Thinking of setting up a website?

If I can do it - you can ... BUT ...

website building My counselling clients find me through my website because they are looking for info on relationships. They find my content by typing a 'keyword' in a search engine. A hardcopy directory does not quite cut it anymore.

I had long gathered that a 'simple' website - a kind of on-line brochure - would not get me any clients, other than perhaps those who had already heard about me via other means.

Already a savvy web designer?

If you are familiar with building a website you can ignore the rest of this page. However, do have a look at the programme that includes all you need to build a site that actually gets visitors.

What had changed?

I realised that my cobbled together website would no longer do. I needed a professional looking site. I started asking web designers what they could do with my original site. I had just out of interest added the odd few pages over the years - nothing particularly fancy.

"How much does it cost ...? HOW much did you say?"

The extra costs of setting up a website

I soon realised that I would have to hand over a small fortune to a website designer. However, I would still have to supply all the content, with the right keywords - ideally those that were in demand with a winnable supply. Yes ... and how was I suppose to learn about that?

If I wanted anything else added - such as newsletter sign ups, blog, forum, contact form, etc., they could work out a 'favourable' price for me.

And, by the way, I would subsequently have to pay each time I wanted a letter changed!

Oh please ... I may as well do it myself.

And that is when all the hassle started .....

Endless hours searching, though I did not have a clue what I should be searching for.

Endless lurking on forums, trying to understand what contributors were on about. What did this and that word or phrase mean? What did I actually need to know?

I thought a 'host' served coffee - not a website.

I did not know what the 'right' programme to build a website looked like, other than 'as simple as they come'. I aimlessly searched for whatever it was that I might need.

'Easy' solutions to website building? Forget it.

Domain name Then followed several false starts with programmes that promised I could do it all in 20 minutes or so. Mistake!

More hours were wasted registering a 'domain name' (if you are not familiar: the name in the address bar). What is 'Whois'? Why should I care? Can I use any name?

I registered the wrong domain names - the ones with no meanings and 'oh ... I don't like that one now' ...

All the so-called 'gurus' had failed to mention how important it is to get the name just right and whether it should be .com, .uk or .anything.

The next step - essential site-building knowledge

Then trouble really started:

How do you write copy for internet readers
Keywords have to appear in a certain place? Where exactly?
How and where do you 'upload' your site once you have built it? Why does it not work?
What is ftp, HTML, ...?
How do you know what traffic you are getting, if any at all? Oh ... you have to submit to search engines. No traffic - no business.
Not getting more than a couple of people a day visiting my pages? What now?
How do you avoid getting spammed with totally inappropriate emails - I don't need bodily enlargements of any kind and certainly not male ones, thank you.
Oh ... you should not advertise your email address? Too late!
How do you get your website to earn you an income?
Would I really be 'massively successful' online if I bought this, that or the other?
Where do you find all the information you can actually trust without being sold something totally unsuitable on the sneaky?
Which of these 'gurus' (read: snake oil sales 'executives') should I listen to?

Well ... you get my drift ...

Hours and days were wasted trying to get things to work and look OK-ish, let alone looking professional.

If you can find a path with no obstacles, it probably doesn't lead anywhere."

Frank A. Clark

Endless frustrations

At one point I had support tickets running with three different companies for various reasons I won't bore you with. Two of them took days to answer and/or did not read my questions properly ... SIGH ..... endless trying to figure things out myself, endless frustrations and late nights AGAIN.

'Home' at last - yippee!

SBI! One of the companies I was dealing with was absolutely superb though.

They responded very quickly and sorted problems out efficiently.

They were letting me know if there was going to bit of a delay (not days - just a few hours!) and why - even when when all we could do was to wait for the other outfits to act.

I knew I had come 'home'. What a shame I had not done so before - it would have saved me most of the above hassle, the wasted time, the costs, frustration, lonely battles, wasted opportunities and a sore head. Why? The programme has the whole caboodle and no snake-oil in site.

There are video action guides. There is a forum with on-subject discussions only. I can have the forums, newsletters, blogs - if and when I want them - all included, with the all the help, explanation and hand-holding if I need it.

Months later I still discover extras never even mentioned before buying. I could have also had the site my website build for me if I wanted it - for less than quoted elsewhere and with much more of a chance of success (ie people finding it at the very least).

What do you know lots you about?

Remember the story about all that stuff in my head? I am slowly emptying it all on these pages. For me this is an extension of my business. I can literally reach thousands of people at the same time.

Other people are doing just that too. They are using their knowledge - whatever their subject or however web savvy they are (or not, mostly) - to build websites that actually attract visitors without having to pay for advertising.