# Website price?



## Rich

Ok...so I use yahoo sitebuilder for my company website. It's $10/mo. It's ok.

For those of you who have company sites...

-what program did you use, if you did it yourself, and what do you pay? 
or​-who did you have do it and what did you pay them to set it up?


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## Roadog

I do my own. I use Dreamweaver software. I pay $17 a month, but thats for the capability of 4 web sites and subdomains and large amount of area! Currently I have 2 sites running and one sub domain(which will be removed cause we got the DPAP project on another server) I've gotten enough work off the site though to pay it for a life time!


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## Wolverine

Here is our website:

http://www.WolverineCoatings.com

We have used a few people over the years. I've learned that it is best to get a 'real' company to do it! Everyone we previously used was a one man show trying to do everything. Now we use a company that has 8 employees. They can do the site... set it up with hosting... turn key! What I like about them is the ability to have the best of both worlds. Most 'one man gang' site builders specialize in some type of site building (ie... html, flash, php). These guys have a person who specializes in each thing including SQL databases and some other stuff I don't really understand. 

HOWEVER... the flip side is that although there may be 8 people working on different aspects of my site, we STILL only deal with ONE dude who is the project manager! 

I can't recommend these guys highly enough. In fact, I've recommended them to at least 20 people who will RAVE about them. ALL 20 ! :thumbup: 

Their website is:
http://www.rhinosites.com

We use Michael... he is an ex-Marine... VERY reliable and organized! We've also learned to trust his judgement when it comes to online marketing. EVERY suggestion we have received regarding our website has been something that we went against the way Michael said to do it. DOH! 

Hope this helps!


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## Rich

hey wolv...I shot an email to rhinosites

kind of cool to see your site on there (free advertising):thumbsup: 

thanks


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## welovepainting

I paid 4,000 for a commercial, website, and seo marketing... 
http://www.welovepainting.com


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## FHI Decks & Windows

welovepainting said:


> I paid 4,000 for a commercial, website, and seo marketing...
> http://www.welovepainting.com


Nice web-site! Your "tv ad" is cool, it creates an image that your company is "big' since your on TV.


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## MAK-Deco

welovepainting said:


> I paid 4,000 for a commercial, website, and seo marketing...
> http://www.welovepainting.com


ditto, cool site!


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## welovepainting

Thank you the website has helped out tremendously with marketing, credibility, and lead generation. The tv ad works decent too and the price isn't all that bad.


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## Bushdude

I have a supplier who has a website and decided to build a new one, that was a 2 years ago and it's still not done, you klick it on and it still says under construction.

Why is it not possible for them to build a new site, while keeping the old one running?


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## George Z

This website: www.ecopainting.ca is our 4th generation website.
It costs about 4-5,000 a year, but it blows away the competition in SEO. 
First page results or even first results on any paint relevant search.
And believe me, first page on Google in Toronto on some terms is impossible.
As far as leads go, it's nearing to be ridiculous.
We now get about 40 requests for estimates a week now, 
we keep the best, decline the rest.
We do not take any more exterior or deck work.
Couple have offered to pay us a deposit before they even get an estimate to secure our availability.
Some simply tell us they don't want a regular painting company, 
they just want us. Whatever that means.
Our latest customers:
The Toronto Design Exchange (Exhibit Floor work every three months)
A trendy athletic wear chain (12 locations painted every year)
A very famous actress, and other well known local personalities.

Now I need more painters that fit our mold.

So, our website costs? worth every penny.


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## Larman

Gerorg,Would you mind sharing the website developer. I have been getting hits by nothing near what you are getting.


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## welovepainting

Larman if you like contact my seo guy i'm pretty sure he charges anywhere from 1,000 to 3,000 for seo depending on your keywords and location. Like George was saying it's worth every penny. We usually get at least 10 leads a week non stop year round from his services. Way cheaper than Service Magic not to mention your not sharing the lead. It's funny because we belong to service magic but with our seo services we get the lead first directly from our site then service magic offers to sell us the same lead. 
I also have noticed our clients expect us to be higher in price, similar to Georges story they don't want an average painting company they want us. 
heres my seo guy http://chicagowebsitedesigners.com/


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## George Z

welovepainting said:


> Thank you the website has helped out tremendously with marketing, credibility, and lead generation. The tv ad works decent too and the price isn't all that bad.


Great website!
I am impressed.


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## George Z

Larman said:


> Gerorg,Would you mind sharing the website developer. I have been getting hits by nothing near what you are getting.


It sort of developed for about 4 years.
I do a lot of the writing and some day to day SEO.
They did the Content Management, most SEO, link development etc.
The SEO person has been with me from the beginning
but I don't think she wants anymore business as she is involved with other projects as well.


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## John

I currently pay $100.00 a year for my hosting, I designed the website myself, which was the cheapest but not the best route to go. I don't run any newspaper advertising and all of my calls and contacts come through my website.  As for programing the site I used Dreamweaver 8, with Contribute for editing and updating the site. The SEO was done by myself, again not the best route but the cheapest, I'm pleased with my ranking results but they can always be better.

@welovepainting I checked out your website, and was wondering what was with the text in the background? Doesn't search engines blacklist you for stuff like that. I'm attaching a pic. (If it works) Can't get that to work, but I see thousands of addresses' and words in the background


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## Wolverine

Before Michael from Rhino sites did ours, you could type "Wolverine Coatings" in Google and NEVER find it even after over 40 pages... now... #1...

We've intentionally asked NOT to be ranked in other areas yet because we just can't handle any more business than we have right now. The other people that i have recommended Mike to are #1 in the areas they wanted to be ranked in... 

By the way, I don't have any financial interest in his company... I'm just sold on his work. I bet I've recommended him to 20 people at least. Every person who has used him has raved... And, you will too...

PS... I have WAY less than $4000 in my site... in fact, it's much closer to $1000...


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## RhinoSites

*Disclaimer:

*Hopefully, this post doesn't violate any Terms of Service here, and the Admins and Members pardon the shamless plug, but my ears kept ringing.

*The SPAM:
*
There are better solutions out there. Ask a lot of questions, and get a few quotes.

*Facts: 

We commission painters, and artists of all backgrounds.


* Semper Fi,

Michael


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## Brushslingers

Hmmmmm.... I have this crappy site with flash that I wanna kill see... hmmmm...


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## George Z

> Hopefully, this post doesn't violate any Terms of Service here, and the Admins and Members pardon the shamless plug, but my ears kept ringing.


If you really need to find out if your post violates the rules
all you need to do is read the rules:

http://www.painttalk.com/faq.php?faq=painttalk#faq_adrules

My opinion is, it is outright SPAM, as you are selling to the members here.
I guess the moderators are busy tonight


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## Wolverine

Hi George,

I sent Micheal a link to this site after several of the guys here called him from my recommendation above... So... it's not exactly a random spam... I'm not taking responsibility for Michaels post but I do know he is a pretty stand up guy...

I don't have any financial connection to him (other than I pay him to do my site) and I'm not related to him. In fact, I've never met him in person... What I do know is that the dude does great work, keeps his word, and gets results!

I don't recommend too many people these days. It seems like most people are just looking for the quick buck for the minimum amount of work. Many people just have low standards... 

Websites are the new frontier for business. And, I believe that Michael has given us a competitive edge. I wanted to share that with you guys because i know the pain of finding a good web guy with a 'real' company.


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## Crestwood

*Websites*

I've used citymax.com for several years and have created 2 sites, one is here. Easy to use, relatively cheap (~$210/yr. or $17/mo.) and I can edit any time I want. If someone else does a site, you've got to send updated text, new photos, etc. for them to add and it can get to be a real hassle. And expensive.

They have templates to start with - I took one and totally changed it so that it no longer looks like a template. It'll support all the gee-whiz features (flash intros, music, animation...) that _don't_ help with search engine rank as well as a pretty sophisticated shopping cart with secure credit card processing. (I'm planning to add a button for CC payments via PayPal.) The only thing CityMax doesn't support very well is a blog function. Their software is all online so nothing is on my computer that I have to learn. CityMax has been very responsive with email help; GoDaddy has live Americans on the phone that made it a breeze to get my site live and online.

I used Google Pages to make a free site for a family reunion - pretty basic, not very customizable and it still looks like a free site.

How I did it - 
1. Go to GoDaddy and get an distinctive and easy to remember web address. This is important - a good address is part of good marketing. If smithpainting.com is not available, try waycoolspringfieldpainter.com - you get the idea. Cost - about $10.

2. Make a site or have someone do it for you. There are many options available and you'll drive yourself crazy evaluating them all. Yahoo, Google, 1 & 1, GoDaddy, CityMax - any computer mag will have tons of ads. Look for online software, no HTML knowledge required, several email addresses. Don't worry about bandwidth restrictions - it'll be a while before your local painting company generates Amazon-type traffic.

3. Update, change, revise. Add pictures of new jobs, customer comments, etc. Marketing is not a silver bullet; it is a shotgun shell - many little things done well. A web site is one of those pellets, just like professional business cards, a logo, thank you cards, shirts, yard signs and a Brett Favre endorsement. Each will tell a prospective customer a bit about you and your company. Some will be attracted to your message and some will not. A poorly done 1 page web site sends a message just like clip art business cards and torn shirts do. Until a customer meets you, your site is the most effective way of communicating who you are ad what type of work you do.

4. Patience. It will take about 6 to 9 months for your site to show up on Google. Initially, it will rank pretty high because it's new content. People might even call. You'll be very pleased with yourself.

5. Go back to #3. Updated content ranks, static content falls.

6. Read about search engines and how to rank higher. Search "search engine optimization", "small business marketing" (ducttapemarketing is one of my favorites), online marketing, etc. It may be Greek to you now but you will learn. I did it - an hour here, an hour there. It's not rocket science but it does take a bit of effort. Just like owning your own business.


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## [email protected]

Crestwood,

Awesome post! 

I have done just as you have suggested, even before I read your post...

I have something started... (I'm not a web designer) and am/will be working on this site for some time ahead... 

http://www.agapepaintinginc.com/

I just got this thing started yesterday and I'll have to say.... There is soo much I do not know.... 

If I cannot find a fairly inexpensive web design program, I may just as well be hiring someone to work on this. I do have a couple people in mind, but I hesitate when it comes to family members...  They seem to take more time and we all know "time is money"....

As I am working on this design idea, I know what this site looks like now, is not what it will look like when it's done. For now, I'm playing around with it until I can find a more serious avenue to accomplish what I am looking for. :thumbsup: At the same time, I am learning a few things about web creation/design... Wow.. what a chore!

Thanks for the tips! 

Jason


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## bikerboy

[email protected] said:


> Crestwood,
> 
> Awesome post!
> 
> I have done just as you have suggested, even before I read your post...
> 
> I have something started... (I'm not a web designer) and am/will be working on this site for some time ahead...
> 
> http://www.agapepaintinginc.com/
> 
> I just got this thing started yesterday and I'll have to say.... There is soo much I do not know....
> 
> If I cannot find a fairly inexpensive web design program, I may just as well be hiring someone to work on this. I do have a couple people in mind, but I hesitate when it comes to family members...  They seem to take more time and we all know "time is money"....
> 
> As I am working on this design idea, I know what this site looks like now, is not what it will look like when it's done. For now, I'm playing around with it until I can find a more serious avenue to accomplish what I am looking for. :thumbsup: At the same time, I am learning a few things about web creation/design... Wow.. what a chore!
> 
> Thanks for the tips!
> 
> Jason


 
Here is a link to open source content builder. (website)

This is what many of the web hosting companies now offer as a free website builder.

http://www.joomla.org/about-joomla/getting-started.html


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## [email protected]

Thanks bikerboy.

I'll look into it.


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## WePaintIt4u

I have been doing my own website and just started the second one but I believe I will be contacting chicago. I am impressed with their seo results.


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## PaintingContractor

*Open Source Website option*

There are many different methods for creating a website for almost free (obviously you still have the cost for the domain name and hosting). 

I've been using Joomla for quite a few years now and I really like it. Everything is completely open source, so you don't have to pay anything for it! There are numerous templates/designs to choose from that are completely customizable. On top of all that, you don't need to know how to write code. 

There are many different open source Content management systems out there like Joomla... such as: Drupal & Wordpress. 

Many, if not all, hosting providers will have either Simple Scripts / Fantastico in the control panel of your domain hosting where it will install Joomla, drupal, & wordpress automatically. 

It's not too hard to learn and there is an incredible source of people that can help if you run into a problem. 

Yes, it is a cheaper method compared to hiring a professional, but it still takes time!
if you don't have time, then I would recomend hiring a professional... One that I really like is:

http://www.ashwebstudio.com/


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## WePaintIt4u

I saw this thread had been revisited and decided to through in my results.

I did contact www.chicagowebsitedesigners.com 

I have been very happy with the results. They designed my website industrial-painting-contractors.com. I have less money in this site than I do in the seo of wepaintit4u.com. Both sites rank well in the areas I am after.
I assume the professional website design is the main reason I am getting far more contacts out of industrial-painting-contractors, it also is showing up and getting results from searches I never imagined people would type in.

For me it has been a great investment and experience.


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## Bane

eror


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## Mass Painters

I highly recommend hiring someone to build your site using Wordpress. It's a highly intuitive platform that is easy to understand and affordable.


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## PressurePros

I'll second on Wordpress. lots of nice skins/themes out there. You plug in your pictures and words. Also a bunch of killer plugis for managing leads, flash headers, etc. Spend your money on good SEO.


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## Mass Painters

PressurePros said:


> I'll second on Wordpress. lots of nice skins/themes out there. You plug in your pictures and words. Also a bunch of killer plugis for managing leads, flash headers, etc. Spend your money on good SEO.


What are some good plugins for leads?


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## RCP

Bill, you missed this necro thread!:jester:

Wordpress is great, easy to use. Just make sure you know the difference between Wordpress.com and Wordpress.org before you start. Either will work.
Here is a post that explains it.


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## vermontpainter

At 4 plus years, this is a serious necro thread. Good run on these lately. As always, gotta shout out to those we miss who have left the industry, like Rich and the Painting Contractor from Denver.


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## RCP

vermontpainter said:


> At 4 plus years, this is a serious necro thread. Good run on these lately. As always, gotta shout out to those we miss who have left the industry, like Rich and the Painting Contractor from Denver.


I often wonder what happens, why would anyone leave us?:001_huh:


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## jason123

That was a wealth of information.. Truss George is the painting king of TO

Thanks

For peeps that are looking to fit the mold..If your asked to kneel when painting baseboards... you best be doing it...LOL:notworthy:no sittin...Jokes,
They run a tight ship.





George Z said:


> This website: www.ecopainting.ca is our 4th generation website.
> It costs about 4-5,000 a year, but it blows away the competition in SEO.
> First page results or even first results on any paint relevant search.
> And believe me, first page on Google in Toronto on some terms is impossible.
> As far as leads go, it's nearing to be ridiculous.
> We now get about 40 requests for estimates a week now,
> we keep the best, decline the rest.
> We do not take any more exterior or deck work.
> Couple have offered to pay us a deposit before they even get an estimate to secure our availability.
> Some simply tell us they don't want a regular painting company,
> they just want us. Whatever that means.
> Our latest customers:
> The Toronto Design Exchange (Exhibit Floor work every three months)
> A trendy athletic wear chain (12 locations painted every year)
> A very famous actress, and other well known local personalities.
> 
> Now I need more painters that fit our mold.
> 
> So, our website costs? worth every penny.


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## One Coat Coverage

My website was built by a one man show, doing websites on the side out of his house.

He built an awesome site for me for $450 he charges me $25 per hour when I update it once per year.

The hosting thru doteasy costs $99 per year.

I couldn't be happier, get good comments about it from customers constantly.


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## George Z

jason123 said:


> That was a wealth of information.. Truss George is the painting king of TO
> 
> Thanks
> 
> For peeps that are looking to fit the mold..If your asked to kneel when painting baseboards... you best be doing it...LOL:notworthy:no sittin...Jokes,
> They run a tight ship.


You mean we despise the Yoga position when we do baseboards :yes:

When they only have 15 minutes to do it, how comfortable should they get?


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## chismville

Hiring a web designer is a lot like hiring a painter...there are tons of different designers who charge all sorts of different prices. The less expensive designers might work out just fine if you like their design and they get the project done when they say they will. I've worked with a number of designers over the years with all different prices, dirt cheap to very expensive! The more expensive guys typically provide more services, like SEO and Social Media help. 

George Z knows his stuff...and he is right, focus on building a quality website, good info, good design, user friendly, SEO friendly etc...and it will be worth every penny. One of the SEO firms I work with and like typically charge $5,000 for the initial SEO work on a website. Once that is done, you are pretty well set. Then I encourage folks to focus on quality blogging. Most painters sites, good ones seem to run $4-8k.


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## RCP

Good points chismville
With content being so important, I think it is good to use someone familiar with contracting.

We have often talked about Footbridge, they offer a good deal for $149 a month, the sites are pretty much the same, have great SEO and they only take one painter in each area. But they do it all. It works for many.

Darren Slaughter offers sites now, I have heard from a few that have been pleased with him. There is a lot of good stuff on his site.

I think if you took the SEO from Footbridge, added some tips from Darren and copy/content from Ken (Pressurepros), it would rock!


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## chismville

I have a client who uses Footbridge with great success! Limited on awesome design IMHO but their SEO works well. Pricing is great too!

Sent from my iPhone using PaintTalk


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## premierpainter

We use Footbridge as well. It is our site which was about $4k to make. Then they take it and tweak it to make it better. www.ppnj.com


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## chismville

Cool. Did not know they worked with an existing site. Thought they created and hosted each site. How is the site working for you for generating quality leads?

Sent from my iPhone using PaintTalk


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## PressurePros

RCP said:


> Good points chismville
> With content being so important, I think it is good to use someone familiar with contracting.
> 
> We have often talked about Footbridge, they offer a good deal for $149 a month, the sites are pretty much the same, have great SEO and they only take one painter in each area. But they do it all. It works for many.
> 
> Darren Slaughter offers sites now, I have heard from a few that have been pleased with him. There is a lot of good stuff on his site.
> 
> I think if you took the SEO from Footbridge, added some tips from Darren and copy/content from Ken (Pressurepros), it would rock!


Prices starting at $150 per page. Any takers? :jester:


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## IndianapolisPainters

I did my own site. I used Adobe Dreamweaver, Photoshop. I did all my own SEO too. I've done a few for other people. For a site like mine I charge about $3500 which includes initial SEO and site submission etc. Though if you've got a bit of technical savvy you might try WordPress. Most hosting companies these days have a dashboard like interface where you can instal WordPress without having to know too much. Then you can pick a theme and have a pretty good site for the cost of hosting. Hope this helps!

Brad
http://www.indianapolispainters.com


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## carpetarmor.com

I use two different services for two different purposes. No affiliate links here. 

1) Highwire.com. I pay $20/month (cheapest package) to run CarpetArmor.com. Paid $300 for the design of the site (I already had a similar design for the HTML guy to tweak, that's why it was cheaper. ELANCE is wonderful for finding competent and low priced designers). 

The cool thing about Highwire.com is that it makes edits to the look and functionality of your site really easy - I don't know code but was able to figure how to make cosmetic changes myself. Price is cheap enough and other features like a Facebook Social store and user-friendly admin interface are big pluses.

However, I'm also checking out CoreCommerce because it's the same price and touted to have more robust options. What's really cool about CC is that you can try the service for free, forever as long anytime before you make the site go "live" to the public. 

These are called hosted e-commerce solutions in which makes building a webstore/site really easily and they take care of all the hosting, etc. Flat fee and you can cancel anytime.

2) Wordpress + Hosting. 

I bought hosting from Hostmonster.com, which is the same company as BlueHost.com. Bought a 2/yr deal for really cheap, $3.95 a month or roughly $96 up front fee. 

The best thing about Hostmonster is that it includes easy, plug-and-play features. 1 click install of Wordpress is magic, and administrating things is easy. I run my personal blog and an information product website all through Hostmonster. I've been with them for over 4 years and still like them. What really matters when you buy hosting is to see how good the support is - Hostmonster without a doubt answers their calls THE FASTEST and it's true 24 hours support. I literally had a problem at 2:00AM once and was talking to a support guy within 1 minute, and he patiently walked me through the problem. Bomb service. 

Oh yeah neat trick. Sometimes typing in: www.Hostmonster.com/promo will get you a discount randomly, sometimes not. I saved $24 on my package just by doing so. 

The cool thing about using Wordpress is that Wordpress is flexible and you can change the look easily by downloading free themes/plugins and whatnot. Also there's a huge support community for Wordpress, and you can find really competent Wordpress designers/themers to help you create your website.

Anyway, a bit long but that's my 2 cents. Best of luck!!!


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## premierpainter

chismville said:


> Cool. Did not know they worked with an existing site. Thought they created and hosted each site. How is the site working for you for generating quality leads?
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using PaintTalk


If you're asking me that question, then yes, we get a lot of leads from our site. Average of 10 a week.


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## mr.fixit

I used Dizyn.net. Debbie is the best and very reasonable. she is worth checking out and she should be able to give you a quote without to much difficulty


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## Coat It!

We use Hubspot on our sites and it works very well. Integrated analytics and detailed lead info. Their email system for contacting leads is only so-so but I think it's still in beta. 

I've also used WordPress very effectively. Love that it has a strong developers community so there are lots of good plug-ins for different needs (signup forms, lead management, shopping carts, etc.)


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## Coat It!

Wolverine said:


> Here is our website:
> http://www.WolverineCoatings.com
> We have used a few people over the years. I've learned that it is best to get a 'real' company to do it! Everyone we previously used was a one man show trying to do everything. Now we use a company that has 8 employees. They can do the site... set it up with hosting... turn key! What I like about them is the ability to have the best of both worlds. Most 'one man gang' site builders specialize in some type of site building (ie... html, flash, php). These guys have a person who specializes in each thing including SQL databases and some other stuff I don't really understand.
> 
> Hope this helps!


Like I said before, we use Hubspot for the website and analytics, but we also use a company to help with social media and they also have done some additional website work for us on a more personal level. I think the key is to get someone you can trust that has done good work in the past and has quality references. 

The other company we work with can be found at www.findthepiece.com


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## John's Painting

Here's my site: http:www.getjohntopaint.com.au

It's fairly modest in terms of not using Flash etc but it certainly does the job. My son put it together using Dreamweaver - I'm not sure of the cost of that program, sorry.

However I do know people that use the Yahoo! Site Builder model and are really happy with it.

If you're happy with your Yahoo site maybe look more closely at dedicating some time to marketing aspects as opposed to fixing a site that may already be doing it's job.

All the best


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## HL Estimator (Gabe)

You guys helped me a lot in rebuilding my own website. www.hlestimating.com 

I used Dreamweaver, and I put a few keywords on it, so people can actually see it... now I need SEO help, but its starting to move a little.

Oh, I paid GoDaddy for the Hosting... I think 50 bucks for 3 years.


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## Colour Republic

Done mine in microsoft notepad


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## ARC

welovepainting said:


> I paid 4,000 for a commercial, website, and seo marketing...
> http://www.welovepainting.com


Very nice site. You have quite alot of content on there. I guess that helps your Google ranking? 

Any tips on SEO that you learned from hiring a pro website service?


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## colorboxpainting

*That's a pretty nice site!*



John's Painting said:


> Here's my site: http:www.getjohntopaint.com.au
> 
> It's fairly modest in terms of not using Flash etc but it certainly does the job. My son put it together using Dreamweaver - I'm not sure of the cost of that program, sorry.
> 
> However I do know people that use the Yahoo! Site Builder model and are really happy with it.
> 
> If you're happy with your Yahoo site maybe look more closely at dedicating some time to marketing aspects as opposed to fixing a site that may already be doing it's job.
> 
> All the best


Myself, I have always been happy with Joomla. Personally I would like to update my pages dynamically instead of using static pages. 
I use Dreamweaver for FTP and modifying the files, and Photoshop for my images. 
We have fully redesigned our site over the holiday, and it's up and running. We are working on some areas for integrating Social Networking into our site. It is on a testing phase.
WordPress is also nice but I don't really consider it a content management software.
Either way you have a very clean layout and you should be proud of it!
Here is my site if you want to take a look: www.colorboxpainting.com


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