Web site design

[Mustang]

I am keen to establish a website for my LTD company to increase my exposure. I am freelancing as a project management consultant rather than being involved on the technical side.

1) What sort of things do people recommend having on the site?

2) What sort of costs would be involved to pay someone to set up the site?

I realise that 1000's of you out there have probably set up your own but I think it would take a while to get me familiar enough with HTML etc or is it really that easy.........?!

[xoggoth]

You could copy someone else's and change it a bit. Just go to each page and do a save as, or use one of those web copying thingies. I am sure fiddle won't mind if you copy his, it's got jokes (sort of) and everything. Make sure the lazy bugger sends you the joke updates regularly.

It is pretty easy actually as long as you don't want a lot of fancy stuff. With things like Dreamweaver or Frontpage you can do a decent looking small site. Even Word if you don't mind the files being 10 times the size they should be. My missus did one with Frontpage for her school and she's a bit of an IT earwig.

I asked same thing a while back. Small sites seem to start about £200, just look for ads in local shopper things.

PS 1) Porn. Preferably involving baboons or pigs, or even better, baboons and pigs.

[fiddleabout]

Sad to say the most popular internet search at the moment is "tsunami jokes"

Sad for 2 reasons
1. It reflect what a sad sick world this is.
2. I only put some up a couple of days ago so I missed the bandwaggon.

[thunderlizard]

You're not a proper web designer, so don't do it yourself. It is an artistic job, not a technical one. There are still a lot of decent freelance web designers who can do you something very stylish for well under a grand. If you're a freelance PM consultant I'd be surprised if you don't already know a few.

Write all the content before you engage a designer. It helps to have a rough idea of what kind of layout you want.

Gather a few addresses of some sites you fancy, so the designer has an idea of your tastes and the image you want Try and meet your designer in person.

Make sure you get all the source code, graphics files for branding, fonts etc., because web designers have a habit of emigrating, taking up carpentry etc. so they're rarely available if you ever need them again afterwards.

[fiddleabout]

You could just copy the look and feel of our most affluent entrepreneur's corporate website. It has a very individual look to it and has raised many comments here.

I refer, of course, to www.threaded.com

[Vetran]

www.ephgroup.com

Our hosting package (and a number of our far inferior competitors) include a web site building wizard, dead simple to use and chose from 50 decent templates. Pretty much idiot proof.

did I mention the url?

www.ephgroup.com


Alternatively things like later versions of Frontpage , Fusion (have a look on a few IT mags they are doing a free version of Fusion MX) & Dreamweaver support using templates which makes it fairly easy to bang out a standard corporate website. Don't use word, you will get thoroughly confused.

Alternatively PM me and I'll put you in touch with Dave who designed the EPH one and will do you a reasonable 5 page one for £200.

It all depends how artistic you are and how much time you want to spend on it. Of course its a pointer to IBOYOA for IR35.

[fiddleabout]

Re: www.ephgroup.com

> Pretty much idiot proof.

Never underestimate the ingenuity demonstrated by idiots to feck things up.

[Mustang]

Acronym...??! Translation required.

IBOYOA....??!

[fiddleabout]

Re: Acronym...??! Translation required.

It means...

In
Business
On
Your
Own
Account

.. after the PCG failed to get IR35 struck off they came up with the idea of making sure your business looked like a business.

When they started advising the mounting of brass plaques on the registered office and having business cards printed I decided that they were pretty much bankrupt on ideas and left.

IBOYA is a weak pointer to IR35 free but the only proven get-out-of-jail-free seems to be a valid and provable substitution clause in the contract.

I did actually rejoin PCG for the investigation insurances but have no real interest in the organisation which IMO is full of smug arses.

I did recently visit their forum to point out the complete rip-off of accountants charging high fees for the online filing of year-end PAYE and got very irritated by some of the posters (mostly the ones with posh sounding sigs indicating consultative council member and the like).

I'm really not sure if I want to belong to an organisation that elects such complete arses to be their representatives and will probably not renew my membership.

[Vetran]

Re: Acronym...??! Translation required.

Fiddle - you seem to have a obsession with the PCG.

IBOYOA was also mentioned in a few judgements and by ministers. As a certain company says - every little helps. At £200 if it brings in one profitable job then its paid for itself.