A couple of people have posted comments under the seminar post below suggesting the bit about the $60 web site design is a ‘trick’ to entice people to the seminar.
But it’s not.
Sure, there is work to be done after you buy the design for $60, but it is a great alternative for people on a budget and who don’t need a built-from-the-ground-up site.
You need to customise the site and add content, but the design being done means that’s one less thing to do. And that means savings in time and money.
Web Site Hosting At 1/10th The Price
Someone emailed me and asked about the hosting at $150 pa. They were also paying $1,200 pa for the hosting of their web site.
Their main concern was that with the hosting so cheap the host must be very poor. But it’s not. We’ve been in the Internet industry for 8 years now and have trialled literally 100’s of different web hosts.
We know the best hosts. We know the best deals. The host of the site for $150 is superior to many hosts that charge $1,200.
It’s that knowledge that can save you thousands in costs.
Cheers
Hello Brendon,
Would you share your comments on the best hosts that you have been using?
Which one you recommend?
Do you use resellers, are you yourself one (hosting I mean)?
I agree with you for the design part. Some of these templates are great. But I also agree with the previous comments. It is nothing more than a still picture than the web developper would have to redo properly – nice photography of what it could look like, but nothing more. Files provided (except images) are usually useless – html page not corresponding to any standard and impossible to change – no css etc, you name it. Big disappointment if you take it for more than a still picture… End buyers tend to believe that because they bought this template, the job is finished. Dangerous!
Anon: A template is what it is. If a company wants to get a site up with minimal cost, a template is the best way to go. It’s content that sells a business/product – unless it’s a photography business of course.
The real difficulty in intelligent discussion regarding business web sites and design seems to be the blurring of artistic/technical design (Photoshop graphics, animated menus, etc.) and the business design (value of products offered, calls to action, differentiation from competition, etc.)
Don’t know any rational way to routinely clarify this, but there is certainly scope for professionally designed template sites in the business world. And, no, not all $60 templates are ‘static pictures’, etc. I’ve looked at some nice ones with .swf graphics, intelligent menu design, easy customizability, etc.
I guess the safest thing to say is, it is up to each person who holds himself/herself out to be a web designer to decide if their own definition of web design wants to tend to the original art form or the business builder using available tools model … for profit, I know which route _I_ prefer, but there’s much merit to the original artistic side of the arguement as well.
Brendon .. is there a possibility of a backend tie-in to the seminar, like a published ‘proceedings’ CD or dowmloadable file?
Best regards
Dave
There’s a certainty sense of naivety to assume that content sells the product. The way it’s presented will account for just as much. As Brendon kindly posted a while back (but I’d read many months before), certain research will back this up. Why will a Mercedes sell for its price? Why do supermarkets sell their low-end food in incredibly cheap and unattractive packaging?
Your design will influence your companies online image. Whether it’s through a template or not, I don’t care. But that only means it will appear exactly the same as another website. How reputable will that make you?