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Creating a Website

post #1 of 12
7/26/12 at 6:27am
Thread Starter 
I am not good with creating a website, is there free ones out there that you can just click on options, etc... to create one?

Plus domain name? do you get that separate or can the website creator do that too?

I am in the middle of coming up with my business cards and already people are asking to see my work and i don't have a website.

Oh gosh, labels, do you put labels or business cards on your boxes when you deliver? icon_eek.gif
LIVE A GOOD LIFE ...
and in the end, it's not the years in a life, it's the life in the years.
Abraham Lincoln
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LIVE A GOOD LIFE ...
and in the end, it's not the years in a life, it's the life in the years.
Abraham Lincoln
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post #2 of 12
7/26/12 at 6:41am
If you are serious about your business I recommend contacting a professional to help design your web site, it is well worth it in the long run. In the meantime you can upload pictures to Facebook or a photo sharing site like Flickr until you have a real web site.

If you still want to go it alone I recommend looking at hosting packages with 1and1.com. Avoid flash-based sites like Wix.

We use both labels and business cards. Labels including ingredients are required in several states, and we attach several business cards to the final invoice.
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The Bakery Business Perspective
An experimental blog with new content every Tuesday!

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The Bakery Business Perspective
An experimental blog with new content every Tuesday!

Recent Articles: The Magic Pricing Formula • Copyright Law
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post #3 of 12
7/26/12 at 7:08am
I'm in the process of creating a website, and although I'm definitely no pro, more like an amateur lol, I can tell you what I've experienced. (I am learning as I go) I wasn't able to find any websites for free, although I bought a domain name from godaddy.com for $12, plus a few extra dollars for things like a certified website, privacy etc....ended up costing me $30 total. with that you get a free instapage.....which personally I find useless cause you can barely do anything with it. I now pay $6 a month for 5 pages and 5 emails, something like that. And I've been using youtube to learn html and do it myself. It's not that complicated using html once you get the hang of it, just time consuming trying to learn it all.....although I'm only doing basic stuff like adding backgrounds, banners, pictures, links and things like that. You can purchase things like wordpress to help you with your website, but I'm trying to do mine with as little cost as possible.

As far as labels, I purchased sticker paper, and print my logo with contact information, and cut it out and place it on my boxes.

Hope this helps
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post #4 of 12
7/26/12 at 7:14am
Hobby baker and graphic designer in reality. Follow jason_kraft's advice. Don't try to do a website on your own. Make the investment and pay to get it done.

Domain name is different from hosting. You can own/purchase the domain w/o hosting. However, there will be nothing visible. You have to have hosting for people to see the site. Some companies now give a special deal on the first year for your domain name if you do hosting with them.

IMPORTANT: If you have someone create your site and get the domain and hosting for you... MAKE SURE THE DOMAIN IS PURCHASED IN YOUR NAME. Some people are unscrupulous and will try to hostage your domain for more money.

HTH
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post #5 of 12
7/26/12 at 7:43am
Thread Starter 
Thank you, I will starting looking into my local, my oldest is a wiz at computers, maybe he has a friend who knows how and I could pay them with cupcakes, lol. I will look into hosting too.
LIVE A GOOD LIFE ...
and in the end, it's not the years in a life, it's the life in the years.
Abraham Lincoln
Reply
LIVE A GOOD LIFE ...
and in the end, it's not the years in a life, it's the life in the years.
Abraham Lincoln
Reply
post #6 of 12
7/26/12 at 8:49am
Keep in mind that a successful web presence requires not just technology skills but also knowledge in design, business, usability, copywriting, online advertising, and SEO. A computer wiz would be great for implementing your site according to your specifications, but unless they also have the other skills mentioned that's just one piece of the puzzle.
.
The Bakery Business Perspective
An experimental blog with new content every Tuesday!

Recent Articles: The Magic Pricing Formula • Copyright Law
Reply
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The Bakery Business Perspective
An experimental blog with new content every Tuesday!

Recent Articles: The Magic Pricing Formula • Copyright Law
Reply
post #7 of 12
7/26/12 at 6:05pm
My website was just completed this week icon_smile.gif it was done by www.gddesignstudio.com an they were great through the process. My website is www.MyCakeBakery.com if you want to see their work.
Piece of Cake Bakery
www.MyCakeBakery.com
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Piece of Cake Bakery
www.MyCakeBakery.com
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post #8 of 12
7/26/12 at 9:24pm
I hired a pro. Your website is usually the first impression that a company has of your business. The professionalism (or lack of) gives the potential client an idea of your attention to detail and your success. Save your money and get it done professionally.
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post #9 of 12
7/26/12 at 10:03pm
i also hired out. I found a local company with really reasonable rates. They 1) purchased the domain name, 2) have 8 computers with different browsers and constantly check their sites to make sure they look right on all browsers, 3) allow a certain number of changes each year (not including new picture uploads), 4) were extremely conscious of my desires for the colors, layout, ect during the design process, and 5) send me quarterly reportedly reports about the site that tell me where the hits are coming from, how many visitors, unique visitors, ect.
All this for $300 per year! So well worth it. I get compliments on my site all the time.
Please check it out www.sugarmommascustomcakery.com
Every path has its puddles.
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Every path has its puddles.
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post #10 of 12
7/26/12 at 10:56pm
My web designers used Wordpress and all of those reports are on my site for me to see any time I want. I also only pay for my hosting. They taught me how to do the changes to my site myself. They provided the layout but all of the pages and posts are done by me. Once I paid them, it was mine. My site is also an e-commerce site. I would suggest that to be done by a pro too as you can spend lots of unnecessary money if you don't know how to get the best deal.
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post #11 of 12
7/27/12 at 12:11am
I thought about doing my website myself and even posted questions here about recommended sites. After looking at all I would need to learn to create a professional-looking website. I decided to pony up and hire a pro. Sometimes you've got to weigh the cost of your time. I could spend 40+ hours reading up on web design, but that's 40+ hours I could have used to improve my caking or focus on my business.

Your web presence is very important. I can often tell by the way a website looks if the product is going to be expensive icon_lol.gif . If the site looks professionally done and classy, I prepare my mind to spend some dough.
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post #12 of 12
7/27/12 at 7:45am
If you have good taste...easy peasy...

http://www.squarespace.com/templates/

They have templates, it's not a lot of money, and you can make corrections yourself.

Don't let it stop you if you really want to do this and don't have the money right now to spend on an amazing website right from the start.

Plus, you can try it for free, at least for now, to put on your cake photos.

And yes, I'm a designer. And no, I'm not affiliated with this place. I just don't agree on waiting until all the stars align.
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