Authority Travel Site Squarespare or wordpress?

$10,000 just in setting up a wordpress site or with content and marketing?

Don't get me wrong, sometimes you need to pay more money for the highest quality projects but $10,000 on a site is just unnecessary at this stage.

A $3,000 budget is more than enough to build a high quality site that is functional for all its intended purposes.

As for whether you should use WordPress or Squarespace, go with WordPress.

You'll have far more flexibility with just about everything and you'll more easily find people who can help if you have technical issues.

Regards,
Daniel

Maybe you should buy a hosting package for a few dollars a month, use their 1 click install feature to install wordpress (most have this options, so you don't need any technical skills). Google the essential plugins needed for wordpress (both for SEO and Security). Next head over to the likes of themeforest and buy a theme for around $50, most are really high quality. Any stock images you need, buy it from photodune... I'd be surprised if you spent more than $100, and you'd have something that looks really good. I think this 'guru' maybe trying to do a sales pitch on you to get commission from referring you to a web dev. Just my two cents

Unless you are asking for some really heavy duty and complex programming and personalization, $10,000 is a totally unrealistic figure. Does it also include a large amount of unique content, SEO and general promotion?

$3,000 - $3,500 is the maximum you should consider paying and definitely go with Wordpress. SquareSpace has neither the scope nor proven longevity.

this is my insp

https://www.behance.net/gallery/30272981/Travel-Blog

any idea if this would be in my 3000 budget?

I'm standing with the shocked people in this thread. $10,000?

Can you answer this for us?

Are you an old-timer or just starting out?

It sounds to me like you're just starting out, because you don't seem to have done any research on setting up a site using WordPress.

See, Kate, if you are just starting out, you want to take things a bit easy. It's not such a hot idea to jump into the deep end of the pool straight off.

Hugely expensive might be fine for someone who has been around for a while and knows from experience how to make their money back plus profit, but loading your back with a large expense right from the get-go, meh ... doesn't give you the freedom to ENJOY your work; to have a blast experimenting with one thing and another without the pressure of recouping your investment like, yesterday.

I'd say start by doing as much as you can while spending as little as possible. Work your way into the business, wade through the pool until you are sure of your footing and know exactly what you need, then spend the money.

If you work on a very small budget, you will quickly learn the value of different offers (good or bs or you already know about ___) and end up much, much wiser about where, why, and when to invest, plus you will be ever so careful about how much you spend.

Here's my rule of thumb:

Don't take an expensive course until you've learned as much as you can on your own so you know both the questions to ask and what kind of replies you should be getting*.

Don't buy a tool until you know for sure you absolutely need it, not because you think it's a cute idea.

Don't hire someone to do your work for you until you know enough about the job to recognize good work from bad work.

*True story: A young friend of ours invested a lot of money in a course at an Electrician's School.

When he graduated, he couldn't get a job because he didn't know enough. For that, the fine print said on the web site, he would have to spend another few thousand to graduate as fit for entry level work.

After that he studied day and night on his own, on and off line, and finally landed a damned good job based on his self-taught theoretical and practical knowledge.

Sure, he learned a fair amount in the course he took. But in the end he saved himself the financial pressure of yet another student loan and came out better because he learned and applied, screwed up and tried again, all on his own. He accumulated a huge, valuable knowledge base that a company was willing to pay really good money for.

- Annie

^ ^ ^ Excellent advice -- from one Annie to another

Thanks Annie,I think that has been the best advice I've received in a long time.
I will buy a WordPress theme and get learning ,will be a great skill to have in my arsenal.

Thanks,
Kate

Your budget is good, Hope you can get a good site.

Could you tell me which funcionalities you are looking to build for this website? I might be able to give you some good advice. I know a lot of wordpress.

Hi

Sounds like advice from a guy who is used to spending other peoples money.

You can pick up themes for under a $100 that will do the trick, the focus will be on your content and maybe your photos if its a travel blog.

For 10k here a few ideas you could spend the money on building your audience.

- Build a list, use fb ads, adwords, bing etc.....
- Outsource quality content
- Long tail keyword research, under 100 dollars for most programs

All the Best

I am not looking to do anything out of the ordinary.
Some videos,affiliate marketing,a blog,maybe shop,Instagram feed on homepage,

I think the 10k was because I wanted an authority site on a popular travel destination, I have no idea how he came up with that figure.
That probably is how much a large franchised travel agency or qantus would spend on web design.

this was what i showed him as a similar thing i wanted to do,with a more modern/magazine/fashion blog sort of feel.

The Bali Bible - Welcome to The Bali Bible (content)
Emily Henderson Interior Design Blog (this style)

you can easily set it up for FREE !

Yip for sure a few hundred dollars at most for what you need.

Dont spend ages deciding on a theme, just buy one and build your content up, you can always change themes as you build the site, you can use widgets and plugins to test and track results etc....

Indeed, if it's an affiliate site the more basic the better .