Reply to: Building a website - Software Development Query

[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.

[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]

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.

[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.

[Pondlife]

Windup.

:fishedinsmiie:

[Frome Golfer]

a "search box" where you cut and paste a url into and then this saves the page

This is the bit I'm struggling with. I can't work out what it is you are trying to achieve.

If you get your site up and running, as others have said, you are going to need to generate traffic and you will want to make sure that your site rises above all the chaff out there.

You need to generate good keyword focused content that will win at the search engines. You will also need to have a good monetisation plan for your site concept; as I said I can't quite visualise what you're trying to do but I assume you will be making money from Ads so you might want to familiarse yourself with the Google Adwords tool.

Incidentally, if you want a good primer on mobile app development (on Android) I couldn't recommend more highly the excellent "Hello Android" by Ed Burnette.

[NorthWestPerm2Contr]

I have been doing Web development on the side (and sometimes during roles) for the last 7 years. I can build Classic ASP websites very quickly but that's only with that number of years experience - If I took myself 7 years back I imagine I would be about 10 x slower at best. I can also code in .NET and that is the kind of skill you want to add to your CV if your a techie but you need an Object Oriented Programming background in order to be able to use that kind of thing. Otherwise you would have to use something like PHP/MySQL which you could pick up in about 6-12 months if you use it intensively but again you need some kind of programming background (any will do frankly).

[thelurker]

Making a static website is quite easy to learn, if you use something like Dreamweaver. It's a whole new level when you want to build a dynamic website.

Being honest, the fact that you are asking questions like "what coding skills do i need", says to me that it will take you a lot of time (no disrespect).

It would take a professional MONTHS to build the type of website you are looking for, yourself probably YEARS.

I am not trying to put you off coding, if you have the time, go for it. But i wouldn't expect to make any money off it any time soon (by "soon", i mean with the next 5 years).

Take a look at PHP, Perl, Java, Tomcat, Spring, MySQL, to name a few things.



As others have said though, once your website is built, that is only the beginning. You have to maintain it, communicate with your users/customers aswell.

Cheers for honesty, was thinking of dynamic wesbite

[kingcook]

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

For Android, take a look at developer.android.com

Dunno about iPhone, never done it.

[kingcook]

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

Making a static website is quite easy to learn, if you use something like Dreamweaver. It's a whole new level when you want to build a dynamic website.

Being honest, the fact that you are asking questions like "what coding skills do i need", says to me that it will take you a lot of time (no disrespect).

It would take a professional MONTHS to build the type of website you are looking for, yourself probably YEARS.

I am not trying to put you off coding, if you have the time, go for it. But i wouldn't expect to make any money off it any time soon (by "soon", i mean with the next 5 years).

Take a look at PHP, Perl, Java, Tomcat, Spring, MySQL, to name a few things.

As others have said though, once your website is built, that is only the beginning. You have to maintain it, communicate with your users/customers aswell.

[thelurker]

This is where it all begins to falls over, however you overcome the obstacles of getting it built and in a useable state - After you have either spent all the money or effort in learning/lost contract income by getting embroiled in a 'never finished' project.

Trust me, by the time you get anything relatively complex built and published, there will be new gens of browsers released and probably HTML5.

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

[tractor]

..

If you can't explain your idea to people who read English as a first language or advanced level other language, then you are going to have a hell of a time communicating with someone working remotely who reads and writes a basic level of English. This means the end product if you get one will not be useable.

I think you should just get yourself a simple website.

If your product requires a complicated website then you are going to have to pay more money and hire someone in the UK who you can visit or they can visit you. That way you will actually get something that is useable and are more likely to get people to use it.

And getting people to find and use a website when there are tonnes out there is another hurdle......

This is where it all begins to falls over, however you overcome the obstacles of getting it built and in a useable state - After you have either spent all the money or effort in learning/lost contract income by getting embroiled in a 'never finished' project.

Trust me, by the time you get anything relatively complex built and published, there will be new gens of browsers released and probably HTML5.

[SueEllen]

hope the "website" would provide a useful start...

If you can't explain your idea to people who read English as a first language or advanced level other language, then you are going to have a hell of a time communicating with someone working remotely who reads and writes a basic level of English. This means the end product if you get one will not be useable.

I think you should just get yourself a simple website.

If your product requires a complicated website then you are going to have to pay more money and hire someone in the UK who you can visit or they can visit you. That way you will actually get something that is useable and are more likely to get people to use it.

And getting people to find and use a website when there are tonnes out there is another hurdle......

[thelurker]

It depends on what you know and what you are aiming to do.

Read The Trouble With Non-tech Cofounders | TechCrunch as that will explain why we can't easily answer your questions.

And remember that your initial website is only a starting point. Once you have a minimum viable website the next stage is to get customers identify how they use the site, identify if and how they are profitable and create the second variation based on the initial information.

Thanks for this, I read on here about the points your raised and a good link to minimum viable product.

hope the "website" would provide a useful start...

[eek]

Whats the best way to do it yourself? What do I need to learn or what best package to use?

It depends on what you know and what you are aiming to do.

Read The Trouble With Non-tech Cofounders | TechCrunch as that will explain why we can't easily answer your questions.

And remember that your initial website is only a starting point. Once you have a minimum viable website the next stage is to get customers identify how they use the site, identify if and how they are profitable and create the second variation based on the initial information.