Does anyone know how to create a website?

[Matthew]

I am thinking about buying a software program to actually create a website and maintain it. I am looking at Dreamweaver 8, Dreamweaver MX 2004, FrontPage 2003, FrontPage 2002, Flash 8, Flash MX 2004, Regular HTML, Photoshop CS2, Photoshop CS, and Publisher 2003.

Been surfing the web and came across the above softwares. Any suggestions on which one is the easiest to learn?

BTW - I am a computer novice. All advice is greatly appreciated :? :?

 

[Warren Wallace]

andrechelle.com

 

[Jack May]

Three options depending on your outlook, skills and money.

1. get someone else to build it for you such as Andrechelle as mentioned.
2. buy software to build your own. Cheaper, but a good learning curve and you can do a lot of you own tweaking and updates etc. You mention being a computer novice, I'd suggest this isn't the best for you. I did it and loved the challenge.
3. go with a CMS (Content Management System) type look. Lots of programs available, the main one my IT guy recommends it Joomla. These are internet based software so that you can update your website from ANY internet enabled computer. The above software in option 2 are liscenced and one only one workstation.

So based on your own saying you're a novice, I'd suggest no 1 if you can afford that, or no 3 where you write it up in something like a word editing software and upload it. Cheap, supposed to be easy.

John

 

[Bruce Humphrey]

Don't forget the most important part of your website , web space. You will need to a place to upload your website once you are done building it and know how to redirect your domain name to that webspace so all your current and new customers can browse your website.

Call www.andrechelle.com and chat with them about a website, it will at least give you more options and information.

 

[rhyde]

Dreamweaver

But it’s not cheap or easy to use for a novice and you’ll want other programs photoshop, fireworks to work make pages

 

[Brian R]

Here I go again,
You can also have major yellow page advertiser build your website and get it published.
A website isn't any good if you don't let people know about it.

The good thing is...the Yellow Pages guys really suck at building websites but once it's built, you can really easily change all the stuff. Easiest, most professional website I have ever worked with.
It's no Major E-commerce coca-cola website or anything but who has that kinda money? Coca- Cola I suppose.

Here is my website. I did the entire thing myself from Att Yellow Pages templates.

www.service1carpetcleaning.com

Tell me what you think.

 

[DannyD]

Hey Matthew,

If you're a novice ya may just want to go w/ a pro. I'm also not very computer savvy & from all the time I put into mine I wish I'd have just paid someone. A few CC jobs could pay for a website. Also, I'm not sure how much those programs ya need cost but I'd think that for what ya had to pay for all that stuff, ya could just pay a pro & have them do it.

If $$ is tight & those programs don't cost as much as I think they will, ya may want to look into web.com. They have some pretty easy (easy being relative) templates to use. You'll still spend some time w/ tech support, but at least they're there for ya in a pinch.

Good luck

 

[Jay D]

i did doteasy.com. $100 for 5 years domain registration Free hosting with a simple template to use. it only shows as one page on the internet which makes it more a info website, but i still got some business from it. i have a friend building a new for me right now. if you have some money let andrecella to make it. She can get it to come up on page 1 of search engines which = $$$ if done right. my first one was cheap and thats what i needed at the time.

 

[rhino1]

websitepros.com

check out my site, they build it for free, you get a toll free # so you can track the results, easy to edit software comes with it so you can change things, $40 a month for the local package. No contract.

The only thing I am not happy with is where I am on an organic search results, but it's not something I was concerned about until recently, and we are working on that right now.

I know there are slicker and better sites, but for the money I am thrilled with mine and will be happier when I follow thru more on my end.

 

[Jim Williams]

You can download Yahoo sitebuilder at no charge. Very easy to use, even for people like myself who don't know much about this dot com crap.

You can use the templates or design it from scratch.

I get anywhere from 2 to 8 jobs a week from my home made site. May not be the best site on the net but it works!

 

[ACE]

Hey Matthew,

I would work on the content :text photos, for your site before buying expensive software or hiring someone. Don’t just copy from you competition. Make the site true to your business. I am slowing getting the content I want on my site with MS Publisher. When I’m happy with the content I’ll hire a pro to make it look smooth and get more hits.

Mike