How Did You Build Your Website?

[aarondfrancis]

Title says it all. I'm looking to see how those of you that have websites got them built. Did you hire someone? Do it yourself?

Thanks for any feedback

[zechstoker]

Ours was done by my brother (who's also my immediate supervisor). He had spent a lot of time learning how to code everything, and spent countless hours working on it to get it the way it is now. Much cheaper than paying someone outside of the company to get it done

http://www.DynamiteExterminators.com

[jamo1911]

I built my website using tools from hobspot.com. Check out my site here and let me know what you think. It did not happen overnight I put two years into it.
Jamie

[tonygreek]

This...

Originally Posted by zechstoker

Ours was done by my brother (who's also my immediate supervisor). He had spent a lot of time learning how to code everything, and spent countless hours working on it to get it the way it is now.

doesn't jive with this...

Much cheaper than paying someone outside of the company to get it done

[tonygreek]

Originally Posted by jamo1911

I built my website using tools from hobspot.com. Check out my site here and let me know what you think. It did not happen overnight I put two years into it.
Jamie

I'd highly recommend readdressing your image sizing. Your homepage is almost a 5MB load.(!) For example, your "Ask our clients" image of the people sitting in front of the pool is a staggering 643k and is being forced to fit the area by using code to shrink it.

Hit gtmetrix.com for more details.

[tonygreek]

Originally Posted by aarondfrancis

Title says it all. I'm looking to see how those of you that have websites got them built. Did you hire someone? Do it yourself?

Thanks for any feedback

If you go back through the archives, you'll find several threads re: recommendations for what to use or what to look for when it comes to hiring a designer/developer. If you go local/regional, be sure that there are no conflicts of interest. If a company has built other LCO sites for your area, that's actually not a good thing. Your goal is to win, not tie.

If going the DIY route, there is Wordpress and a wide assortment of themes to get you going. If you want a site builder, the only one I recommend is squarespace.com. #1 to avoid is Wix. You're really on your own with that one. When it comes to deciding on a builder, if you search for that specific site on here you'll probably see people's views.

Specific questions or feedback/insight on a developer's portfolio, feel free to post or pm.

[headz77]

I used Squarespace. It's fairly simple, affordable, support is great, and has not gotten in the way of my SEO efforts.
Posted via Mobile Device

[PaperCutter]

Hired a web design company to tweak a premium Wordpress theme from Studiopress for me. I provided all content. It's not perfect, but I'm looking at making some major changes to how I do business this year so I'll likely need a redesign anyhow.

[jamo1911]

Originally Posted by tonygreek

I'd highly recommend readdressing your image sizing. Your homepage is almost a 5MB load.(!) For example, your "Ask our clients" image of the people sitting in front of the pool is a staggering 643k and is being forced to fit the area by using code to shrink it.

Hit gtmetrix.com for more details.

You are the Man Tony. I will work on that, Thanks!

[jamo1911]

Originally Posted by tonygreek

I'd highly recommend readdressing your image sizing. Your homepage is almost a 5MB load.(!) For example, your "Ask our clients" image of the people sitting in front of the pool is a staggering 643k and is being forced to fit the area by using code to shrink it.

Hit gtmetrix.com for more details.

By the way, anything else you notice? I'm all ears. What image quality do you recommend? Do you prefer gif, jpg etc?