# Website help?



## concrete2013 (Nov 6, 2014)

Finally having a little free time.. Looking to build a website on my own. Any good advice on website software to download for a mac or maybe using an online service
appreciate all advice and comments


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## concrete2013 (Nov 6, 2014)

did a cheap godaddy site and that was a waste of Money. needed something asap at the time and it was easy so went with it.


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## Tech Dawg (Dec 13, 2010)

Did you make any money from your first website?


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## concrete2013 (Nov 6, 2014)

Negative. We were staying busy with out one and have been. It was mostly just to have one. Most of our work generated by word of mouth and referrals. Now that i have some time I would like it to though at least by next season.


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## TNTRenovate (Aug 19, 2010)

WIX. Easy to setup. Easy simple SEO. Check mine out.


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## concrete2013 (Nov 6, 2014)

TNTSERVICES said:


> WIX. Easy to setup. Easy simple SEO. Check mine out.


 Do you generate work from your site? what does it cost you?
looks basic and easy, thought about about using wix, i don't really need a crazy site but interested in hearing everyones opinion since I'm not sure which route to go


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## TNTRenovate (Aug 19, 2010)

concrete2013 said:


> Do you generate work from your site? what does it cost you?
> looks basic and easy, thought about about using wix, i don't really need a crazy site but interested in hearing everyones opinion since I'm not sure which route to go


Yep. Not a whole lot, but I received leads within the first month. I even posted about it on another thread when it happened. I could do more, a lot more, but don't need it and don't have the time. I plan on spending more time in the next month. 

It didn't cost much to buy the site. They have free sites but I didn't want to advertise for them and have it look like Vista print business cards.


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## jb4211 (Jul 13, 2010)

Look into Net2Nite. That's who I used. Easy, affordable and great 24/7 customer service.


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## concrete2013 (Nov 6, 2014)

TNTSERVICES said:


> Yep. Not a whole lot, but I received leads within the first month. I even posted about it on another thread when it happened. I could do more, a lot more, but don't need it and don't have the time. I plan on spending more time in the next month.
> 
> It didn't cost much to buy the site. They have free sites but I didn't want to advertise for them and have it look like Vista print business cards.


Are you going to continue using wix?


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## concrete2013 (Nov 6, 2014)

jb4211 said:


> Look into Net2Nite. That's who I used. Easy, affordable and great 24/7 customer service.


Didn't see nettonite! are you having any luck with them?


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## LogHome (Feb 7, 2013)

I use Twitter Bootstrap because it's responsive and gives nice templates to set up. I do the work using Adobe Dreamweaver. My website gets me all of my business and I never have to worry about word of mouth or referrals anymore. Check out my site here:
http://loghomefinishing.com

I think WIX and site builder sites are OK, but they won't generate that many leads and they look generic. If you are a business owner you should be able to hire someone to do the work for you for just a few thousand dollars and can make that money back within a couple of months. In my field, log home maintenance, in Colorado, my competition is very limited and those who are my competition don't have websites at all, so I always get the first call from HO's needing work. I also have a portfolio site showcasing my work that was built using ProSite from Behance, another Adobe product, but this site doesn't bring in that many leads, I just use it for a link to showcase work:
http://loghomemaintenance.co


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## TNTRenovate (Aug 19, 2010)

concrete2013 said:


> Are you going to continue using wix?


I've been with them for two years and have no plans of moving. They are always coming out with new tools and ways to improve your site. When I started they didn't support Wordpress, but that is changing.

So for now it's WIX.


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## concrete2013 (Nov 6, 2014)

LogHome said:


> I use Twitter Bootstrap because it's responsive and gives nice templates to set up. I do the work using Adobe Dreamweaver. My website gets me all of my business and I never have to worry about word of mouth or referrals anymore. Check out my site here:
> http://loghomefinishing.com
> 
> I think WIX and site builder sites are OK, but they won't generate that many leads and they look generic. If you are a business owner you should be able to hire someone to do the work for you for just a few thousand dollars and can make that money back within a couple of months. In my field, log home maintenance, in Colorado, my competition is very limited and those who are my competition don't have websites at all, so I always get the first call from HO's needing work. I also have a portfolio site showcasing my work that was built using ProSite from Behance, another Adobe product, but this site doesn't bring in that many leads, I just use it for a link to showcase work:
> ...


Unfortunately I have a lot of unfair competition. I guess you can call it. but don't we all. I like the idea of having one made and it definitely would eliminate a lot of unanswered questions and troubleshooting, but I can't really swing it and like the idea of making my own. 
I like your site though 
what do you have into it ?
How long did it take for results?


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## TNTRenovate (Aug 19, 2010)

LogHome said:


> I use Twitter Bootstrap because it's responsive and gives nice templates to set up. I do the work using Adobe Dreamweaver. My website gets me all of my business and I never have to worry about word of mouth or referrals anymore. Check out my site here:
> http://loghomefinishing.com
> 
> I think WIX and site builder sites are OK, but they won't generate that many leads and they look generic. If you are a business owner you should be able to hire someone to do the work for you for just a few thousand dollars and can make that money back within a couple of months. In my field, log home maintenance, in Colorado, my competition is very limited and those who are my competition don't have websites at all, so I always get the first call from HO's needing work. I also have a portfolio site showcasing my work that was built using ProSite from Behance, another Adobe product, but this site doesn't bring in that many leads, I just use it for a link to showcase work:
> http://loghomemaintenance.co


My site doesn't look generic and their SEO tools are actually decent. Have you ever used the service? If so, how long? If not, then it's really hard to have that firm of an opinion.

I agree that if you don't have any knowledge or don't want to take the time to create or maintain a site, hire a pro. But I am a business owner and don't need or want to pay someone for something I can do myself.

You also said that you use DreamWeaver to edit your site. It's not a cheap tool nor is it easy for the beginner or novice site builder. You need something easy and quick. WIX offers that. To those that are starting up or just don't have the marketing budget to buy a $2000-$5000 site. While I agree that you should be able to recoup that quickly, you also have to have a good business plan in place to handle that level of traffic and leads. A website is just one part of a marketing and business plan.


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## concrete2013 (Nov 6, 2014)

TNTSERVICES said:


> I've been with them for two years and have no plans of moving. They are always coming out with new tools and ways to improve your site. When I started they didn't support Wordpress, but that is changing.
> 
> So for now it's WIX.


Sweet..

Did you make it or have them make it?


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## TNTRenovate (Aug 19, 2010)

concrete2013 said:


> Sweet..
> 
> Did you make it or have them make it?


I made it.

I do have photshop, but you can get gimpshop for free to edit photos.


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## LogHome (Feb 7, 2013)

I've had a website since I started my business in 2004. As far as how long to get results, it's hard to say. I work on my site 1 full business day per week. If I were to pay someone to build my site I wouldn't expect to pay anything less than $10,000 and wouldn't be surprised if it cost up to $50,000 including all of the photography, social media marketing, etc.... I also spent at least $25,000.00 over a 2 year period on Google Adwords just to build a solid base of analytics from all of the hits to build keywords off of and competitive marketing. I subscribe to Safari Books and lynda.com to learn all of this and watch those videos and read books at least 1 full day per week for the past 10 years to learn how to do all of this. I subscribe to Adobe Creative Cloud for $50 / month which gives me access to Dreamweaver, Behance, and Muse, I find the Adobe tools invaluable.


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## TNTRenovate (Aug 19, 2010)

LogHome said:


> I've had a website since I started my business in 2004. As far as how long to get results, it's hard to say. I work on my site 1 full business day per week. If I were to pay someone to build my site I wouldn't expect to pay anything less than $10,000 and wouldn't be surprised if it cost up to $50,000 including all of the photography, social media marketing, etc.... I also spent at least $25,000.00 over a 2 year period on Google Adwords just to build a solid base of analytics from all of the hits to build keywords off of and competitive marketing. I subscribe to Safari Books and lynda.com to learn all of this and watch those videos and read books at least 1 full day per week for the past 10 years to learn how to do all of this. I subscribe to Adobe Creative Cloud for $50 / month which gives me access to Dreamweaver, Behance, and Muse, I find the Adobe tools invaluable.


So you have never used WIX?


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## concrete2013 (Nov 6, 2014)

TNTSERVICES said:


> I made it.
> 
> I do have photshop, but you can get gimpshop for free to edit photos.


Ill have to look into it..
appreciate all the info.


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## LogHome (Feb 7, 2013)

I tried WIX for about an hour I didn't like it because page load speed was way to slow, so slow in fact that I knew it would hurt rather than help my business.

Test your WIX site with Google Webpage Speed and you'll see what I mean.


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## TNTRenovate (Aug 19, 2010)

LogHome said:


> I tried WIX for about an hour I didn't like it because page load speed was way to slow, so slow in fact that I knew it would hurt rather than help my business.
> 
> Test your WIX site with Google Webpage Speed and you'll see what I mean.


Been there done it. It's not bad at all. 98/100 on desktop. I need to fix the mobile, but when I made the site mobile was secondary to desktop...now it's flipped so I need a bit of work to speed it up. But it's still possible with WIX.


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## TNTRenovate (Aug 19, 2010)

I just ran yours and your desktop was 76/100 and your mobile is 64/100. So my WIX site desktop is far faster than yours and my mobile scored 14 points less than yours. Looks like it's time to roll up your sleeves and catch up.


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## LogHome (Feb 7, 2013)

*not sure who you're trying to bull*****

Why the lying and bull****ting dude, here's a link to your TNT services site showing way lower performance than you are alluding too. You're site is a Grandma on speed. Here's the link from the test I just ran on your 'about' page. It sucks ass thanks to WIX. You get a 47 on mobile and a 78 on desktop.

https://developers.google.com/speed...tp://www.triedntrueservices.com/#!about/c1enr

And here's the link to your main page:
https://developers.google.com/speed/pagespeed/insights/?url=http://www.triedntrueservices.com/

I'm a pro at this you can't bull**** me.

You're styling looks like 1999 by the way. It takes about 20 full seconds to load your index page on my phone here in Colorado and you can't click on your phone number and dial on an iPhone 6. You need a web developer ASAP.


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## TNTRenovate (Aug 19, 2010)

LogHome said:


> Why the lying and bull****ting dude, here's a link to your TNT services site showing way lower performance than you are alluding too. You're site is a Grandma on speed. Here's the link from the test I just ran on your 'about' page. It sucks ass thanks to WIX. You get a 47 on mobile and a 78 on desktop.
> 
> https://developers.google.com/speed...tp://www.triedntrueservices.com/#!about/c1enr
> 
> ...


Well, I'm not bullchiting anyone. The results are the results:


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## TNTRenovate (Aug 19, 2010)

The first time I ran it it was 50/100 for mobile and 98/100 for desktop. No lying, no bullchit...it's what it said. Sorry that you are butt hurt that you spent a lot of time to get a site that is slower than WIX but don't take it out on me. Maybe you should spend 2 days a week on it.


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## TNTRenovate (Aug 19, 2010)

Here's your ABOUT page:


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## TNTRenovate (Aug 19, 2010)

Here's my ABOUT page:


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## LogHome (Feb 7, 2013)

Those are the results that I can live with. It comes at the price of custom animations, styling, responsiveness, buttons to txt and make phone calls. Yours is a static page. Yours should be 100%, but WIX doesn't give you that unless you pay $80 a month. Google 'WIX reviews' so you don't just have to listen to what I have to say, after all you are the big winner here.


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## TNTRenovate (Aug 19, 2010)

Talk about bullchit. My so called grandma speed site is faster than yours yet yours is better? You said speed was the main factor in your decision to move away from WIX. If you can live with your speeds I certainly can live with mine...especially since they are faster than yours.

Most WIX negative WIX reviews are a few years old or the web admin doesn't know how to use the tools that they give you. 

I still am giggling over my grandma speeds yet yours is slower. I'm going to chuckle about that one for awhile.


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## LogHome (Feb 7, 2013)

I didn't say speed was the main factor, but just one of many factors. Another factor is, what are you going to do when it's time to improve your site? You have no access to the HTML, CSS, and Javascript with WIX. So you are forever stuck with WIX. Also, have you ever looked at your site on a mobile devise? It looks bad. I'm taking time out of my day to help you and at this point a thank you is in order. I was born in IL and left because you and your Grandma and all the other assholes there are stuck in a cave that you'll never see the light of day in.


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## TNTRenovate (Aug 19, 2010)

LogHome said:


> I tried WIX for about an hour I didn't like it because page load speed was way to slow, so slow in fact that I knew it would hurt rather than help my business.
> 
> Test your WIX site with Google Webpage Speed and you'll see what I mean.





LogHome said:


> I didn't say speed was the main factor, but just one of many factors. Another factor is, what are you going to do when it's time to improve your site? You have no access to the HTML, CSS, and Javascript with WIX. So you are forever stuck with WIX. Also, have you ever looked at your site on a mobile devise? It looks bad. I'm taking time out of my day to help you and at this point a thank you is in order. I was born in IL and left because you and your Grandma and all the other assholes there are stuck in a cave that you'll never see the light of day in.


LOL, you are a trip. Yeah, Chicago is such a backwards place...you are a riot.

You said that speed was the reason. Nothing else. Talk about lying.

As far as being stuck with WIX, that's not necessarily a bad thing. It's not an advanced site building service. I never claimed it was. But it is a great way for a company to get a site up in a day. A site that can look fairly decent. A site that you can optimize and change very easily. My SEO isn't that great, but I have also not spent that much time on it, I don't need to. I have enough coming in by word of mouth.

I have always said that when you start a site you need to define what it is you want out of it. It is clear that you want leads leads leads. Some want presence only. Some want information only. They all serve their purpose. WIX isn't the answer for everyone, but for the ease of use and price it can't be beat for the start up or first time site builder.

Some how you got on the track that I was saying that it was better than other options or better than your advice. What I am saying is that it's an option. And a good one if it meets your needs.

You can't see is past your investment and knowledge. It's given you blind spots for the needs of others. Are you helping, sure, to some extent, but your close mind on other options is muddying up your assistance.

Calling me a liar and saying what I was post was BS, when it wasn't, also doesn't help. It only shows that you are so stuck in your ways and partial to your advice that you are not willing to listen to others and even look down on other choices. My suggestion is to get over your ego and listen.


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## TNTRenovate (Aug 19, 2010)

LogHome said:


> Those are the results that I can live with. It comes at the price of custom animations, styling, responsiveness, buttons to txt and make phone calls. Yours is a static page. Yours should be 100%, but WIX doesn't give you that unless you pay $80 a month. Google 'WIX reviews' so you don't just have to listen to what I have to say, after all you are the big winner here.


$80 bucks a month isn't squat...is it? I mean you pay more than that in just the time you spend on your site. Why is it a bad thing to pay for better service.


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## LogHome (Feb 7, 2013)

Anyways nice chatting with you, time to get my 420 smoke on and enjoy some Broncos - Raiders followed by yours truly Bears - Packers.


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## TNTRenovate (Aug 19, 2010)

I'm actually from Dallas. The Bears are not my team. Never have been never will be...there ya go assuming things again.


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## LogHome (Feb 7, 2013)

I doidn't assume, it says Naperville, IL right under your name. Bears - Packers is a classic, go have a beer for me somewhere always a party in IL on this day.


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## TNTRenovate (Aug 19, 2010)

Sorry thought that you called them my Bears...That I did take offense to.


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## JBM (Mar 31, 2011)

If someone wants leads from their site then I would have to say wordpress would be where to look, or html with a WP blog attached. 

If someone wants a photo album then wix is fine. 

Ive never heard of wix's sites being valuable for serp dominance. 

You cant say they have good seo tools if none of their sites ever show up in the serps.


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## jb4211 (Jul 13, 2010)

concrete2013 said:


> Didn't see nettonite! are you having any luck with them?


Yes. They run my site. I'm not sure if that's the right word, because I actual run the site and control all of the content. It was cheap but it works for me


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## TNTRenovate (Aug 19, 2010)

JBM said:


> If someone wants leads from their site then I would have to say wordpress would be where to look, or html with a WP blog attached.
> 
> If someone wants a photo album then wix is fine.
> 
> ...


Well people find me on Google and I have at least 10 requests for quotes a week and that is with little effort into the SEO tools they offer. I have only listed some key words. That's how I can say that they have decent SEO tools.

So you are hearing it now. Consider yourself educated.


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## TNTRenovate (Aug 19, 2010)

It may not be serp dominance but I just did a serp check on my WIX site...#10 for Naperville Remodeling Contractor and #18 for Naperville Bathroom Remodel. Again, that's with no real effort.


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## Golden view (Feb 16, 2012)

I got lots of leads off my Alaska site that one guy built in a day. Because there was little competition. $12 a year it costs me. The size and sophistication of the town you are in is a huge factor.


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## JBM (Mar 31, 2011)

I did a quick search for weight loss which is I believe one of the top 5 or 10 search terms, this site was 5th I think http://authoritynutrition.com/how-to-lose-weight-as-fast-as-possible/ and uses the Genesis theme.

BFD right? 

It is when this pattern is repeated in every search result with 1 wix site showing up in Naperville.


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## TNTRenovate (Aug 19, 2010)

JBM said:


> If someone wants leads from their site then I would have to say wordpress would be where to look, or html with a WP blog attached.
> 
> If someone wants a photo album then wix is fine.
> 
> ...





JBM said:


> I did a quick search for weight loss which is I believe one of the top 5 or 10 search terms, this site was 5th I think http://authoritynutrition.com/how-to-lose-weight-as-fast-as-possible/ and uses the Genesis theme.
> 
> BFD right?
> 
> It is when this pattern is repeated in every search result with 1 wix site showing up in Naperville.


What I know is Loghome said WIX was slow...I showed that his site was slower than mine.

You said you had never heard of any WIX site being valuable for SERP Dominance...I showed that with no effort and two common search strings that I rank #10 and #18.

Am I missing something? I'm going to work on my site in the next few weeks using WIX, let's see how I can rank up.


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## NYgutterguy (Mar 3, 2014)

uh oh..im a 21/100 . 25/100 :blink::blink:


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## Agility (Nov 29, 2013)

NYGUTTERGUY said:


> uh oh..im a 21/100 . 25/100 :blink::blink:


Mine was like that, I checked it after reading this thread. An hour of fiddling around with my Wordpress site and I got up to 44/100 mobile and 78/100 desktop. Now I just want to tear the whole thing down and start over though. Might be up late tonight.


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## NYgutterguy (Mar 3, 2014)

Agility said:


> Mine was like that, I checked it after reading this thread. An hour of fiddling around with my Wordpress site and I got up to 44/100 mobile and 78/100 desktop. Now I just want to tear the whole thing down and start over though. Might be up late tonight.


My site is pretty new so i think some of the pics ive loaded are too big or something..Using wordpress too so still learning a bit


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## Agility (Nov 29, 2013)

NYGUTTERGUY said:


> My site is pretty new so i think some of the pics ive loaded are too big or something..Using wordpress too so still learning a bit


Adding the plugin W3 Total Cache made the biggest difference for mine. I also added WP-Smu**** (asterisks are the four letter word for poop, the forum censored it - Smush it, without the spaces), which compresses images when you upload them, if I understand it correctly. And furthermore, I deactivated and deleted all the plugins that I wasn't using but had experimented with in the past. 

Found these tips at www.sparringmind.com/speed-up-wordpress


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## NYgutterguy (Mar 3, 2014)

Agility said:


> Adding the plugin W3 Total Cache made the biggest difference for mine. I also added WP-Smu**** (asterisks are the four letter word for poop, the forum censored it - Smush it, without the spaces), which compresses images when you upload them, if I understand it correctly. And furthermore, I deactivated and deleted all the plugins that I wasn't using but had experimented with in the past.
> 
> Found these tips at www.sparringmind.com/speed-up-wordpress


Did you learn wordpress on your own? I can do the basic stuff and have been paying someone to change some stuff up but i always wonder if i can figure out by just messing around with it.


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## Agility (Nov 29, 2013)

NYGUTTERGUY said:


> Did you learn wordpress on your own? I can do the basic stuff and have been paying someone to change some stuff up but i always wonder if i can figure out by just messing around with it.


I did learn Wordpress on my own but when I started using it I already had a working knowledge of HTML, CSS, and PHP which let me customize free themes to fit my needs. I've never built a theme from scratch though.


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## Agility (Nov 29, 2013)

Agility said:


> Mine was like that, I checked it after reading this thread. An hour of fiddling around with my Wordpress site and I got up to 44/100 mobile and 78/100 desktop. Now I just want to tear the whole thing down and start over though. Might be up late tonight.


I just added the plugin Revision Control which allows you to limit the number of page and post revisions stored (WP will automatically save all revisions) and my desktop speed jumped to 89/100.

NYGUTTERGUY, feel free to PM me if you have any questions or need some advice, I'd be happy to offer all the help I can.


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## SectorSecurity (Nov 26, 2013)

Wordpress with pagelines DMS as the theme has worked well for me.


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## LeeFowler (Nov 3, 2012)

Agility said:


> I just added the plugin Revision Control which allows you to limit the number of page and post revisions stored (WP will automatically save all revisions) and my desktop speed jumped to 89/100. NYGUTTERGUY, feel free to PM me if you have any questions or need some advice, I'd be happy to offer all the help I can.


I didn't realize it saved all revisions. Great tip.


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## JBM (Mar 31, 2011)

I didnt know that either, ill have to try that plugin out.


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## DanielsRemodel (Jan 22, 2014)

I built my website using Adobe Muse it's straight forward and easy to use. I use to use Adobe dream weaver but got tired of coding. You can check out my site at www.danielsremodeling.build


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