There's a lot of ways you can get a decent website up and running quickly. I took a basic web design class in college which covered HTML and CSS coding, and like a lot of things in life, it is tedious and confusing at times. Getting something to move where you want it, making sure you didn't leave any errors in your code, dealing with deprecated (old) code that doesn't groove anymore. I am currently running a niche info website which I built partly to learn web design, SEO, paid advertising strategies etc. So far it has been a huge learning experience. I am trying to drive as much traffic as I can so that I can monetize the page and bring in some money--anything--even if it's just beer money, it will be a success. I bought a domain for $10 and paid for a year of hosting, then built my page with the Wix platform.
Now, when you go with a template system, all of the underlying code is already there, you're just dragging the pieces around. But you can sort of mess with the HTML a little if you want to. I know enough about coding to alter things a bit to get what I want. With Wix, Weebly, etc you will see that most of the templates are super flashy, image dominant themes. I don't think that's very good. My theory is that people will not be bothered by a simplistic design, as long as they can get to the information quickly. In my class we conducted numerous usability tests, and found that many websites are laid out to look pretty, but the information is buried. Most people tend to muddle through sites instead of reading directions, so if your target doesn't find what he/she is looking for in the first few seconds they will leave. That's called a "bounce."
You could do this website in 4 pages or less: A simple, to the point landing page WITH your services and pricing listed there, right off the bat - an About page (take lots of before and after pictures, maybe put some testimonials there) - and a Contact page. Regardless of the contact page, you also need to plaster your phone number all over that bitch, on the top and bottom of every page so that nobody has to look more than a few seconds to find it. There's a lot more to this than I can spell out in one post, but there are lots of great books out there to help guide you the rest of the way. Just keep executing and teach yourself little by little. Cheers!
Now, when you go with a template system, all of the underlying code is already there, you're just dragging the pieces around. But you can sort of mess with the HTML a little if you want to. I know enough about coding to alter things a bit to get what I want. With Wix, Weebly, etc you will see that most of the templates are super flashy, image dominant themes. I don't think that's very good. My theory is that people will not be bothered by a simplistic design, as long as they can get to the information quickly. In my class we conducted numerous usability tests, and found that many websites are laid out to look pretty, but the information is buried. Most people tend to muddle through sites instead of reading directions, so if your target doesn't find what he/she is looking for in the first few seconds they will leave. That's called a "bounce."
You could do this website in 4 pages or less: A simple, to the point landing page WITH your services and pricing listed there, right off the bat - an About page (take lots of before and after pictures, maybe put some testimonials there) - and a Contact page. Regardless of the contact page, you also need to plaster your phone number all over that bitch, on the top and bottom of every page so that nobody has to look more than a few seconds to find it. There's a lot more to this than I can spell out in one post, but there are lots of great books out there to help guide you the rest of the way. Just keep executing and teach yourself little by little. Cheers!
