Best free website?

[blossom]

I really want to get going with a website and have written most of the content that I want to put on it, plus chosen photos etc. My budget it is really low though....actually it's non existant lol So I'm kind of looking at the free ones then maybe I'll upgrade sometime.

Has anyone got a free website that they're happy with?

Was it easy to set up and can you do facebook "likes" on it?

How many pages can you have with a free site?

Thanks for any help/advice xx

 

[happyfeet]

Hi Blossom

I use a free website though I do pay a wee bit each month for an email address with my company name, but to be honest I don't use it, I tend to use phone, texting and facebook much more.

Here is my website Nail & Beauty Treatments in Margate Broadstairs & Ramsgate

I used a template but completely customised it myself, so it actually won't match anyone elses. They use HTML5 now which is brilliant and means that even on a mobile you get the full website experience, where previously it was flash enabled. It has some good features and I've just added a shop to my website meaning I can take Paypal payments- actually had my first payment through it today no problem. I have tried building websites with most of the usual free website providers and I find Moonfruit by far the easiest.

Make no mistake you won't build you website in a day, I am forever tweaking and adding things, which actually works well for your ranking in Google. It's a bit of a labour of love

Moonfruit are easily contactable and have a great fb too if you need a slightly quicker, simpler answer.

You do your own SEO on it and it's very simple to do as long as you get your keywords, descriptions etc right. I am on the first page and at the top when searching for Shellac in my area.

Hth xxx

 

[GWiz Web Design]

Hi Blossom,

Most web designers would advise to stay away from free websites for many different reasons and I'm sure there will be a few people along to comment who have had bad experiences.

I've never had any experience with Moonfruit that Happy Feet mentioned so i'm unable to comment. I've just taken a look however and it is a really nice looking website that you've built

Generally the web building type software will have limited functionality, for instance you'll be able to link to your facebook but you wont be able to link the comments etc to facebook opengraph. You may only have limited access to things that you'd need to edit for SEO and so on. I wrote an article about it last year as I often had queries from businesses asking the same question as you and I had also dealt with businesses who wanted to move away from the free website builders but were finding it very difficult to do so. You can read the article here Free Website Design - Website Design St Helens | St Helens web design and SEO

I'd advise doing as much research as possible. Getting on the front page is dependant on the competition in your area, if you don't have for instance many people doing Shellac in your town then it's easier than if you live in London for instance.

Best Wishes
Steve

 

[Baggybear]

I have a Weebly site.

I have bought my own domain name from 123 Reg so I can move away from the free site to a designed one if I want to in future.

I found it all easy enough and am just waiting on a new logo to finish it off.

www.spraytanmerthyr.co.uk

 

[PaulaJayne1976]

Hi chick
I'm part way through doing my website currently.
I bought my domain from 123 reg and am doing my website through weebly. That's free and includes hosting also and so far is relatively simple and easy to use xxx

 

[GWiz Web Design]

Baggy Bear and PaulaJayne1976 - Great Thinking! :lol:

I use 123reg for all my domains. At least that way you are in control.

Blossom, this is quite important. A lot of free website offers include a domain name. If you choose this option you will find it a nightmare if ever you want to leave. If you do it the way that Baggy Bear and PaulaJayne have done you remain in control of the domain name and can simply move it to where ever you want to in the future if ever you need a professionally built website.

Steve

 

[blossom]

Baggy Bear and PaulaJayne1976 - Great Thinking! :lol:

I use 123reg for all my domains. At least that way you are in control.

Blossom, this is quite important. A lot of free website offers include a domain name. If you choose this option you will find it a nightmare if ever you want to leave. If you do it the way that Baggy Bear and PaulaJayne have done you remain in control of the domain name and can simply move it to where ever you want to in the future if ever you need a professionally built website.

Steve

Excellent news as I have bought a domain name from 123-reg last week, so am pleased t o hear that was a good step! I wasn't aware of that when I decided to buy it, but i didn't particularly want a website address with the name of the freeby website in it iykwim even though it will doubtless be in there somewhere!

Thank you for your replies so far, I'm gonna take a look at the website belonging to happyfeet x

 

[blossom]

Hi Blossom

I use a free website though I do pay a wee bit each month for an email address with my company name, but to be honest I don't use it, I tend to use phone, texting and facebook much more.

Here is my website Nail & Beauty Treatments in Margate Broadstairs & Ramsgate

I used a template but completely customised it myself, so it actually won't match anyone elses. They use HTML5 now which is brilliant and means that even on a mobile you get the full website experience, where previously it was flash enabled. It has some good features and I've just added a shop to my website meaning I can take Paypal payments- actually had my first payment through it today no problem. I have tried building websites with most of the usual free website providers and I find Moonfruit by far the easiest.

Make no mistake you won't build you website in a day, I am forever tweaking and adding things, which actually works well for your ranking in Google. It's a bit of a labour of love

Moonfruit are easily contactable and have a great fb too if you need a slightly quicker, simpler answer.

You do your own SEO on it and it's very simple to do as long as you get your keywords, descriptions etc right. I am on the first page and at the top when searching for Shellac in my area.

Hth xxx

Wow your website is fab! Was that built through moonfruit? it looks great.

Can I ask something, your page titles say "shellac" "minx" etc and when you click on them, it displays the heading "shellac in margate" or "minx in margate" ....i dont kjow much about it but i think thats for SEO? but how do you get it to just appear as Shellac in the page titles? sorry if i havent made that very clear lol

 

[KayaPapaya]

Those of you who've bought your own domain names do you then pay for the service via webbly or moonfruit?

I've bought myself a domain name and tried a wix site but it told me to connect my own domain I needed to pay!

Or is there a cheeky way to do it?

 

[GWiz Web Design]

You just need to edit your DNS settings at 123 Reg to point to Wix.

Those of you who've bought your own domain names do you then pay for the service via webbly or moonfruit?

I've bought myself a domain name and tried a wix site but it told me to connect my own domain I needed to pay!

Or is there a cheeky way to do it?

 

[happyfeet]

Wow your website is fab! Was that built through moonfruit? it looks great.

Can I ask something, your page titles say "shellac" "minx" etc and when you click on them, it displays the heading "shellac in margate" or "minx in margate" ....i dont kjow much about it but i think thats for SEO? but how do you get it to just appear as Shellac in the page titles? sorry if i havent made that very clear lol

Ah thanks hun yes all done through moonfruit

I think i know what you mean lol, here goes on... on Moonfruit they have a metadata section on each page, so they have "name in menu" - shellac, "page title"- shellac in margate, "keywords" and then "description.

Is that what you meant lovey?

 

[Baggybear]

Those of you who've bought your own domain names do you then pay for the service via webbly or moonfruit?

I've bought myself a domain name and tried a wix site but it told me to connect my own domain I needed to pay!

Or is there a cheeky way to do it?

You don't pay for anything other than buying the domain name. You go into the settings and point your free site to your domain name (so I go to Weebly and change the DNS settings so they point to my 123 reg domain).

There are explanation pages on Weebly that tell you how to change the settings that you need to.

 

[blossom]

Ah thanks hun yes all done through moonfruit

I think i know what you mean lol, here goes on... on Moonfruit they have a metadata section on each page, so they have "name in menu" - shellac, "page title"- shellac in margate, "keywords" and then "description.

Is that what you meant lovey?

i think so:lol:

so the menu is what's readable to select a page from your website?

the page title then is where you've put "shellac in margate" for SEO but isn't visible except in searches?

Which are your keywords? and is the description the large body of text on the page?

So sorry for all the idiot questions - really not with it with all this :lol:

 

[x3stephanie]

Initially I had a Weebly site but I found their customer service absolutely appalling so I had no choice but to delete my account.

I'm now with Wix, I purchased my domain name on 123 Reg and just pointed my details to Wix. No problems with them so far!

Sent from my HTC Desire using SalonGeek

 

[blossom]

I have a Weebly site.

I have bought my own domain name from 123 Reg so I can move away from the free site to a designed one if I want to in future.

I found it all easy enough and am just waiting on a new logo to finish it off.

Treatments in the comfort of your home - Glamour Puss Mobile Tanning Waxing Minx Merthyr Tydfil

baggybear thanks for that link too, your site is nice and its easy to navigate x

 

[Zooks]

Hi Blossom

I use a free website though I do pay a wee bit each month for an email address with my company name, but to be honest I don't use it, I tend to use phone, texting and facebook much more.

Here is my website Nail & Beauty Treatments in Margate Broadstairs & Ramsgate

I used a template but completely customised it myself, so it actually won't match anyone elses. They use HTML5 now which is brilliant and means that even on a mobile you get the full website experience, where previously it was flash enabled. It has some good features and I've just added a shop to my website meaning I can take Paypal payments- actually had my first payment through it today no problem. I have tried building websites with most of the usual free website providers and I find Moonfruit by far the easiest.

Make no mistake you won't build you website in a day, I am forever tweaking and adding things, which actually works well for your ranking in Google. It's a bit of a labour of love

Moonfruit are easily contactable and have a great fb too if you need a slightly quicker, simpler answer.

You do your own SEO on it and it's very simple to do as long as you get your keywords, descriptions etc right. I am on the first page and at the top when searching for Shellac in my area.

Hth xxx

Your website is fab. It certainly isnt what you would expect of a free site! I have been looking into having my own website build and this looks fabulous...Off to have nosey.....

Quick edit: How do you know which is bet to have out of .com .co.uk etc.

Say my name is "beauty". Beauty.co.uk is taken as is beauty.com but I can have beauty.net etc OR I can have beautyLondon.co.uk. What would be the best to choose?

 

[happyfeet]

i think so:lol:

so the menu is what's readable to select a page from your website?

the page title then is where you've put "shellac in margate" for SEO but isn't visible except in searches?

Which are your keywords? and is the description the large body of text on the page?

So sorry for all the idiot questions - really not with it with all this :lol:

Eeeep i'm not great at SEO but.... yes to your first two questions. This is what ive just googled to explain keywords found on the GoDaddy website

"What are keywords and why do I need them?
Date Submitted: 2-1-2013
Search engines use keywords when they include your website in their search results. Keywords can make or break your search engine ranking. Adding keywords to the content of your website can improve its ranking, but overusing them can cause your site to be banned for spamming.

When identifying keywords, select words and phrases in the content of your website that someone is most likely to use when searching for your online business or website.

Each of your Web pages should have keywords that include phrases found throughout the page content, title tag, headings, attributes, and link text. If you have words and phrases that occur often, rearrange the order to keep each tag unique. We don't recommend using the same string of keywords on all of your pages because it could hamper your SEO.

You can use the Keyword Ranking report in Search Engine Visibility to see where your site ranks on search engines for specific keyword searches. Search Engine Visibility shows you the ranking information for saved keywords on your home page keywords, as well as keywords shared throughout the site."

The description explains what you offer for example on my shellac page ive written:

"Discover Shellac the flawless, mirror shine manicure with longevity at The Nail Beautique in Margate. It lasts for up to 14 days on fingers and even longer on toes."

As said i don't really know much about SEO and god knows my keywords need sorting lmao! But once you get the hang of SEO and know what you're doing Moonfruit makes it nice and easy to navigate.

xxx

 

[KayaPapaya]

Cool thank you baggybear

 

[happyfeet]

Your website is fab. It certainly isnt what you would expect of a free site! I have been looking into having my own website build and this looks fabulous...Off to have nosey.....

Quick edit: How do you know which is bet to have out of .com .co.uk etc.

Say my name is "beauty". Beauty.co.uk is taken as is beauty.com but I can have beauty.net etc OR I can have beautyLondon.co.uk. What would be the best to choose?

Zooks i'd buy both .com and .co.uk and have both of them pointing at your site. if you have quite a generic name say for example beauty i would have beautymargate.co.uk and beautymargate.com imho :biggrin:

 

[GWiz Web Design]

If you're going to buy both i.e .co.uk and .com then buy your .co.uk one from someone like 123reg but buy your.com from GoDaddy. The reason being is that Uk companies such as 123reg will charge you £6.99 + vat for a .co.uk but around £30 for a .com. Godaddy however will only charge you around $10 for a .com

Best Wishes
Steve