andilinks — Mon, 12 Jun 2006 15:22:38 +0000

If you build it yourself expect the project to become an important part of your life. I have only built one web site, my own. It is large and successful but the learning curve was long and steep and if I were running a business at the outset it would have been prohibitive. Even now after four years of doing it myself my site will require some professional help to add some advanced features (I'll be interested in Megan's article).

But to answer the question in the original post, if you want to begin with free or low-cost build it yourself programs try http://www.evrsoft.com/ and http://www.ultraedit.com/

I have used both of these and recommend them, though Dreamweaver is better if you like to spend a lot of money.

Andi

Megan — Mon, 12 Jun 2006 13:13:20 +0000

If you're going to use one of those build your own programs you have to understand that the quality of product is not going to be as good as if you hired a good professional. On the other hand, it is definitely more cost efficient than hiring a bad professional (and there are a lot of them out there). A good web designer will know first of all how to build a good quality site and secondly, how to design something that fulfills your business needs (ie. sells the product!). There are a lot of people out there selling web sites that don't have a good understanding of this at all.

I am in the middle of writing an article about how to hire a web designer - let me know if you want me to send you what I've got so far.

If you want to try building a site yourself, the best program to use is Dreamweaver. You can download a free 30 day trial at http://www.adobe.com

ablaye — Sun, 21 May 2006 16:58:12 +0000

You can always hire a freelance web designer to do the job for you.

JeevesBond — Fri, 19 May 2006 23:28:44 +0000

From the little I know of these kinds of programs they're essentially a waste of time. If they weren't we'd all be out of a job! You could try the one with GoDaddy, these things are usually free and only take ten minutes to run through a wizard, and if you like the results then fair enough!

I would be rather suprised if you did like the results though, but - as long as it didn't cost you anything - you've nothing to lose by trying! Naturally none of us would know much about these automated antics, we build sites the hard way because it gets the best results.

Let us know how you get along.

Lord Maverick — Fri, 19 May 2006 22:58:30 +0000

build-your-own programs not a good way to create professional sites for business. If you can not do some byself order it in any webdesign studio. Your visitors will appreciate this.
It`s better to spend some money now and do a perfect website than lost some users in future.

StarofWars.com — Fri, 19 May 2006 21:14:56 +0000

Yeah, it would definitely be wisest to hire a pro for this. Otherwise, you should learn how to do it from scratch, no fancy wizards or anything.

mscreashuns — Fri, 19 May 2006 19:08:33 +0000

If you are looking to build a website for a business that you look to be profitable and successful, it would definitely be worth your while to invest in a professional to create something for you. Otherwise, that's probably an okay route to go to meet your needs.