website overhaul

[Dragonfly]

I'm just toying with the idea at the moment my website is all my own work which is why ive never asked anyone to hack it to bits :D :D :D :D its done the job and has a decent google ranking for the terms I want .

however it has been unchanged really for 2 years now and im just thinking that its time to get a professional to up it a notch for me ? can anyone recommend a good designer that can just put a pro edge on things I know there are some exceptionally talented guys on here Marc and Shaun come to mind.

I dont want to assume that they would take this project on so wanted to post it as an open ended question? my present company siterightnow.com has an offer on to existing customers that they will do your site for $199 assign you a designer etc etc its an american site, not looking to get it cheaper than that but wondered if it was worth doing or is there another avenue open.

I am a total I.T. technical cretin I know zilch other than the advice that has been kindly offered.

so i guess the question is how much would i be looking at for someone to take a look at my exisiting site and work on it to make it better?

as agreat man would say "To take it to the next level"

thank you very much for your time and thoughts.

[CRAZY K]

I'm just toying with the idea at the moment my website is all my own work which is why ive never asked anyone to hack it to bits :D :D :D :D its done the job and has a decent google ranking for the terms I want .

however it has been unchanged really for 2 years now and im just thinking that its time to get a professional to up it a notch for me ? can anyone recommend a good designer that can just put a pro edge on things I know there are some exceptionally talented guys on here Marc and Shaun come to mind.

I dont want to assume that they would take this project on so wanted to post it as an open ended question? my present company siterightnow.com has an offer on to existing customers that they will do your site for $199 assign you a designer etc etc its an american site, not looking to get it cheaper than that but wondered if it was worth doing or is there another avenue open.

I am a total I.T. technical cretin I know zilch other than the advice that has been kindly offered.

so i guess the question is how much would i be looking at for someone to take a look at my exisiting site and work on it to make it better?

as agreat man would say "To take it to the next level"

thank you very much for your time and thoughts.

Just depends on what you want out of it Dave in terms of work levels and pay scale.

If you want more work and to pass it on or in fact employ other DJs then you will need a different approach to say obtaining higher priced more selective work for upmarket Hotels and Corporate events for yourself.

One of my sites could have been designed by a school kid probably because its simple--but its near the top of rankings and attracts a lot of quote enquires, if I dropped the prices and acted as an agency I could attract a lot of work---but thats not my priority.

So I think you need to think that one through first---then work on from there--what kind of business are you looking to develop into?

Then design the site with that objective in mind--EITHER ON YOUR OWN OR WITH PRO DESIGNERS

regards
Alan
CRAZY K

[Marc J]

Forum rules prevent me from saying too much about an offer etc., but since you asked -

Are you looking for a complete re-vamp or just a design change (i.e. content would be much the same)?

I'm a little busy right now to be honest (between personal stuff and workload) but I'd be happy to work with Shaun on a new design (i.e. if he comes up with a template either from scratch or a bought one modified, I'll do the web side of things, which is how we did his site). With this arrangement most of the cost would be on Shaun's part, I'm sure we could come to an agreement re my part of it, especially if you moved host at the same time :)

Anyway, take it to PM or email if you're interested. I imagine the cost would be considerably more than $199 (£100) though....

[Dragonfly]

Just depends on what you want out of it Dave in terms of work levels and pay scale.

If you want more work and to pass it on or in fact employ other DJs then you will need a different approach to say obtaining higher priced more selective work for upmarket Hotels and Corporate events for yourself.

One of my sites could have been designed by a school kid probably because its simple--but its near the top of rankings and attracts a lot of quote enquires, if I dropped the prices and acted as an agency I could attract a lot of work---but thats not my priority.

So I think you need to think that one through first---then work on from there--what kind of business are you looking to develop into?

Then design the site with that objective in mind--EITHER ON YOUR OWN OR WITH PRO DESIGNERS

regards
Alan
CRAZY K

I'm looking at aiming it at more wedding clients/corporate and getting it more visible in different areas Nottingham , Loughborough , Leicester which its not so strong in also as I said a more professional less homemade by a guy having "a good try" like for example Dazs site which I think puts across a very business professional look and feel to what he does. So the bottom line is appealing to more descerning clients which will involve a sleeker better worded look in my opinion , the work load is great from it im passing loads on last 2 years I have been more or less booked solid by March ,

but with the rising prices I wish to achieve I believe a better selling language and put together site will help put across the image i want to portray.

[CRAZY K]

I'm looking at aiming it at more wedding clients/corporate and getting it more visible in different areas Nottingham , Loughborough , Leicester which its not so strong in also as I said a more professional less homemade by a guy having "a good try" like for example Dazs site which I think puts across a very business professional look and feel to what he does. So the bottom line is appealing to more descerning clients which will involve a sleeker better worded look in my opinion , the work load is great from it im passing loads on last 2 years I have been more or less booked solid by March ,

but with the rising prices I wish to achieve I believe a better selling language and put together site will help put across the image i want to portray.

Ok thats your objective sorted---you just need some ideas from designers then---that are better than yours of course if your paying them:D

If your passing on loads of work should you be forming a proper agency maybe?

After all its pointless spending a load of money on websites and ads if you cant benefit directly from it. i.e. turning away work to other people

I spoke to a business development guy years ago at Business Link--at the time I didnt think much of his ideas but actually he was dead right in many of his suggestions and I have made a lot of money from them----maybe you could visit Business Link if you havent already---my visit was free----naturally---for goodness sake dont tell Rice:D :D :D

CRAZY K

[Arnold_disco]

I'm looking at aiming it at more wedding clients/corporate and getting it more visible in different areas Nottingham , Loughborough , Leicester which its not so strong in also as I said a more professional less homemade by a guy having "a good try" like for example Dazs site which I think puts across a very business professional look and feel to what he does. So the bottom line is appealing to more descerning clients which will involve a sleeker better worded look in my opinion , the work load is great from it im passing loads on last 2 years I have been more or less booked solid by March ,

but with the rising prices I wish to achieve I believe a better selling language and put together site will help put across the image i want to portray.

If you wan't a site like Darrens i belive he uses a template. Please correct me if im wrong.

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

If you wan't a site like Darrens i belive he uses a template. Please correct me if im wrong.

No, that's correct.

I just went for the most relevant type, pro looking template.

I think it's the content and the way it's laid out that's the important bit.

I've said it before many times, before I had a site, I spent approximately 6 months looking at other DJs sites deciding what I didn't want on mine.

[Shaun]

however it has been unchanged really for 2 years now and im just thinking that its time to get a professional to up it a notch for me ? can anyone recommend a good designer that can just put a pro edge on things I know there are some exceptionally talented guys on here Marc and Shaun come to mind.


Thanks for the mention, but to be honest I've never dabbled with website design (apart from my own). Trust me...hire Marc. You won't be dissapointed.

[Marc J]

imho there's absolutely nothing wrong with using a template. It's cheaper, easier, and if you like it why not?

Just tweak it a little to suit yourself. And as Darren says, it's the content that's important.