Hi:

A few years ago I started my own business making DVDs. Not having a lot of money to spend (and having already spent a lot on video equipment) I decided to go ahead and try to build my own website. But I just don't seem to have the time to devote to learn and keep on top of it. As a result I don't get nearly as much traffic as I think I could, and the site just doesn't look professional.

Still, money is an issue.

I've been contemplating looking for someone to do my website, but that leaves me with 2 questions: 1) How do you find a good webmaster? A site may look great, but how do I know he/she is good with SEO, etc.? 2) How much should it be expected to cost initially, and then on a monthly basis to maintain? (I imagine it's probably at least partially based on the number of pages.)

I appreciate any suggestions.

Jon

Well, for starters, you're in the right place if you're looking for someone. I'd say just browse the marketplace and look for someone with good reviews and past work.

Usually once you have the website set up, it really doesn't take much to maintain it, even if it's a blog. (Maybe 2-3 hours a month if you're happy with everything)

I hope my short little post helped you out. On a side note: I'm available for hire!

This wanders from the original post a little, but didn't want to start a new thread.

As an alternative to having a new site created, I'm considering having mine fixed. I created mine with Namo Web Editor and it jumps all over the place while loading in FF and probably others (though IE seems to be OK).

So, not knowing web design or SEO what I need advice on is: Is my site worth paying someone to fix the coding so that it loads clean & quick, or does my site have other issues, obvious to folks who know (you webmasters) that would make spending $ on it to have it fixed a waste? This is my website.

Thank you.

Jon

P.S. Thank you for the reply 1nteresting. I'll be sure to keep you in mind.

Not many webmasters I know would want to work on that site as it is. There is a ton of code to wade through, that is redundant, and not doing anything. I see 100s of empty <td> tags, but for what, I'm not sure.

Any professional will suggest a redesign.

People like me have a very refined sense of what makes a good website. If the site is working for you, there isn't any reason to change it, unless you are willing to spend something more than what you're keeping in your pocket. You could easily spend $2000 redesigning that site, but it depends on what you wanted and who did it.

If you have the money to spend, it looks like you could have a really nice site there.

Originally Posted by wayfarer07

If the site is working for you, there isn't any reason to change it

If you have the money to spend, it looks like you could have a really nice site there.

The site's not really working for me, because I believe that I could be getting a lot more traffic (so I'm thinking it lacks SEO in a big way). Also its "jumping" while loading may likely tax the patience of potential customers beyond limit.

I noticed on your site that your customers can add content to their website and I got the impression that you don't really work on the site after creation. But doesn't a site need regular maintenance (i.e. SEO). Otherwise it will fall in rankings because your competitors are always working on their SEO?

Regarding the money. Having a professional site done is something I've thought about for years, but never have the money. But I'm wondering how much money I've lost over the years because of not having it done.

There are lots of sites that I work on regularly, because sites do need maintenance. I try to make them as hands off as possible, however, because I don't like updating content. Making a site easy to add content to is naturally good SEO.

Have you joined any Grand Canyon forums? Most forums will allow you to put a link to your website in your signature and/or profile.

While you can't blatantly advertise your DVD in a post, you can offer expert answers to questions about the Grand Canyon and join in discussions about topics you are interested in.

Adding a current content feature to your site could also help. If you don't have time or inspiration to write articles yourself, you could still start a blog that links to posts in other people's blogs. It means searching the web for your keywords regularly, reading posts, excerpting or writing a summary and adding a "read more" link to their post.

I'd also recommend making the current content feature the main page and moving your ad to a graphic + text link. Make sure all the other links in your ad site are also available from your new main site.

Make sure your blog entries are searchable and the summaries contain relevant keywords.

Updating every day or two is probably best, but you don't have to search every day. When you search, select several posts you want to add, but give each of them a day or two at the top.

You can also recycle posts, but don't do it too often. For instance, a seasonal safety article can be re-run every year. Just read it over and update anything that needs it.

Be sure to ask permission for anything you want to excerpt or copy in total to your site. It's fine to write a summary with a link to the original post, article, or other site, but it's a violation of copyright to simply copy it over to your site without permission. Most people will be thrilled to have you interested, but professional writers will want their fee.

You can also join Twitter to let people know about your site. Don't just post your link, though. - And especially don't post it every few minutes. Like any other social network, you'll get more followers if you get involved. Use your blog. Write a micro-summary or article title with a link to your blog. If the post is not on the first page of your blog, then make the link to the actual post, but your real goal is to get people to your expert info site.

Finally, you don't have to join, but be sure to use Digg, Reddit, FaceBook, and other social media by including easy links for your readers to let their friends know about you via those services.

The time involved for all this? One morning a week to find articles and request permissions, about 20 to 30 minutes every day or two to update your blog and participate in Twitter, plus however much time you want to pop into forums and help folks. For me, I spend between 30 minutes and 4 hours a day in forums, but I'm unemployed and trying to build a home based business. I know several people who spend less than 20 minutes a day on forums.

Thanks gistek.

I'm going to print out your post and implement your suggestions as quick as I can. Which may not be too quick. Except for the forums, that's something I can start right away.

I suppose if I were smarter I'd drop my video projects and focus solely on my website. But the video angle is the part that I enjoy doing.

I took a hard look at my budget and projected sales to see if there was any way I could hire someone to take over and take care of my site, but to do that would, again, require that I drop my video projects because all my money is going into them (permits, equipment, replication). Maybe one day I'll be "discovered" (HA) and then I could afford it. But I'll start saving up with that in mind now.

But I've looked at quite a few sites promoting web building, and I still don't feel that I would know how to chose. Kindof like taking your automobile to a garage to have it fixed - how do you know the mechanic is good and that he's not going to rip you off?

Again, thank you for your post., it gives me a direction to go in.

Jon

Have you tried looking for a web designer/webmaster at Getafreelancer.com? You can post your project there and people would bid on it.

Thanks,Andrei.

Originally Posted by sierranomad

Hi:

A few years ago I started my own business making DVDs. Not having a lot of money to spend (and having already spent a lot on video equipment) I decided to go ahead and try to build my own website. But I just don't seem to have the time to devote to learn and keep on top of it. As a result I don't get nearly as much traffic as I think I could, and the site just doesn't look professional.

Still, money is an issue.

I've been contemplating looking for someone to do my website, but that leaves me with 2 questions: 1) How do you find a good webmaster? A site may look great, but how do I know he/she is good with SEO, etc.? 2) How much should it be expected to cost initially, and then on a monthly basis to maintain? (I imagine it's probably at least partially based on the number of pages.)

I appreciate any suggestions.

Jon

Here's how you can look at this situation:

1. How do you find a good webmaster? Well, it takes a bit of luck...But, IF you're determined you will bump into the right person, believe me...And by the way, you don't have to look inside a web developing company to find the right person either...I'm not even working at the moment, but I have a good batch of web developing experience that I picked up over the years of 'foolin' around. So don't think you have to be looking in the most obvious spots for a good webmaster 'cause you just don't.

2. How much should it be expected to cost initially, and then on a monthly basis to maintain? (I imagine it's probably at least partially based on the number of pages.) Hmmm, this is a really good question, but from my old experience, I would base the cost on a couple of different factors, which are:

Factor 1: What Kind Of Site Do You Want Developed? (Database Driven or Personal Blog etc..) This will definitely be a factor because there are lots of pages to work with in a Database Driven Website vs. A Personal Site (such as a blog, etc, Portfolio Type Site etc..)

Factor 2: Duration of Development? This is what I call the most important factor, actually...Here's why: Suppose someone says, hey man, I only need a basic site (couple of pages) BUT I need it done by this weekend, and they have NO idea what they actually want to look like. This could be a real head-ache, if they rely on your ideas, and creativity. I will explain a bit more to give you a better idea. I did a project for a friend and he wanted a site for his fathers tile company and he had no idea how the site was to look, so when he approached me on this project, I didn't know what kind of thoughts to put into it...The project went down hill REALLY Fast, but I still made some money off it (I don't think you want to know the price ): ... It eventually ended up with him shooting some pics of some tiles in his store, the outside sign of the store and some other pics. (pics were amaturely shot) but clear (good camera, but crooked pics, and some blury one's because of zoom in too far etc..) and he said just put them up online, add my phone number, etc..Contact info. To sum this up, this basic design took about a month, and anyone could of done this in 5 minutes...That's because I knew this person, PERSONALLY. If I didn't know this person in person, I wouldn't have enjoyed this at all. I CALLED THIS AN EXPERIENCE, NOT A GOOD EXPERIENCE, JUST AN EXPERIENCE. SO, with that said, I would have to say this:

Do something like this to start, and if you enjoyed doing it, PROCEED, other-wise PROCEED WITH Caution!

Hope that helps!
-Brian

make sure that your are steasy first and start to google, i tell you for sure that you will find the best master hmmmm...

___________
Zen
channel management
CD Printing

You are on your right way. Try searching in forums and other places of webmasters crowds.

I can't do your website for you, but I've written a guide that might help you. It's in my sig.

Good luck :P

Check and review webmasters portfolio to verify his/her works or projects.

Hi,
Here's what i think you should look for in a webmaster?

• Current in website creation methods
• Current in website enhancement techniques including video and animation
• Clear on website ownership issues
• Experienced and has examples of work completed you can review
• Able to apply search engine optimization techniques
• Offers owner access for changes or input
• Willing to incorporate owner written material
• Good communication skills
• Provides statistical analysis of website traffic
• Hourly or project cost fits within your budget

A webmaster has the big responsibility to satisfy your project requirements, within a budget, on-time and successfully drive business to your site. A webmaster is a professional. The company you hire will understand how to create an effective website that is easy to use.

I would suggest putting some trailers on youtube to promote your DVDs and video authoring services

For your site re-design have you considered looking at any of the free online shop scripts available? Try Cubecart v3 (free) and then install one of the free templates such as ArwenBlue. There are also plenty of free mods available for Cubecart v3 to assist with SEO, and all of your content (pages, products, categories etc) are all handled through a relatively straight forward point-and-click admin panel

If you have no experience at all you can probably hire one of the freelancers found on the cubecart forums to do script installation, skin installation/customising and mods installations for less than $100 total.

THank you, Tawfik. Helpful things to look for.

Downliner:

Thank you for the links. What I'm concerned about with such site creating software is this: will the created site be w3c compliant?

That's the problem with my current site. Although my software allowed me to create a website, there are many, many w3c incompatabilities.

Thank you,

JOn

You can try out some good freelancing websites like : getacoder.com etc Google out some you will have many