I want to build a WEB SITE-----Advice or Opinions?

GRANDAM

I want to build a WEB SITE to sell coins on. Anybody out there have any advice or opinions?

#1 - Who should I hire to design it?
#2 - How much should it cost?
#3 - How will people find my site?
#4 - What are monthly costs?
#5 - Are there fee's to be listed under search engines?
#6 - What are capicity limits? How much space do you have to list on? Is it unlimited?
#7 - Who should I avoid?
#8 - Those of you who have sites,,,,, do you sell much thru it?
#9 - Do it or don't do it?

Thanks for any input you can provide,

GrandAm

CarlWohlforth

Since I created my own website I understand how it works. That means I can update the site myself whenever I sell a coin or add a new one. If you hire some one else to build your site make sure you learn how to update it yourself.

I use FatCow for web hosting. Lucy recommended them to me and I'm happy with them. I have a link to their site from my webpage (link below). It costs me $99/year and $20 more for the domain name. I haven't run into any space or bandwidth limits yet.

I submitted my links to the search engines manually. It took a long time but now I show up in most of them. If you pay you can get listed quicker.

Bikingnut

I think you need to check out the link below. I don't think you can beet this.

link

nOoBiEeE

You have great questions but it is just way too much to go into but I will try.

You can create a website your self using software like Photoshop or Dreamweaver. This is not that easy and you need to know something about the software itself. You can also buy premade web templates but in order to make changes to what you want it to look like, you need to use photoshop or dreamweaver anways for those changes. AOL or Yahoo, I think, lets you make a free website and runs you through steps in creating it, kind of like an online template. It's easy but limits you in what you can actually do and puts banners/advertsiments all over the site. If you wish to make a personal site, then it is ok, if you want to sell something and make it more professional, use the software I mentioned above or buy premade templates.

If you hire someone, they will charge anywhere from $50 to $100 per hour, depending on the complexity/content of the site. Some places charge per web page, so if your website consists of 1 page, it may cost $50. 2 pages, $100. You get the point.

In order for people to find your site, you need to advertise or exchange links with others. Here is how it works, Yahoo/Google does something called indexing on a regular basis. It goes out and searches the web, if it locates your site, it will index it into their database and add it to what you see when you search through the Yahoo/Google search pages. yahoo and Google though work in this way, the more sites out there that link to your site, the qwuicker it will get indexed. If you have no site linking to you, it will take an eternity, if at all. You can also pay them to add your site to their database but can run you $300 and up and is not guarunteed. The payment is only for them to look at your site, not neccesarily to add it to the database.

You can also do a link exchange with other sites that have somewhat the same thing that you have or are offering. Soo, lets say you create a site about monkeys and I have a site about monkeys, we would agree to post each others link on our own websites thus increasing each others site visibility. There are also sites called link farms in which you pay them a few bucks and they add your site to 100's of others. Do not do a link farm, it is not liked by Yahoo or Google when it comes down to adding it to their database, they hate link farms and so do I.

On to the next topic of capacity. This can mean a few things. When you sign up for webhosting, you have limits on how many emails you can send/receive, on how much you can upload/download and on how much traffic you are allowed. The more you pay in regards to webhosting, the less restrictions you have. If you go over these limits, your site will either be shut down for a few hours/days or you pay for all the additional usage.

Webhosting fees are really the only thing you need to worry about.

Basically, creating a good site depends on the content of your site, keywords, meta tags and the quality of the sites that link to you. And I suggest that you never ever pay a site to list you, it's a waste of money. This is the best link I have on learning more...
http://www.spider-food.net/

I do web design for a living, I will not post the link to my site but if you click on the link in my sig, you will know where to go..

PM me if you need more info...

mrearlygold

Could be a nightmare if you hire the wrong people and there's a lot more "wrong" people than right ones.

Big question. Are you going to have a database?

TP

If you think it was tough for a neophyte to buy accurately graded coins in the 1970's, the internet industry will really blow you away.

Kriek

I can provide lost cost Web Development-Design-Hosting-Administration.

wayneherndon

You should start by just doing some reasearch on the web. Search for web hosts in Google and follow some of the links and read about their packages. You'll get many of your questions answered that way. Here's the host I use.. There are some other providers out there that will save you a few bucks a month but this was one of the better deals around when I signed up. Changing hosts is not big problem but not something you want to do frequently.

Good luck.

WH

JrGMan2004

Kriek has a great web hosting plan that I've been considering... just need to decide if I really want to have a web site...

Kriek

Thanks George.

nwcs

#1 - Who should I hire to design it?

Whoever can best carry out your vision for the web site

#2 - How much should it cost?

It can vary dramatically from little to many thousands depending upon design, complexity, and extras needed to support it.

#3 - How will people find my site?

Usually by word of mouth, posts made to forums, and search engines

#4 - What are monthly costs?

Vary by provider. Many ASPs are around $20 or so per month.

#5 - Are there fee's to be listed under search engines?

Not for simply being listed. But they all have paid placement so if you want to ensure your placement you bid on keywords to be listed under.

#6 - What are capicity limits? How much space do you have to list on? Is it unlimited?

Depends upon your provider.

#7 - Who should I avoid?

Whoever cannot provide you with answers such as: that they have failover, database access, and nightly backups.

#8 - Those of you who have sites,,,,, do you sell much thru it?

All the web sites I have designed/programmed are commercial in nature and I know that they have generated around $50,000,000+ or so in revenue over the past 2 years and a part.

#9 - Do it or don't do it?

Only if you're committed to it, to do a good job requires working at it and paying the money to do ir right.

Neil

mrearlygold

Are you planning on having a database and shopping cart? Does it matter if you own the website that you pay for?

TP

Neptune

you can get basic 'build yourself' sites from godaddy.com (and others) for cheapo and the .com domain names are on sale for 6.95. My suggestion would be to buy html and or website for dummies and read it.

GRANDAM

Guys,

Thanks for all the info & advice. I must say though,,,,,I am more confused now than ever!

Thanks, GrandAm

certifiedsilverdollar

YAHOO WEB HOSTING. You build your own site using numerous designs of your choice. You choose your own .com site name/address (as long as it is available and it only costs 12 dollars a month. My site is designed through them and I love it because I have total control. Now promoting your website is something else. I am still learning. Search engines are great if you can get ranked high. But there are tricks to it and they are constantly changing. Alot of the bigger engines charge fees. This you have to study up on, on your own, and decide what you want to do. No point in having a site if no one will ever make it there. Then you can market it in coin forums such as this one, webrings, banner exchanges, etc. Word of advice.................use accurate descriptions of your products, fair pricing, have a return policy, and be extra nice to your customers. Returning customers are critical. They generate revenue, and recommend others to you. Be honest and fair with them, and good things will happen. Cheat someone, and be doomed. Not worth misrepresenting something to make one sale, and losing 50 in the future. If you don't want to design your own site, Krieg (member here) has a good deal on designing one for you. My site: www.certifiedsilverdollar.com (dummy-proof through yahoo) I have had my site up for only a month or so, and have had some good business for the low inventory I carry. Two people have come back and bought other coins from me, because I am honest, offer a return if unhappy, ship products quickly, and take time to answer their questions via the net and the telephone. If I do not know an answer, I tell them that, and find the answer out and get back with them on it. It can be successful for sure, but you have to be comitted to customer satisfaction. I would rather lose money myself, than have an unhappy customer. I love this coin industry and do it out of the fascination of the coins, not to get rich (not that I would mind if that happened) -Good luck (to you and me) Oh yes, I started the site to try and get away from Ebay's high auction prices, paypal fees, etc............in an attempt to keep my costs and therefore prices low. I still use eBay for some coins, but many so far have sold without having to post them there. From my perspective, if I sell 1 coin per month off of my site, rather than eBay, then that has paid for my site. Also, I get to know my customers much better through my site than on eBay. A couple of them call me on a regular basis now, just to talk about coins I bought, coins they bought, what they are seeking, etc.

poorguy

<rant shameless_promotion="100%">

I am a student at McNeese State University in Lake Charles, LA. I have been building websites for over 5 years. I have been collecting and grading coins since I have been in junior high-school. I have worked for crap bosses for 9 years now and I have the skills and know-how to run e-commerce websites. I have built several. Here is one: www.mcneese.edu/bookstore/ . I have many websites under my belt. Just private message me and I will reply with a list of them. I am in the process of building a website containing several coin dealers. If you or anyone on this message board is interested, please let me know.

If you would like your store on a website that will be seen by millions, join me on my quest to become a major power in numismatics.

The website will be like a mini-mall of dealer websites. A one-stop-shop for all coin collecting needs.

-Off my soapbox now.

-</rant>