Hi. I'm new to the forums...this is my first post.

I make hip-hop/r'n'b/pop instrumentals as a small business. I've had some success this year, making a couple grand in my first 6 months with very minimal marketing. I feel that it's time my product deserves its own website.

I am having trouble deciding which kind of site to make. I plan to sell my instrumentals on a smooth-running, relatively simple website. I have some experience with graphics and plan to do everything myself.

I've done basic Wordpress-backed sites hosted by Hostgator. I understand that Google places a high priority on Wordpress in it's search results.

However, I feel restricted making Wordpress sites because of its default blog-based format. I think I'd have a lot more flexibility just making a site from scratch. Also, there is only so much I can do with WYSIWYG editors on Wordpress....I found myself having to do a lot of HTML coding on my pages which I'd prefer to stay away from.

I have an interest in making a site with Dreamweaver...is this a good idea? I want to make the site as marketable as possible, so would it be better if I just stuck with Wordpress? Other than these ideas, are there any other simple yet effective ways to make basic websites that can rank high on Google?

Thanks a lot!

Tim

Learn HTML & CSS and just about everything you need is there.

Learn to use a server side language as well and you can then do just about anything you want to.

What you use as an editor means little in the grand scheme of things.

Other than these ideas, are there any other simple yet effective ways to make basic websites that can rank high on Google?

NOTHING you have mentioned above will make a blind bit of difference on how the site pages will fare in the search engines.

chrishirst:

Thanks for the reply...any recommended readings or software for learning HTML and CSS? I know theres a ton out there...just wanted to know if any stood out amongst others.

That's good that the type of page won't matter for search engine rankings...broadens my choices a lot!

Thanks again

I usually recommend this book as it takes you step by step through building a site. You can order direct from Sitepoint or Amazon stock it.