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Best website creator for me?

  • 06-06-2014 7:17pm
    #1
    qvsr46ofgc792k
    Closed Accounts Posts: 676 ✭✭✭


    Heads up. I am not technical at all.

    I would like to create a website for my company, A film production company, using a website builder.

    What I need from it:

    EASY TO MANAGE - There will be a lot of photos and videos to upload on a regular basis.

    MULTIPLE TABS - And preferably tabs with drop down menus.

    COMPLETE PACKAGE: Basically pick a template, pay for it and have it include all the bells and whistles of a professional website. I seriously got so confused reading about domains and hosting and all that jargon.

    PROFESSIONAL: That you wouldn't know it's from a website builder site. No ads or logos, just all our own material. I'm sure this comes with cost and I'm willing to pay for that.

    SOCIAL MEDIA: Links with logo's to our social media sites.

    WEB ADDRESS: Our own company name. Also we would really like to use .ie

    EMAIL: so for example androl@conpanyname.ie

    Would love to hear some recommendations.


Comments

  • #2
    daymobrew
    Registered Users Posts: 6,487 ✭✭✭daymobrew


    I (always) recommend WordPress. There are plenty of appropriate themes for free or purchase (prices generally in the range 30 - 50 euro).

    Browse around:
    http://themeforest.net/category/wordpress/
    http://www.woothemes.com/product-category/themes/
    http://my.studiopress.com/themes/
    http://www.elegantthemes.com/gallery/


  • #3
    Graham
    Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 17,642 Mod ✭✭✭✭Graham


    I can't think of any of the major website builders that also offer email, so you may have to look at sourcing a solution from 2 providers.

    Website Builders
    Wix
    Weebly
    SquareSpace

    Email Providers
    Google GMail
    Microsoft Office 365

    I would avoid any of the website builders offered by hosting companies, on the whole they're shockingly bad.

    As Daymobrew suggested, WordPress is an option but there is an element of technical ability required to get WordPress up and running and install/customise a theme to your requirements. WordPress would offer you much more flexibility in the long term though.

    Keep in mind that any site you build with a website builder is essentially stuck there. You can't take the current site with you if you outgrow the site builder service. Most of the site builders offer you a free trial so give them a go before you take the credit card out.

    Finally, just to add to the confusion. I doubt any of the site builders offer .ie domains so you will probably have to source this from a separate provider and point the domain at your chosen site builder.


  • #4
    was.deevey
    Registered Users Posts: 1,213 ✭✭✭was.deevey


    PROFESSIONAL: That you wouldn't know it's from a website builder site. No ads or logos, just all our own material. I'm sure this comes with cost and I'm willing to pay for that.

    The cost of hosting / email / Domain name is the easy and cheap bit and can be done for well under 100 euro.

    IMHO at the bare minimum you need to budget for a decent (wordpress) template and someone to set it up for you with your content and colors and then you manage it once its set-up. This does not have to cost a fortune and assuming you have all the logos/content/pictures etc ready to go and know where you want to put them.

    The nice thing is you can re-template at a later date if you need to, or add more features when required.

    Unless you are a designer yourself or some kind of website prodigy, any of the sitebuilder sites generally look like they came out of a site builder - e.g done on the cheap.

    First thing I'd do is do a search for Wordpress templates that look like they will fit your need, e.g. Mojo Themes then head over to the Work Wanted thread to get a quote from a few people to set it up for you.


  • #5
    Mr. G
    Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 4,621 Mod ✭✭✭✭Mr. G


    I would not recommend using a website builder. They are not SEO friendly and the majority of the time you don't have access to FTP.

    Perhaps, as mentioned, look into Wordpress, Drupal or Joomla. Drupal is one of the most flexible CMS' but sourcing a more suitable theme is easier with Wordpress.

    For a video production company, getting you head around installing Wordpress and using a few YouTube videos should not have a problem.

    I think it looks very unprofessional when I see "Made with Wix" etc.


  • #6
    Mrs OBumble
    Registered Users Posts: 25,666 ✭✭✭✭Mrs OBumble


    Aspen Chubby Speedboat wrote: »
    Heads up. I am not technical at all.

    I would like to create a website for my company, A film production company, using a website builder.

    A film production company that does not have someone technical-enough to build a website? Now I've heard it all.

    Dude: hire a professional to do the job. You make the films, let them make the websites.


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  • #7
    qvsr46ofgc792k
    Closed Accounts Posts: 676 ✭✭✭qvsr46ofgc792k


    Mrs OBumble wrote: »
    A film production company that does not have someone technical-enough to build a website? Now I've heard it all.

    Maybe you have a distorted view on the personal who operate/set up a film production company?
    Mrs OBumble wrote: »
    Dude: hire a professional to do the job. You make the films, let them make the websites.

    Yeah I have since posted over in the Work wanted Superthread. Great responses and some talented designers.
    Cheers


  • #8
    fuse
    Registered Users Posts: 691 ✭✭✭fuse


    Mr. G wrote: »
    I would not recommend using a website builder. They are not SEO friendly and the majority of the time you don't have access to FTP.

    I think site builder options have come a long way in recent years. The likes of Squarespace and Wordpress can be very SEO friendly if you configure it right.

    What's the necessity for FTP access?

    OP, I'd recommend doing a free trial with Squarespace and see how you get on. You can produce a pretty professional, modern looking site with it.


  • #9
    Mr. G
    Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 4,621 Mod ✭✭✭✭Mr. G


    fuse wrote: »
    I think site builder options have come a long way in recent years. The likes of Squarespace and Wordpress can be very SEO friendly if you configure it right.

    What's the necessity for FTP access?

    OP, I'd recommend doing a free trial with Squarespace and see how you get on. You can produce a pretty professional, modern looking site with it.

    WordPress is fine, that's a CMS. Using the likes of Wix etc make the website look unprofessional, especially when you see the link at the footer.

    Sorry bu having FTP access can be useful and you need a bit of control too.


  • #10
    Graham
    Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 17,642 Mod ✭✭✭✭Graham


    Mr. G wrote: »
    WordPress is fine, that's a CMS. Using the likes of Wix etc make the website look unprofessional, especially when you see the link at the footer.

    I'm not particularly an advocate for the drag & drop web builders but if you pick one of the decent mainstream ones you can come out with a fairly decent website.

    A decent drag & drop site can look 100 times better than a WordPress site with a crappy/poorly implemented free template.

    Most of the builders give you an option to remove their advertising link from the bottom of your site and 'built by Wix' looks no worse than 'built by Bobs Transition Year Web Company International'.

    OP, go and play with something like Squarespace using their free trial.


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