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Creating a Professional Looking Site

by tjxu97
13 replies
  • WEB DESIGN
    • |
I need to create a professional looking site for a new, off-line business start-up that I'm working for.

What's the best way to build a site to promote a business, as opposed to building a site that generates income through affiliate marketing, Adsense, etc.?
#creating #professional #site
  • Profile picture of the author DArmbrister
    try looking at other sites in the same category to get a feel of what yo like and imitate some of the design. Don't just copy it entirely, put your spin on it. hope this helps.
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  • Profile picture of the author Loren Woirhaye
    I would actually avoid looking too much at what other businesses
    are doing... because usually their sites are very ineffective as
    marketing tools. The problem may be rooted in website designers
    who have never read a single book about direct-response marketing...
    so they turn-out good-looking drivel that doesn't work as a sales
    tool.
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  • Profile picture of the author TeddyP
    My suggestion - if you are new to website design and want soemthign that looks real pro - maybe go the CMS route - with joomla, drupal or Wordpress or etc...

    I use wordpress, with a cheap theme and the results are good. In fact compare the success coach site and ontario links in my sig - if you want. First one is my html skill, second is my hand using a CMS style wordpress site.

    CMS is much easier to get that pro look.
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    Success | The Man The Myth The Legend
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    • Profile picture of the author mdRazimie
      Banned
      [DELETED]
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      • Profile picture of the author BeauJustin
        Wordpress started out as a blogging platform, but with added functionality in recent releases, and the addition of some very, very cool plugins and hacks, Wordpress serves in outstanding capacity as a CMS.

        Joomla and Drupal can be tricky for beginners and experts. Period. The pain you have to go through add a single page in Joomla 1.5 is embarrassing, considering how it was touted as the "improved" version of Joomla.

        I used to love Joomla, and it was my first, primary development platform (back when it was Mambo). But it was unweildy then, and, unfortunately has stayed that way in recent years.

        I do love www.rockettheme.com, and www.yootheme.com though. Their monthly battle to see who can release to gaudiest, loudest theme almost make going with Joomla worth it. Man some of those themes are gorgeous. Some of them are headscratchers.

        Nowadays I use either Wordpress, and/or a beautifully simple Ruby platform that a buddy of mine wrote. Simplicity trumps bells and whistles.
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  • Profile picture of the author tjxu97
    I've heard a lot of people suggest using Wordpress to build a professional site to promote a business, which I'm kind of surprised to find out. Isn't a Wordpress site mostly used as a blog?

    Has anyone ever used TemplateMonster templates before? If so, how do you implement a purchased template as a full-blown website?
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    • Profile picture of the author staccato
      If you are new to website design like me. I would suggest buying this software. Although it is a bit on the expensive side, your sites come out looking quite neat tidy and professional..

      The best part is you don't need to know html coding etc

      Website Designer Software - XSitePro - Home-

      Cheers
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    • Profile picture of the author Minisite Nerd
      Originally Posted by tjxu97 View Post

      I've heard a lot of people suggest using Wordpress to build a professional site to promote a business, which I'm kind of surprised to find out. Isn't a Wordpress site mostly used as a blog?

      Has anyone ever used TemplateMonster templates before? If so, how do you implement a purchased template as a full-blown website?

      Well, WordPress plus a premium theme is probably the best way to go.

      WP is far from just a "blogging" software. Lots of people use it as a full CMS, I run several sites using WP and I don't even use the "blogging" features.
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  • Profile picture of the author Siti Hanipah
    wordpress is powerfull for building a site. with wordpress you can build anything site. wordpress is seo ready. you can add plugin or change tour themes.
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  • Profile picture of the author AnthonyWilson
    Have a good search for a WordPress theme that you really like the look of, it is certainly worth purchasing a theme even though there are so many free ones because you can get some technical support which is always useful for cross-browser compatability issues.

    If you are going for a corporate style a good tip would be to rename the 'blog' tab to 'news'. Then design a new page which would be your landing page (which you can default to inside your wordpress dashboard).
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  • Profile picture of the author Ashley Ann
    Templates are great! Joomla is wonderful.
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    See Me on YouTube
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    • Profile picture of the author TheRookie
      Use drupal, get to know it, it really isn't that tough. I find it easier than joomla although many would disagree and still feel that wordpress isn't enough if you want or need to expand.

      All of the above are great though. If you choose drupal get some drupal themes for free. Joomla and wordpress have a ton of sites for templates if needed.
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      My new blog - Web of Income - Sharing some of the ways I make money on and off the web.

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  • Profile picture of the author Dylan W
    Of course, you could hire a web designer to do the hard work & just concentrate on the content/business side of things.

    I might know someone...
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  • Profile picture of the author jessewrites
    If you're looking for an inexpensive solution and aren't very familiar with designing web sites, you might want to consider Yola (formerly Synthasite). Very easy to use and I have found their email tech support to be helpful as well. They provide templates and an easy-to-use interface for editing your web page that works a lot like a word proccessor. While they're probably not the most professional approach, you can create a pretty nice website for your business in no time.
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