I'd definitely get someone else to do it... Here's why:
- I'm not an expert, I don't enjoy faffing with code.
- I want it to look professional and to give a good impression of my business.
- I don't know enough about the plugins/different systems or SEO implications to make proper decisions and that would have an impact on my success.
- In terms of time, I could spend 6 months tweaking content and trying to launch, whereas in that time I could actually be trading and earning money.

However, having said that, if I hired someone to do it I would expect to be able to control the system via CMS and have them set it up for SEO, working properly and looking really good!
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Caroline Wylie

www.virtuallysorted.com

www.SocietyOfVirtualAssistants.co.uk

If you know you can't do it well, you should hire an expert in either creating a website or marketing your website. There are thousands of websites in your field so there is much more competition. By hiring an expert, you can take lead of those and even marketing your websites.

I would definitely recommend buying an ecommerce software package and doing it yourself. It it the best way to minimise the cost, which reduces the risk for you, and leaves more budget free for marketing activities that generate revenue rather than burning it. It also puts you in full control of your site and your business.

You will learn a lot from doing it, and you can always get a bespoke design implemented at a later date, once you have a better understanding of your requirements based on hard experience.

I must admit to having an interest, because I work for an ecommerce software company. But having seen literally hundreds of companies succeed with this approach, sometimes beyond their wildest dreams, it's also one that I passionately believe in.
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Bruce Townsend
Actinic Software
www.actinic.co.uk

Thanks for your thoughts on this so far. This was a pretty vague question so I'm not surprised that opinions vary.

Most people that I have spoke to who are interested working for themselves or starting a small business tend to have limited resources of one type or another.

The primary resources that I can think of which are required to create an online presence for a small business are time, money and technical proficiency in web technologies.

Caroline and James it seems that you would recommend that for a small business that the financial investment in getting professional assistance for a first website is the way to go. I'm inclined to agree that this would probably be best to free up time to focus on the core business and ensure your first site makes the best impression.

Bruce, I hadn't thought that gaining the experience of learning how e-commerce or web technologies work would be a selling point for the DIY strategy for the average person unless the new business is in a related field. It seems that this is time vs money however as the average person would normally have to invest a lot of time unless the tools were very user friendly.

I'm thinking the best recommendation for those with limited resources would be to get a small website professionally done so the company can easily be found and to give the initial clients a good impression with a view to adding features or information add to later (if required) as time and money allows.
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Andrew Van Duivenbode.

Creative Transmissions

Helping you transmit your creativity to the world with the latest web technologies.
http://www.creativetransmissions.com
Twitter: @Create_Transmit

Hi Andrew

I'm just about to get an e-commerce site set up and, given that I'm no expert with computers, I was always going to ask someone else to do it. My question then was whether to go to a site mentioned previously on startups offering students who could do the work cheaply or whether I should go for a web alternative or a bricks and mortar business. In the end, I plumped for the bricks and mortar option, a computer place in Paignton, simply because I knew I could always go back there and get reliable advice if things weren't working out. It was probably the most expensive option, but for me, the face to face contact and the issue of trust were the important, overriding factors. Hope this helps!

Thanks Sheffielder,

Thats good advice to keep in mind. I'm currently working closely with a small number of local clients myself. Its very helpful for both parties as it makes it easy to get feedback on how to improve my services, which is what I'm trying to do now.
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Andrew Van Duivenbode.

Creative Transmissions

Helping you transmit your creativity to the world with the latest web technologies.
http://www.creativetransmissions.com
Twitter: @Create_Transmit

I would definitely hire a professional. However it will be directed and produced according to my thoughts
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Links are more Advertised than Search Engine Optimization(http://www.realwebmarket.com).
SEO : Not Just Back-links but Search Engine and Web Traffic(http://www.realwebmarket.com/blog)

Hi Andrew

I have been caught several times with site builders that provide a singing and dancing website but get no traffic and no access. So my honest answer is, I would still get someone to build it but with the condition that I can load everything onto it myself and have full control over passwords, as the one thing I hated was the builder having control over what I paid for and owned. Then we come to the owned side of it as the con is you own nothing because you have to keep paying for your own domain name. I believe they should be for life once the name is registered. And then theres the hosting con of charges never quite being what they seem. I would steer well clear of ecommerce sites as they are just another con in getting monthly charges that increase as you get bigger. Long and short, someone to build it at a fixed price and hosting by self if possible.
cheers

@Tigress the domain registration charges are ongoing whoever you buy from - that's the way they work. Ditto hosting.

It's a bit like cars. You buy the car (your website build), you pay road tax on it (your domain fees) to get on the information superhighway (haven't heard that phrase for years, but seems apt!), then you fill it with petrol (your hosting) which fluctuates depending on how much you use it. Then you have servicing on top of that (web updates).

The sitebuilder companies are a bit like the car companies who more or less give you the car, but tie you into using their servicing and they still own the car. They need to make their money somewhere to recoup your build, the domain fees and the hosting that you use. No such thing as a free lunch I'm afraid!
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Caroline Wylie

www.virtuallysorted.com

www.SocietyOfVirtualAssistants.co.uk

Hello Caroline

I can see your points but I really think if you buy a domain name its the same as buying a car, you own it. I do not think that you should keep paying to renew it once paid for. The domain name is like the registration of the car, its yours. We can keep the car off road if we dont want to tax it.
The hosting costs I can fully understand but am I right in thinking that you could buy your own server if you had the funds?
And I have no problem with someone building the website as I have already said.
I really need to start a new website as ebay and amazon commision is starting to cost quite a lot but find myself ,like a lot of others in a catch 22 ,that the website will cost money and take time in returning the outlay. For me I am cutting back and will save until I feel it is the right time, rather than give myself more pressure.
But going back to the original post , I would have someone else build me a website.
cheers

Hi Tigress,

Thanks for sharing your thoughts, it sounds to me like you suffered a bad experience due to lack of communication from the company in question concerning the fees.

Also it sounds like you came up against "vendor lock-in" where the tool used to build your site is proprietary software, so the site it not fully functional unless it is hosted on the server of the company creating the site, giving them potentialy a long term client. This is something often not mentioned on a companies site, so is something you need to check in the terms and conditions.

I make a point of only using open source software to power any behind-the-scenes website functions. This means the site can be easily set up elsewhere without having to pay for a liscene for the software, and there is always a community to ask for advice on technical issues without having to pay unnecessary support fees.

You can certainly buy a server and self host to remove your hosting fees, but you would need to remember that this costs money to maintain, upgrade, keep secure etc. Unless you are from a technical background you would most likely need to hire someone to do all this work for you, so renting space from a large host is usually more financially viable for smaller businesses.

I have always found it difficult to think of an approrpriate metaphor for the domain name system as there isn't really any phisical world equivalent, (although Carolines is perfect for the other costs.)

You are basically paying someone an administration free to record the fact that you are still using the name. If you stop using it, the domain is freed up for someone else to use. The organisation you are paying has been delegated the admistration task by another organisation any must pay some of that money to them. This continues until you get to the top level administrators who pay ICANN a huge fee to be registered top level domain registrars.

There are certainly a lot of different factors to consider which could be made clearer by people in the industry.
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Andrew Van Duivenbode.

Creative Transmissions

Helping you transmit your creativity to the world with the latest web technologies.
http://www.creativetransmissions.com
Twitter: @Create_Transmit

If I could find it cheap I would hire someone. Thay way I get help and advice. Check thus out. they do very reasonable sites for start up and cost can be low depending on what you want. You can have one from £300 and a cms managed one for a little more all branded for your business. The best thing is it looks sleek and very professional.

www.iwebdesigner.org

I like to give things a try for myself before I concede
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http://worryfreeoutsourcing.com

Hi,

Its not even a question. I would build my own site even though it could be time consuming based on lack of knowledge in building a site. The experience alone will benefit you for years.

Take care
Jeff Casmer
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http://www.home-business-team.com
http://www.chicagocubstoday.com
http://www.how-to-make-home-made-wine.com

I would advise you to hire a professional service as long as it is cost effective and you are sure of ROI. As a web designer and developer myself, it is no surprise that most of the work we have done so far are reworks of websites done unprofessionally, in short, you could save time by paying someone to do it.
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Magnate Web Design LTD, professional website design, development, graphics and SEO http://www.magnatewebdesigns.co.uk

I reckon that if your business will be to design web sites, then you *have* to build that first one yourself. Otherwise contract someone with some design skills to put something together for you. There are far too many shocking sites that people have built themselves.

And make sure that you invest in the SEO side as well, otherwise you'll have a great web site, but no hits. In my experience a good web designer does not always make for good SEO, and because it can take more time to set up than writing the content it's the first corner to get cut.

But make sure that you always buy the domain name yourself. It's easy enough to get one from one of the many agencies. Letting your web designer buy it for you might seem like the easy option but if they buy it in their name then it's their's and not yours. But, sorry Tigress, you'll only ever rent the right to use a domain name - the car analogy doesn't quite work. Even telephone numbers are only 'borrowed' from your phone company as Ofcom could take them all away if it had to.

Andrew, I'd suggest building relationships with some good SEO experts and look to offer a rounded portfolio.
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Smart telephony for startup businesses - www.CloudNumbers.co.uk