# Website builder



## JMHConstruction (Aug 22, 2011)

Ok guys, I'm a little (a lot) behind the times here, as I do not have a website for my full time business. I started off subcontracting for a few contractors in the area, and now get 100% of my work from word of mouth. However, I would like something that a potential customer can look at, and at least give them a little piece of mind.

My main question is this. Are website builder type websites worth a damn, or should I hire a pro?

I was quoted $2500 by one lady, and $3200 by someone else. If I want to change anything, I then have to contact them, and pay to have things changed, add a photo, do whatever.

I have also been looking around on line at these website builders. For $X a month you can have your site. What I like about these are I can edit them any time using the drag and drop features on the builders site. I figure spend a few hours/days (don't know how long it takes) while I'm slow, and be able to change things when and if I need to.

So, what do you guys use and recommend? I'm not too worried about price, but spending less is always nice. I don't want some website that it looks like a 4 year old made, but I don't need something as complex as plowsite either.

As always, thanks for the helpThumbs Up


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## BUFF (Dec 24, 2009)

JMHConstruction said:


> Ok guys, I'm a little (a lot) behind the times here, as I do not have a website for my full time business. I started off subcontracting for a few contractors in the area, and now get 100% of my work from word of mouth. However, I would like something that a potential customer can look at, and at least give them a little piece of mind.
> 
> My main question is this. Are website builder type websites worth a damn, or should I hire a pro?
> 
> ...


I'd reach oot to MJD, with Sno Farmer 86'd I'm sure he has some spare time on his hands......

Or if you know any IT nerds that would build it for you. If you come up empty I know a couple that are fully capable of building a site.


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## Aerospace Eng (Mar 3, 2015)

No need for hiring a professional.

I did my own website for the hangars, using www.webhostinghub.com

It was pretty easy, using the sitebuilder on their site. They have templates, and you can upload pictures, create new pages, and change your site however and whenever you want.

I pay about $100 per year, which includes both hosting and e-mail.

There are other services that are similar, but I have been very happy with this one.


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## JMHConstruction (Aug 22, 2011)

BUFF said:


> I'd reach oot to MJD, with Sno Farmer 86'd I'm sure he has some spare time on his hands......
> 
> Or if you know any IT nerds that would build it for you. If you come up empty I know a couple that are fully capable of building a site.


My wife has a friend that says she'll do it "cheap" but didn't say how much. I told her I'd want to pay whatever she normally charges, because I hate it when friends expect me to do my jobs for them for free. If you do it for a living, I should pay you for your services.


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## BUFF (Dec 24, 2009)

JMHConstruction said:


> My wife has a friend that says she'll do it "cheap" but didn't say how much. I told her I'd want to pay whatever she normally charges, because I hate it when friends expect me to do my jobs for them for free. If you do it for a living, I should pay you for your services.


Is she a "professional"......:laugh::laugh::laugh:


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## JMHConstruction (Aug 22, 2011)

BUFF said:


> Is she a "professional"......:laugh::laugh::laugh:


Not any more than I am


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## Philbilly2 (Aug 25, 2007)

I built mine. It will take time if you do it yourself.

We use go daddy and it comes ithe a free website builder. Gives some pretty good templates to start with.

About 100 bucks a year to host our domain if I recall correct. You can go in as many times as you would like to change things as you prefer.


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## m_ice (Aug 12, 2012)

Apparently this site has a new web service advertising now (Host Gator)


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## ktfbgb (Jan 31, 2016)

BUFF said:


> I'd reach oot to MJD, with Sno Farmer 86'd I'm sure he has some spare time on his hands......
> 
> Or if you know any IT nerds that would build it for you. If you come up empty I know a couple that are fully capable of building a site.


Know any good graphic designers? I'm rebranding and a new logo is first up. I am just about to pull the trigger on trying Fiverr. Looks like I could get a nice logo for about $100 that would include formats for everything like web/social media, letter head, uniforms, etc. Local design firms want $2000 - $3000 for logo design. I'm willing to pay the $100 or so range. Not 2-3k.



JMHConstruction said:


> Ok guys, I'm a little (a lot) behind the times here, as I do not have a website for my full time business. I started off subcontracting for a few contractors in the area, and now get 100% of my work from word of mouth. However, I would like something that a potential customer can look at, and at least give them a little piece of mind.
> 
> My main question is this. Are website builder type websites worth a damn, or should I hire a pro?
> 
> ...


I built mine with Host Gator and C Panel. Everyone thinks it looks great. I'm not as impressed as everyone else though. I could make it look better if I invested a lot of time. With rebranding the new company, I plan to have it professionally done. My mentor just had a professional make the new website for his new Cabinet Shop. There is certinaly a big difference between his and mine. Vista print, go daddy, and a lot of other hosting places provide professional web design for less than $500. I'm thinking of trying this option for the new site.


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## BUFF (Dec 24, 2009)

ktfbgb said:


> Know any good graphic designers? I'm rebranding and a new logo is first up. I am just about to pull the trigger on trying Fiverr. Looks like I could get a nice logo for about $100 that would include formats for everything like web/social media, letter head, uniforms, etc. Local design firms want $2000 - $3000 for logo design. I'm willing to pay the $100 or so range. Not 2-3k


 Possibly....... It depends on how fancy you what to get. I had a friend do my logo from a picture I took of the Snow capped Twin Peaks (Longs and Meeker). Since you're in similar country using the backdrop of Flagstaff would be something to consider.
Kinda sorta like.......









With a western font


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## John_DeereGreen (Jan 2, 2011)

Any vinyl/sign shop worth doing business with should be able to design you a logo as long as you can give them an idea of what you want it to look like.


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## ktfbgb (Jan 31, 2016)

BUFF said:


> Possibly....... It depends on how fancy you what to get. I had a friend do my logo from a picture I took of the Snow capped Twin Peaks (Longs and Meeker). Since you're in similar country using the backdrop of Flagstaff would be something to consider.
> Kinda sorta like.......
> View attachment 177206
> 
> ...


I hadn't even thought of a different font. That's a great idea.









My old logo is the simple mountain.


















Was kicking around the idea of the one with elk, with my old logo positioned like the mountain in the last pic with the Big Dipper above it. But I really like the woodcut font you posted. As you can see at least I have some ideas, just need someone to put it together in a way that makes sense.


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## ktfbgb (Jan 31, 2016)

Sorry JMH I just realized that I took over your thread. My bad.


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## BossPlow2010 (Sep 29, 2010)

We were just talking about this the other day, I built mine with godaddy, but I'm going to have it revamped and change hosts.
The builder I'm using it's

Www.Camoduck.com

He's done a few other landscapers around here and I've seen what I've liked.


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## BUFF (Dec 24, 2009)

Yes I've seen your current page/logo. Seems a lot of company's along the front range use the mtns as part of their brand and name.


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## JMHConstruction (Aug 22, 2011)

ktfbgb said:


> I hadn't even thought of a different font. That's a great idea.
> 
> View attachment 177211
> 
> ...


I like simple. It shows up on both print and embroidery. A new logo is what got me going about the website. My current logo doesn't show up well on an embroidered shirt/sweatshirt/hat. I've rebranded once, but before I get the truck, website, and social media going, I want my ducks in a row. Third times the charm. My wife's friend (the one who offered to make the website) is making me one in the $150-300 price range. I designed the last one, and even though I like it, I want it to be printer friendly.


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## ktfbgb (Jan 31, 2016)

BUFF said:


> Yes I've seen your current page/logo. Seems a lot of company's along the front range use the mtns as part of their brand and name.


Lol then you know why I want a professional to build the new site.

My mentors site is much better 
http://kevinscabinets.com


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## JMHConstruction (Aug 22, 2011)

I ended up signing up for sitebuilder.com, and am going to try and do it myself while I'm slow. If it doesn't work out, they'll prorate my money back for months unused (I signed up for 2 years). It seems to be easy enough, although I haven't tinkered too much with it.


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## ktfbgb (Jan 31, 2016)

JMHConstruction said:


> I like simple. It shows up on both print and embroidery. A new logo is what got me going about the website. My current logo doesn't show up well on an embroidered shirt/sweatshirt/hat. I've rebranded once, but before I get the truck, website, and social media going, I want my ducks in a row. Third times the charm. My wife's friend (the one who offered to make the website) is making me one in the $150-300 price range. I designed the last one, and even though I like it, I want it to be printer friendly.


That's what I want as well. Also want them to provide the vector file with no words on it, just logo for hats or whatever.


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## ktfbgb (Jan 31, 2016)

JMHConstruction said:


> I ended up signing up for sitebuilder.com, and am going to try and do it myself while I'm slow. If it doesn't work out, they'll prorate my money back for months unused (I signed up for 2 years). It seems to be easy enough, although I haven't tinkered too much with it.


Once you get what you want for a basic design, you can always have someone fix it up for you.


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## JMHConstruction (Aug 22, 2011)

ktfbgb said:


> Once you get what you want for a basic design, you can always have someone fix it up for you.


She's going to mess with my current one for free, and send me samples to take to the print shop. Problem is I have railing in one of the letters (no pics on my phone) and the print shop says it will either show up as too tiny to see, or as one big blog..


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## JMHConstruction (Aug 22, 2011)

ktfbgb said:


> Sorry JMH I just realized that I took over your thread. My bad.


Nope, I solved my issue, and this is along the same lines.


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## JustJeff (Sep 9, 2009)

I got my logo from "freelogoservices.com". And it wasn't free. But it wasn't expensive either. They also offered an email address and a few other things. I opted to not do that at the time. On their site, you can use one of their standard pictures (which I did), or upload your own. When I get a bug up my A** I'll get to having a website built for myself. I don't feel that I'm big enough to worry about it yet, at least for the snow removal part. I just wanted a nice, simple logo that I could either have patches made to sew on hoodies, or something that I can have embroidered, which I like the idea of a lot more.










View attachment 177216


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## JMHConstruction (Aug 22, 2011)

ktfbgb said:


> Once you get what you want for a basic design, you can always have someone fix it up for you.


I just realized you were talking about the website, not the logo...

I meant she's messing with the logo, but maybe the website too if I don't get it how I like


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## FourDiamond (Nov 23, 2011)

JMHConstruction said:


> Ok guys, I'm a little (a lot) behind the times here, as I do not have a website for my full time business. I started off subcontracting for a few contractors in the area, and now get 100% of my work from word of mouth. However, I would like something that a potential customer can look at, and at least give them a little piece of mind.
> 
> My main question is this. Are website builder type websites worth a damn, or should I hire a pro?
> 
> ...


Go to Wix.com, they have point and click web site design. I set up two different websites, and if I can do it it must be easy. Hosting is about $149.00 per year, and there is a cost for mailboxes, the website itself is free.


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## Purecarnagge (Feb 15, 2019)

I'm pretty new to this snow plow biz but there is one thing that I do know from building a website for my g/f business, and being an past employee of GoDaddy.

go to upwork and get a website custom made for you. You buy your hosting for wordpress, the low tier or the 2nd from the low tier is fine for most everyone on here. You get a web developer that doesn't have a crappy non-completion record and you bid it for 500 to 1k. 90% of you are done and have a 5 page site that can accept payments from w/e payment processor you choose to have. upwork.com freelancer.com, fiverrrr.com are all legit sites. upwork.com I have used personally.

Website builders - You will never show on google search results. Nobody is searching for XYZ company. They are searching for "snowplowing" snow "snow removal". A website builder indexs the pages all the same way and often doesn't allow the proper tagging to show up correctly in search engines. This doesn't mean you won't show up it just means everyone else with a custom site done by a web developer will by default be ahead of you. Stop website builders, also pay for the 5-10 year package if your a long term player on the hosting and lock in your discount. You will always need a website. GoDaddy is not the best web hosting company, they aren't the worst either. They are more than good for a small/business owner. Other companies are solid to such as hostgator etc. Also, with a website builder you will never get access to the hosting/code or be able to put a SSL on your website which is a must have for securing any data file transmissions occurring through the website. (payment processors should be on a 3rd party gateway/portal not using your domain name to process the payment). 

Also the last thing I want is my business website to have a tagged disclaimer saying this is powered by website builder from godaddy or w/e provider I used, or wix.com. Its my business, and its not a billboard for your business unless I choose to let you. 

Email- get a domain, get an email plan. Running your business from gmail/yahoo isn't professional. It matters if your looking to stay around long term.

Side note: Hiring a google adwords marketing type of person for a campaign in fall and spring to drive your lawncare business isn't a bad way to achieve growth either. My gf is at therapist, and we ran at a cost of around 50.00 a person. her intake is 150.00 approx and sessions beyond that is 70-100. She's not really losing anything by having adwords running. Even when a customer 1 and done's she's still coming out ahead.... Its all perspective. 

Advice, a bad web dev will be your nightmare, and you should never host with your web dev, and you should always have a complete copy of the site. If these won't be provided to you then find a new dev.

Marketing guy: make sure he's highly reviewed, you'll see money. 

As for plowing I just do personal residences mainly because i was doing mine, my dads, moms, sisters, gf parents, gf sisters, picked up a few others along the way. Plow the business lot...I suck I need a new plow truck but its more of a I'm lazy and don't want to snowblow not an actual 1st job for me. Maybe after the season I'll find a new truck but hopefully I helped you all out with some web advice.


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## Dogplow Dodge (Jan 23, 2012)

I've used Godaddy for years. Thought it was free, but that was temporary, and I upgraded the number of pages to the Business version.

Still inexpensive, and easy to make or alter your own website. Even a caveman can do it, and at times I'm way less sophisticated than a caveman.


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## Purecarnagge (Feb 15, 2019)

5 years for your price at 2 years. And once the web dev does the site, its cleaner, more professional, and shows up in searches, that your looking for.


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## HuskyLawnCare (Jan 29, 2019)

Personally I've had good luck with squarespace. Costs me about $35 a month to have the website up, and I think something like $5 a year to host the domain. I pay roughly an extra $5 a month to have an email address with my domain name as well. One huge benefit is I can access the site at any time to tweak things, or completely change it up if I want. Their editor is also really easy to use. All the email goes through to a gmail account, so that's handy.

YMMV, but we've had some clients compliment us on the site. We definitely aren't in the number 1 spot on google, though. One thing a web dev offered us was to have them log into our admin and do some SEO and minor design tweaks. This ran a lot cheaper than a whole site design, more in the $1000 range. This is probably the route we're going to go in future.-


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