I've decided to focus my niche on copywriting, marketing, and general office support but really put myself out there as someone who can help companies get their name out there - press releases, networking and the like. Since that's what I do now and I've got lots of connections it seems like a good place to jump in

I'm considering setting up a professional website and am trying to decide if I want to hire a pro to do it - this is a big investment if I want it done right I'm sure. Or if I want to go the do it yourself route. I've checked out alot of examples of both and am not thrilled with the idea of doing it myself since I have no real design skills (aside from decorating my house )

Does anyone have any suggestions in either direction? I'd love input from VA's who have sites they've done themselves as well as those who have contracted someone to build a site for them. I'm looking at cost comparison vs. end product. For me professional appearance is everything since I'll be virutal it seems really important to have a better than average website but is it possible to get that when you use one of the DIY programs?

Hi Rose
I've never used a DIY website builder - we actually provide website design and programming services so build our own sites from scratch.
I do understand though that it's a really important decision to be made and ultimately would suggest that you look at your budget and hire the *best* designer you can afford.
Having seen the DIY templates as well as the end result it would seem that for someone wanting a truly professional appearance online there are so many things that just can't be done with a basic DIY program - plus many of them require advertising in exchance for a free site.

But - if you don't mind the limitations of a DIY program or if you know a bit of HTML to spice it up, it might not be a bad way to go.

Another alternative many businesses seem to be starting out with is to develop a blog presence as opposed to a full-fledged website.
Blogs are great because they allow you to add new fresh content daily and are relatively less expensive to design than an entire website - some offer nice read-made free templates as well.
The thing about a blog is you've got to be prepared to *write* regularly, or search engines will ultimately be unimpressed with your web persona and won't necessarily return you as a result in searches for relative keywords. But, since you clearly enjoy writing then a blog might be a good place to start.

We have our own in-house (free!) blogging progam PHP Blog Manager - which allows users to add their own custom template - so if you do know some HTML and have an eye for design it can be a fun alternative to programs like Blogger that have frustrating templating systems.

There are alot of 'cheap' designers out there who will offer you a rock bottom price for a website or blog template - but be *sure* to check their portfolios for actual, functioning product online as example of their skills.
The same as hiring a VA - do your homework

I have seen quite a few of the VA's on the forums who are using Microsoft Live (?) to build a DIY website and some of them have turned out quite nice - this might be something to look into - but I'd have to defer to one of those who have actually used the program as to how functional and flexible it is.

Keep us posted on your progress and be sure to show off your site or blog when you're ready

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Hmmm....good information, thanks!
I'd still love to hear from someone who has used one of the do it yourself website programs.
I'm looking at spending a good chunk of money if I hire someone to design a site for me (Tess, can you tell me more about how much you charge, if you don't mind? I'm feeling a little overwhelmed by all of the options at the moment and would love to get an idea of how much the whole package actually costs in the end from someone who does this for a living. I feel like I get the runaround a bit when sending inquiries to designers. They won't put a final price tag on it!)

I hadn't thougt of running a blog instead of a whole website and that's something to consider.
How much less does it cost to have a blog designed rather than a whole website?

Hi Rose
I understand your frustration, but the truth is, I don't give full project estimates either simply because a website tends to be organic and *grows* as it's being built. Clients will often decide mid-stream that they want additional pages, features, or programming which all adds to the cost.

A *simple* five page website with client provided content (text and images - if they want to use photos) generally starts at about $500 - but I've not taken a census so I'm sure other designers/coders would quote lower or higher based on their own experience/rates.

Because a blog template is just *one* page it would generally be less expensive - if you want to add in widgets, custom programming and the like then the price will naturally go up a bit.

I've done blog templates for as little as $350 including a bit of custom programming...but again, every situation is different.

If you hire a designer that you can *trust* then paying hourly shouldn't be an issue because they won't rack up your invoice or take advantage of you.

Some developers offer clearly defined 'packages' that spell out exactly what you get for X amount of dollars - in those cases I think you might have an easier time if you really want a settled price before you get started.

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I use FrontPage to design all of my websites. Another alternative is to download a free template from one of those template websites. Webdesign can be a pain but doing it yourself is so much cheaper than paying someone to do it. here are a few sites to download a free design. All you have to do is open up the files using your web design program:
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=free+web+templates
If you have a graphics program you can even change the colors to match what you want.

Thanks Tess, thanks Nicole
I appreciate your input and will give all of my options some thought. I think a bit more research is in order!

P.S. - Tess Don't worry about the email (I just got it. Errr, both of them ) It happens to the best of us!
I sent a client email the other day from my boss' company account and didn't realize until after I'd sent it that I had neglected to correct a link.
Life is what happens when you're busy doing other things

Hi Rose, here's a link to an article that describes how to create and host your site on a budget.
http://entrepreneurs.about.com/cs/ma...bsite_host.htm
Maybe will give you some more thinking points or help you decide how you want to proceed.

I forgot to mention that I hired a designer. More than one actually as I had to FIRE the first one

After asking a web designer friend and receiving a quote of $100 per page for a website, I decided to put the skills I learned from a web design class in college to use. I use Dreamweaver which is pretty much a "what you see is what you get" HTML editor. You can view the code only if you have a good handle on HTML, or you can use the design view and drag and drop your page elements. I use the view that has both...meaning that the upper half of the screen is code and the lower is the actual view of what the page will look like. Dreamweaver makes it easy to add links, photos, and pretty much ALL the elements of a professional webpage.

Coffee Cup also has a great software suite for any need regarding designing for the web. They are also reasonably priced, easy to use, and have free trial downloads so that you can try them out.

Here are a couple links:

Dreamweaver

Coffee Cup

I designed my own using Microsoft Office Live Basic, which is free. You don't need html to use it as it is a wysywig, but if you do know html you can use it too and can be helpful. Even with all of the limits from being a free version I think it turned out well. Not to brag, but I have gotten a lot of compliments on my site.

It is a lot of hard work though (especially if your not a web programmer... all my previous experience consisted of was MySpace) and the SEO aspect of it is majorly time-consuming. I spend at least a couple hours almost every night working on SEO, first, in learning what SEO was (Search Engine Optimization) and then trying to implement it. I have managed to get up to a 2 ranking on google, which I don't think is bad for only being up and running about 3 months.

All that said... I think you should consider the time-factor as well as budget. I can't even count the amount of hours I have spent on my website, but I had no budget so hiring somebody wasn't really an option for me. Knowing what I know now, if I had the money I would probably just pay for it. Although, only if the price includes SEO and a guaranteed google ranking of X, as that is the most time-consisting part.

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Rebecka Melson ~ Virtual Business Services