? For those in the Biz with web page sites. What path to go?

[Guest]

I'm a software developer so I created the site. It runs off a common CMS available for PHP so cost was virtually nothing.

[wiseguyz]

Re: ? For those in the Biz with web page sites. What path to go?

What did he say? What did he say?

[BeeBob]

Re: ? For those in the Biz with web page sites. What path to go?

Where's the translator for us "old farts"?!

[WhistlerCowboy]

Re: ? For those in the Biz with web page sites. What path to go?

I think it means we paid more than he did for a website

[Guest]

Re: ? For those in the Biz with web page sites. What path to go?

Haha...

CMS is content management system, basically a way for website owners to update content to their site easily without having to make changes to the code behind them. Much like updating a word document or a spreadsheet. If you're having a third party design your website I encourage you to look into a CMS. Initial cost might be higher due to the increase in labor hours and complexity, but it pays off by not having to pay an additional fee every time small changes are required. This is especially true in the powder coating industry where websites contain a list of prices, colors, and even an image gallery for showcasing products. PHP is just the language used to create such a dynamic website (in layman's term, fancy HTML). It's free therefor a lot of developers, especially non-Microsoft, will be familiar with it.

The other alternative to building a site is the more traditional HTML and FTP. This means the website will be generated in static pages that will require them to be downloaded from the site, modified by the user, and uploaded to the site via some FTP tool. This is usually more time consuming and will either require that you have basic HTML knowledge or hire a developer to make the changes.

Your budget and how often the site will be updated will determine which route to take. It can be a hard decision to make since like most of you I can hardly find enough time to do powder coating. It comes down to how much you can afford to pay someone to develop a nice CMS and how much time you're willing to spend updating your own site and learning HTML if needed. It's not difficult, just time consuming, and that's always an issue for the custom coater.

I'm trying to cover as much as I can in as little words as possible, so please feel free to ask if you have any questions. I'm not a professional powder coater, but I can give plenty of advice when it comes to web development, especially for front-end design that most websites deal with.

[baz]

Re: ? For those in the Biz with web page sites. What path to go?

best thing to do is find a friend who likes to build web sites , that s what i did it s not perfect but it costs me nothing and when i have some changes to do i just give him a call and he does the changes , the annual fees are about 100 $ for hosting the site .

[tedsfab]

Re: ? For those in the Biz with web page sites. What path to go?

we use microsoft front page . very easy to use and there is no coding . just type in what you want add pics and its done .

[Guest]

Re: ? For those in the Biz with web page sites. What path to go?

I had a buddy here at work do mine up for me.

www.ktownpowder.com

[Auto-Cycle PC]

Re: ? For those in the Biz with web page sites. What path to go?

I had a friend help me set up my current site when I first started. We are currently building a new site similar to what Juan is talking about except we are using Joomla to build it with. I increased my page rank on the search engines by asking people how they found me and what they searched for then built my meta tags around that. If you search for "powder coating chattanooga" on any of the major search engines we cone up in the top 3 usually with no paid help. I also use to go on google, yahoo and dogpile every couple of months and set them to crawl my site and that has helped too.

If you need help I suggest you go on craigslist in the barter section of your city and post a ad for trading powder coating work for web help thats what I did and this guy is pretty good.

[Guest]

Re: ? For those in the Biz with web page sites. What path to go?

As far as figuring out your SEO and traffic sources, I strongly encourage EVERYONE to look into Google Analytics. It's a great free tool for anyone trying to figure out how visitors are getting to their site and what they do once they are there. Using the collected data can show you what areas need improvement.

[Guest]

Re: ? For those in the Biz with web page sites. What path to go?

Mines not open to public veiwing yet I wanted to make sure "I" was good to go. Anyway my son built mine he's working while in college for a company running twelve web sites for them. He figured whats one more. You guys think you feel bad not knowing what Juan said. You should have to talk to someone that talks like that constantly. I never know what the hell hes talking about. Hey maybe I could get Juan to translate.

Harley

[Guest]

Re: ? For those in the Biz with web page sites. What path to go?

You are too sweat...

[Guest]

Re: ? For those in the Biz with web page sites. What path to go?

You are too sweat...

I am too "sweat"????

Harley

[Brune292]

Re: ? For those in the Biz with web page sites. What path to go?

you might look into powweb.com
They have templates that you use to build your pages on. Its "idiot proof"...ask me how I know

[Guest]

Re: ? For those in the Biz with web page sites. What path to go?

I went to school for web design also, And use to have my old site running with microsoft front page. Since I started coating and started CJPC obviously we needed a site. I simply went to comp USA and bought a program called Web Easy Professional 6. Now it is an off the shelf web designing program, but for my needs it is fine. I just have to register a domain name and pay $100 a year for web hosting, (the software recommended a host for you so it is a no brainer). The software is very easy to use and you can make a suitable web for your small business....But it will take a little bit of time as far a fiquirng what kind of layouts...or templates that you envision your site to have. This software also came with a program called web CEO, which allows you to customize your pages so the major search engines can crawl them easy, and you can get the highest rankings possible for you. I must say it is a very good and easy off the shelf program for you guys out their to start a website.... It is not very complicated and it does the neccesary job. Just check out our site and tell me what you think....Like juan said....if you have any questions feel free to contact me also.