# About time for a website, suggestions?



## stalion (Jun 3, 2010)

Im the owner of e&c painting i saw this site and it looks cool.Ive been in buisness for 10 years now i want to start a website to genereate more work im thinking of using fatcow.Any recomendations i would apriciate it thanks guys.


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## Workaholic (Apr 17, 2007)

I moved this for you to its own thread so all feedback received would be for you. 



Take a stroll through the Technology section, a lot of useful info on the subject. Other than that just figure out what is worth more to you, your time or your money. If you have the skills and the time you can make one yourself or if your time is worth more then pay to have a nice professional looking site that speaks to your target audience and gives the impression of you and your business that you want to convey. 

Welcome to the forum!:thumbsup:


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## Different Strokes (Dec 8, 2010)

hiya!!! welcome to the forum. I actually haven't used fatcow in years. I'll check around to see if I still have her number.


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## PressurePros (May 6, 2007)

Hire someone. It will be the best $1500 you have ever spent for your business.


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## SouthFloridaPainter (Jan 27, 2011)

As for fatcow or similar sites, any website that you build in minutes looks just like it, too.

Take your time. If you have any technical skills and the time, then you can probably get by on your own.

If not, then spend the money and get a nice one done for you.

This site is going to represent you online. So, your gonna want something nice. 

Look into using a wordpress based website and browse some premium wordpress themes.

My website is outdated and I am now currently designing a new one myself.

My site running on the wordpress platform.

Be aware, this is under construction and I will probably remove link later.

No SEO optimization has been done. 

Will probably not be setup as it is now ( still playing around with it), but you get idea of the difference between a DIY template and something like this.

http://www.painting-contractors-wellington-florida.com/


Good Luck


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## Totter (Feb 2, 2011)

stalion said:


> ...im thinking of using fatcow.Any recomendations i would apriciate it thanks guys.


I use Just Host. It was a toss-up between them and iPage. Both are consistently ranked #1 and 2 in most hosting review sites. You wouldn't go wrong with either one, but I chose Just Host because they were a bit cheaper and use cPanel (which may or may not mean anything to you ). I've been really impressed with their customer service. Just another option to Fatcow.

Whichever one you decide, good luck!


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## colorboxpainting (Mar 9, 2010)

Alright, I have now completely redesigned my site. I use GoDaddy for hosting, and cost me less than a $100 a year. 
I have used Fireworks, Photoshop, and Dreamweaver for many years. It pays to know how to create and modify graphics.
Websites are an ongoing process, once you start you can't stop putting more and more information on it.
It's a creative process, and sometimes it's really fun!
GoDaddy has Joomla, Wordpress, and Drupal for you to install, and it's pretty easy setting up your site.
Either way, websites should be informative and marketable.


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## LocalPaintPros (Mar 14, 2011)

colorboxpainting said:


> Alright, I have now completely redesigned my site. I use GoDaddy for hosting, and cost me less than a $100 a year.
> I have used Fireworks, Photoshop, and Dreamweaver for many years. It pays to know how to create and modify graphics.
> Websites are an ongoing process, once you start you can't stop putting more and more information on it.
> It's a creative process, and sometimes it's really fun!
> ...


I do my website development work through GoDaddy, and they're pretty good for the money. I would avoid 1&1 Internet. I used to be there but they had a lot of technical limitations (memory limits, file upload size restrictions, etc). Don't know much about FatCow, but I have heard *very* good things about HostGator.

For web site "frameworks", if you try to do too much with "web builder" templates/apps, you will quickly discover their limitations. Things that should be easy, like integrating Google Analytics, Slideshows, photo albums, etc that you think would be straightforward aren't always.

I have become a big fan of "Content Management System" style web sites (Joomla, WordPress, Drupal). These are systems that let you focus on content and "module" integration with very little programming necessary. Be careful using the bundled installers provided by hosting companies, though, as these are often installing a "standardized" (read that as "out-dated") version that may even have some useful features removed.

The specific CMS I work with is Joomla. There are thousands of web sites running as Joomla installs -- I think the statistic I saw is something like 2.7% of the web sites world-wide are Joomla installs. The reason I like Joomla is that it is very flexible with lots of extensions already available (many for free) to do just about anything you want. I'm a member of a Joomla Users' Group, and at a meeting last week, a new member was asking for a quick compare/contrast between Joomla and WordPress. One of the seasoned veterans (a developer who writes for both) summed it up something like (paraphrasing now) "Joomla can do just about anything you want and it's fairly easy to change the parts you want to. WordPress has been known mainly for blogging, but that has changed with recent releases, however it is still fairly difficult to work on the non-blogging parts of the CMS".

Hope this helps.


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## PatsPainting (Mar 4, 2010)

Totter said:


> I use Just Host.


I use them too, have been for over a year now, got a good deal for 4 years for under 130 bucks for all 4 years. Never really had any issues to call on customer service so not sure how they are. Cpanel is great, the awstats is nice too. I use Microsoft Expression to fool with my site and upload any changes. My site needs major work, I just haven't had the time lately.

I would give Just Host a thumbs up for their service and price.

Pat


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## BreatheEasyHP (Apr 24, 2011)

Just make sure you get someone who knows how to get it high on the google ranking....and hold some money over their heads for it. I'm an extremely small painting company and am just starting second year...I come up amongst the first in google searches in the area (first for a couple). It's pretty easy.

Also, make sure whoever builds it understands what it means to have an action-oriented website. It's not for viewing purposes, it's for getting leads. Have a box in a prominent location where they can enter in their information to request an estimate. Keep the box on every page they view. 

My builder used Wordpress and I paid him to show me how to keep it updated...it's pretty easy after it's built. Now it's just the cost to keep the domain and I plan to use the guy who built it for a few hours every year. 

I kept my costs low by finding a website I like and printing out the pages. Then I numbered sections and pictures on the printouts, then on my computer named pictures with the corresponding number and wrote text with the corresponding number (man, that's hard to explain). He said it was the fastest website he's built and it saved me a bundle.


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## ribouch (May 5, 2011)

I agree with BreatheEasy. You want your website to look good, but more importantly you want it to make you money.

I make websites and have had great success with launching sites and bringing in a sizable amount of cash from them - it's amazing how quick and big the impact can be.


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## bikerboy (Sep 16, 2007)

You can make money on working without the frustration, or go through the drudgerey of wasting time and effort for maybe decent results.


http://www.footbridgemedia.com/painter_marketing.html

If you decide to ge with them, have it built on your own hosting site.


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## Dave Mac (May 4, 2007)

bikerboy said:


> You can make money on working without the frustration, or go through the drudgerey of wasting time and effort for maybe decent results.
> 
> 
> http://www.footbridgemedia.com/painter_marketing.html
> ...


and at 150 a month it is a great bargain:thumbsup:


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## LocalPaintPros (Mar 14, 2011)

bikerboy said:


> You can make money on working without the frustration, or go through the drudgerey of wasting time and effort for maybe decent results.
> 
> 
> http://www.footbridgemedia.com/painter_marketing.html
> ...


I thought we weren't supposed to be "Salesy" here? 

If it's become OK, I can beat that! If it's not, I'll just keep on tryin' to add value on the boards as a paint company owner.


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## RCP (Apr 18, 2007)

There are several members who use Footbridge and recommend him, he is not a member here.
Just keep adding that good content!


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