[Mike Tyson]

So. I need to get myself a little basic website sorted for my new business. However, I have virtually no budget for anything fancy at the moment. Once the business is up and running properly I’ll revisit it. Word of mouth will be my biggest work gatherer, but a website is needed also obviously.

I was thinking for now of a basic 1-2 page site that just shows who I am, what I do, and how to reach me.

Anyone recommend any of the free services offered out there?

[yetix]

Squarespace may offer what you want and you could pay monthly to use it as a platform until you're able to develop something with a developer. You can often find some discount codes online for it I believe.

I'm sure there are similar alternatives, but from what I've been told Squarespace is fairly easy to use without prior experience in website design.

[steveri]

Around 30% of the web is built on WordPress and you might well get it as a free option with your domain/hosting. Tons of free themes to start with, then a slightly more pro approach from a paid theme (say $50) then hand it over to a professional developer when the thing takes off?

[Will Hunt]

We use Wordpress for Unknown Stones which is getting a bit clunky now, but only because there are so many individual crag pages.

It's free unless you want a posh URL which isn't xyz.wordpress.com. A nice neat domain costs about 15 quid a year.

[SA Chris]

Would a facebook page not do?

[Falling Down]

Wordpress have a 20% discount running at the moment.  (By coincidence they sent me an email this afternoon just after I’d read this post) Type WPSAVE20 in the checkout.

[Mike Tyson]

Some good knowledge folks, cheers.

I should add I bought a domain name, so have that all ready (is this beneficial?)

[colin8ll]

If you're after free then have a look at GitHub pages. It's quite simple to set up, there's some good templates you can modify and you can use your domain name with the site. Just do a quick search for "how to make a GitHub pages website" and see what you think. It's a bit more complicated than making a site with wix.com or squarespace but the end results can be just as good if you invest the effort getting to know what you're doing

[Mike Tyson]

Thanks for the tip. Unfortunately I was lost pretty quickly whilst looking at a guide on how to simply set it up! 

[remus]

It's worth investing in a domain name early on as switching will fuck up any SEO. It takes time to get to a decent position on Google search results, and if you have to switch from mybusiness.wordpress.com to mybusiness.com then you have to start again.

You've got a lot of free options if you're more technically minded, but if not either wordpress, Wix or Squarespace are all good options for a simple, static site. You shouldn't be paying more than £20/year for the website itself (that'd be an expensive site), and the domain name is likely to be around £15/year if the name you're after isn't something sought after like audi.com.

Other thing to look out for is a hosting company who will handle SSL certificates for you. This means your URL is http://Https://mybusiness.com rather than http://mybusiness.com. Google are moving towards punishing http websites in search results, and are throwing up increasingly severe warnings in chrome for non-https sites and it's much easier if you do it straight off the bat than try and get it sorted later.

[Mike Tyson]

Thanks Remus.

I’m going to have a pop at one of the ones mentioned (wix etc) and see what I can do.

As mentioned, I bought the domain name a few months back, so that’s sorted. With regards to hosting the site, presumably this is something Wix etc can do. Or do I need to be looking elsewhere?

[Mike Tyson]

Well I ended up using Wix in the end. Had a play with squarespace and WordPress but found the interface on Wix better i.e I could actually do something!

Managed to cobble a two page site up, will edit it all properly next week.

Cheers for the help and advice all.

[Fultonius]

Post up the link when you get it done. I used to dabble a bit in HTTP, so could give some useful tips. In fact, I once made a website for Alan Carne which I was due a week's guiding in return....which I've never taken up....one of these years!

http://www.alanduverdon.com/

He got the site re-designed a few years later, but the base code is the same, the new guys just tweaked the colours and layout.

[tomtom]

Mike - I’d advise making notes/taking pics or a short vid on your phone as to what you do. As....

The number of times I’ve done a website in the past. I send to set it up then do some stuff on it - then end up not touching it for 3-4 years - then wondering how the f*ck you do anything on it etc... even the simple stuff!

[Mike Tyson]

So I've been farting about and getting incredibly annoyed and frustrated with the whole process.

Please anyone cast your eye over what I've managed so far. I am acutely aware it is shite however! 🤣

I will be adding better photos etc once I get the machine out this week. I'll be adding farce book and Instagram links at some point soon too.

www.lowimpactforestry.ltd

[tomtom]

Looks fine Mike - does the job.

[Mike Tyson]

Cheers TT.

It’s desperately short of content as I need to get more action shots of it in the woods etc.

And I find it quite difficult to talk about myself/the business without sounding kinda cheesy. It’s a work in progress I guess.

[Steve R]

Firstly, didn't realise Mike Tyson was your actual name - that's rad 
Site looks good to me and what a cool little machine.

Small thing - I'm no grammar expert but I'd maybe lose a couple of commas from about us as follows (deleted commas marked with *):

"After 8 years specialising as a groundsman in Tree Surgery, Mike decided it was time for a new direction. Low Impact Forestry LTD was the result. With an upbringing in farming* and experience over the years operating plant and machinery, the switch to an owner/operator of a niche machine made perfect sense.
Low Impact Forestry is a small family business in its first stages of existence. We plan to grow and become well established in the local and wider areas* as a company who offer a safe, productive and quality service."

[bigironhorse]

Nice! The email address is missing an r from forestry.

[Mike Tyson]

Cheers for the advice! Definitely a bit trigger happy with the commas..... 

And good spot with the missing R! 

[tomtom]

When its up and ready - think about the visibility to search engines. Lots around about how to optimise your site so they pick it higher up the order...

Also worth looking at Facebook and Google advertising costs... it can start from very little. FB in particular allows you to be very targetted - so if you're canny and know your market (or know what type of people your customers are) a small spend can reap rewards. Both are pretty scalable so you can spend (literally) a few 10's of quid and gradually ramp up if need be.

Considered giving your cool machine a name? Silly things like that can make a difference...

[SamT]

Considered giving your cool machine a name? Silly things like that can make a difference...

What like Loggy McLogface.

[Mike Tyson]

Well it does have a pretty cool name as standard..... it’s called a Logbullet!

I intend to link to the manufacturers site from mine at some point. It was a custom build all the way from Finland.

[Plattsy]

Looks good.
Checked it on my phone and the phone numbers are clickable and open straight into make a call which is nice for the user. Might worth be worth doing something similar with the email address for PC and mobile users. Click the email address and it opens a new email with your email address already populated.

[steveri]

Nice - you're live - better than no end of tinkering! One comment, one question: regular case is easier to read than all caps (less shouty). Why is it 'low impact' - add a sentence on that.

There'll be a place in Wix you can edit the stuff in the <Head> to something better than 'mysite'. Maybe the wizard linked here: https://support.wix.com/en/article/adding-seo-page-titles-and-descriptions-meta-tags

[Mike Tyson]

More great advice, cheers folks. Off for a day out with the family, but I’ll be burying my head in the website later on.

[tomtom]

Considered giving your cool machine a name? Silly things like that can make a difference...

What like Loggy McLogface.

You should work in marketing :D

Well it does have a pretty cool name as standard..... it’s called a Logbullet!

Excellent!

[remus]

Might worth be worth doing something similar with the email address for PC and mobile users. Click the email address and it opens a new email with your email address already populated.

Good shout, and really easy change. All you need to do is make your email address a link with the following URL mailto:info@lowimpactforesty.ltd and it should just work.

[highrepute]

Looks good I think. Simple and clear.

Only thing I'd suggest is to have a bit of text on the main page describing what you do. The second paragraph from your about us page would do, I wouldn't worry about duplication.

Also, I'd like a few more details... What is low impact? What kind of jobs do you do, services you offer, etc. Just a short paragraph.

[Mike Tyson]

Nice - you're live - better than no end of tinkering! One comment, one question: regular case is easier to read than all caps (less shouty). Why is it 'low impact' - add a sentence on that.

There'll be a place in Wix you can edit the stuff in the <Head> to something better than 'mysite'. Maybe the wizard linked here: https://support.wix.com/en/article/adding-seo-page-titles-and-descriptions-meta-tags

The font I have chosen appears to only being in upper case  which is a shame as I have had my van sign written and all my business cards made now too!  Going to sort ‘mysite’ thingy next, cheers.

Might worth be worth doing something similar with the email address for PC and mobile users. Click the email address and it opens a new email with your email address already populated.

Good shout, and really easy change. All you need to do is make your email address a link with the following URL mailto:info@lowimpactforesty.ltd and it should just work.

Fuck me, I’ve only gone and managed to do this! 

Looks good I think. Simple and clear.

Only thing I'd suggest is to have a bit of text on the main page describing what you do. The second paragraph from your about us page would do, I wouldn't worry about duplication.

Also, I'd like a few more details... What is low impact? What kind of jobs do you do, services you offer, etc. Just a short paragraph.

I’m currently working on some more content which elaborates more on what we do and why it’s good, cheers for tip though.