards, while others have just linked themselves into ebay and amazon shows how difficult it is to generate paying traffic.

[v8gaz]

It's great for the code monkeys who developed the site and the associated software/platform behind it. They get on-going and interesting work.

Very few small businesses these days need their own uniquely designed web back-end. There is plenty of stuff out there and there has been for a while though some of it is pitta to use.

Anyway the real issue thelurker is getting people to his site.

Even if people find you via a search engine there are many little things that will put people of using you particularly if they haven't heard of you.

The fact that some web-only businesses have restored to traditional advertising i.e. TV, tube, bus, train, bill boards, while others have just linked themselves into ebay and amazon shows how difficult it is to generate paying traffic.

You are absolutely right, the real dealbreaker is traffic. You may have the best website in the world, but unless you can drive people there it's not worth a damn. And to do that in a reasonable amount of time takes major marketing bucks.