I’m starting up a new business, initially as an individual but it might scale if successful (not my primary goal at all). I have a Brand/Name in mind but will need the following to work:

– website * (relatively simple, few pages of information and invitation to contact me. Possible payment up front for appointments)

– email addresses eg enquiries@website.com *

– social media

– a phone app to link in at some point

* These will need to be up and running first.

I’m tech savvy in a home computer sense (Windows/Mac/Linux/Have run a NAS before) and understand personal net security and privacy. But I don’t code, don’t use Terminal unless I have to, don’t use FB or Instagram (yet), and don’t really want to go down the rabbit-hole of researching, setting up and maintaining the above systems. Happy to use templates etc to start with and use them/change them/add content etc but not the underlying stuff/my own hosting etc. So:

– Is Squarespace the go to for easy set up?

– Currently all common web domains are available on a google domains search. I’m thinking .com will be the one to use but should I buy that only. Or also .co.uk and .org for example. Will be UK based and only service UK clients for a variety of reasons. Where to buy…through Squarespace if I use that? Features I can lock in (eg https etc) .. you can tell I’ve no real idea about this….

– Is it worth using a web developer at this stage?

– Is it worth getting some basic social media training (when/what/how to post effectively)?

So basically any advice on the tech side is welcome. If I had a philosophy on all this right now it would be that I want to avoid making any basic mistakes, particularly in things which would be problematic to change later. I’m not looking to perfection before I start as I have plenty of interest from early adopters who understand that realm. I expect most of my startup work will be from word of mouth recommendations. Timeframe: Start January 2021.

I turn away a bunch of clients wanting VERY similar work (2-3 page website with a contact form, etc), because all they really need at this stage of their business is something that would cost them a couple of quid a month, rather than paying a developer a few days’ worth of dev and setup time.

This is why I’m not a millionaire.

To get up and running quickly, my advice would be to buy a domain name (from anywhere, really) then create an account at WordPress.com or at Squarespace and use a fully managed/hosted CMS service like that for a while.

These services have spent a ton of time making the process as easy and intuitive as possible so virtually anyone can setup a simple website – and there’s plenty of support available if you need it. They offer a huge range of templates and themes for styling a site (you pay slightly more for premium themes), and most offer e-commerce too, so taking payments from customers would also be possible using these services.

Then, once the business is properly up and running and growing, you can start to figure out whether you need any bespoke functionality or customised automation, either on your website or as part of your business processes, or even as a native mobile app. If so, this is the point you should speak to a developer, who will take care of developing the functionality you need, and moving you off the managed service and onto bespoke infrastructure.

Of course, if you don’t want to touch any of it, then you can skip the managed stuff and work with a dev, but it will be significantly more expensive than a couple of quid a month.

Agree with the above^^^^

But I would question the need for a phone app (unless there is a real functional requirement) as a modern website should be responsive and work on all devices anyway. If yours doesn’t, you have fallen at the first hurdle.

Both the above posters are bang on. A couple of bits to add……..
– Another possible platform to add in to the mix would be Webflow, it’s a bit more powerful than the likes of Squarespace and I know some folk who have been really positive about using it. A friend of mine recently finished this one. Personally I use Squarespace, and have used it a lot at work as it’s great for us in our marketing team to be able to create and edit pages without bothering our tech team. There’s also decent help guides and a good community built up around it with countless Youtube videos and blogs showing you how to do things if you get stuck.

– It doesn’t really matter where you buy your domain, but if you are using Squarespace then might be easiest to just get it from there.

– Assuming you are not totally inept at using social media, or at least have a good ability to learn, most of what you need to pick up the basics is available in online guides and tutorials. Somewhere like the resources section on Sprout Social is a good place to start.

Thanks that is all amazingly helpful.

@ambientcoast I appreciate that summary..gives me some persepctive.

@johndoh yes the app isn’t the website content. It is to serve a different purpose. I’ll be sure to check my website on iphone, android and larger screens to be sure.

@tenacious_doug also useful..I think Squarespace will be where I’ll go first and just buy the domain through them. No issues moving to another web content provider thereafter if I do? And I’ll try self educating on social media..thanks for the link.

Q: Any thoughts on the “protection value” of snapping up the .co.uk and .org domains as well as the .com I plan to use? Or am I overthinking potential problems.

If any of you who have replied are in the web development game then feel free to ping me your details or post them up here as I’ll get in touch professionally if I need to take it to the next level!

Squarespace.  I prefer to buy the domain somewhere else but you might find it easier just to use them for everything

“Q: Any thoughts on the “protection value” of snapping up the .co.uk and .org domains as well as the .com I plan to use? Or am I overthinking potential problems.”

You don’t need to snap them up but you do need to think about if there is someone else with a similar name in another domain that will swamp you if someone searches for you.  I’ve got about 5 related domains on one site, it’s not hugely expensive and saves a lot of hassle.  A partner org ignored that advice and have the .org for an address where there is an already existing .com :(.

muppets

I’ve got about 5 related domains on one site, it’s not hugely expensive and saves a lot of hassle

Yes that is my thinking. Currently nothing like it so seems like for £10 a year (? I think) it is relatively cheap to secure some of the common suffixes.

I spent ages looking at the same thing and went with the following:

– domain name registration via Microsoft office 365
– Mail setup on the domain the Microsoft manage (nice and simple)
– wix for simple website – integrated with office 365
– single invoice for all the Microsoft bits including office 365 apps

Long term happy (multiple) squarespace user here

In the middle of creating a brand new one: https://www.visualdistribution.co/. The ‘Our Process’ page is a template default (except the image at the top, we’ve put that there). Haven’t gotten round to doing that page yet, but gives you an idea of how possible it is to make a swish simple website, easily.

Also use google apps for email (and their excellent drive / docs). They are £3.50/mo for EACH email address. So if you have hello@, nat@, tom@, that’s 10.50/mo, for example.

I use a 3rd party registrar for domains. They’re all the same really; they’ll all proper mug you off after the first year. I have recently heard, however, that google do domains. And apparently don’t double the price after 12 months, so may cart mine over at some point. It’s easy enough, but expect a couple days downtime

+1 for buying .co.uk AND .com. It’s worth the money. Just set the non main one up to redirect.

On the subject of domains it really comes down to your brand strategy. Are you trying to create a unique presence/offer or simply creating a digital presence? I deliberately chose a business name that I’ve trademarked and registered in the UK and use .co.uk – .com trebled in value so decide now if you want it, don’t wait as it will cost you more. Owning the trademark makes it a lot harder for a potential competitor to usurp your brand, but if someone else registers the trademark, it could make your life difficult- legal fees will hugely outstrip the registration fees

More excellent advice thanks all.

Currently thinking I’ll have a play with Squarespace and I’ll plan to use google domains. Definitely .com and .co.uk

Email not sure yet.

Once customers get past that I’ll need a secure way to store their data. GDPR compliant etc. I’ll register with the information commissioner but need to think about the best way to store/manage the data for my purposes. Needs to be searchable, ideally trackable over time (so I can compare individual metrics in an individual, or group of individuals over time), ideally multiplatform so I have a choice of Windows/Linux/Mac as I’m not fixed on one currently…depends a little on other software integration. I have almost zero experience of database use, excel formats etc. Probably best I explore that first then ask on a new thread.

@dovebiker It is a reasonably unique offering currently, but I’ve no doubt that others are going to do similar in the future. I’m going to think about trademarking. I’ve checked gov.uk site and nothing similar in my field, or even that close generally, and nothing which would dominate a search that I can see. Can I ask did you go through an intermediary to organise it? Or do it yourself? Any words of wisdom.

And again really helpful, even if just to hear that it can be done……!

I chose the company name based on the available domain name. Had to wait a while to secure web, AND social media names. It’s for a long term project. I haven’t set up the company yet since it would compete with my day job. But when I go consulting it’s a nice thing to have up and running.

.com is what matters for me, but .co.uk is useful too. None of the others matter.

Was in the same position as OP three years ago. Started a business (with a partner) but we knew *nothing* about websites/domains/email/social media etc. It just didn’t (and still doesn’t) interest me/us. Dull, dull, dull.

However, we needed a website purely as a portfolio and a point-of-contact, really, so I dove into Wix knowing nothing about building websites and came up with something which does exactly what we need. Have a butcher’s. Peasy. And costs buttons.

I also knew nothing about managing a ‘social media business presence’ *shudder* so spent £50 on a day’s training (run buy a local social media business presence guru) along with a bunch of other newbies. Taught me loads and the cakes were nice.

TBH, the social media side of things doesn’t generate any income. It’s not where our potential clients go, but it is a convenient place to dump more samples of our work and to see what others are doing.

Just bought a bottle of Gin !

Some good rules for a companies digital assets given to me by someone wiser than me:
Register your domain name in a different place to where you get your web hosting (so if your web hosting has problems you can move easily / point your domain to a new place)
Host your email in a different place to where you host your website (so problems only affect one or the other)
If possible use a easy to spell wordoid for your company name and domain name… to help with search engine results

HTH

Op if you go with Squarespace, you can get ten percent off via Matt Jones video here.
Just a heads up 👍

On trademark registration I did it all myself – you need to choose the appropriate classifications for your business as there are about 35 categories and thousands of sub-categories. Costs about £500 – but if someone registers the trademark before you, it could make life pretty difficult.

As above go for a generic content management system. If you really can’t be bothered and just want it to look very professional, then you could hire a developer off a site like People Per Hour to do it for you.
I have clients turning over £2million a year and they’ve never employed a web developer, just used platforms like Shopify.
Regarding social media this is often best done in-house – you can leverage your authenticity as an owner-managed business; so a good idea to go on a training course. But don’t go overboard with too many platforms, stick to one or two and do it well.
The number 1 rule of websites is that you can have the best website in the world but if no one comes to it you make nothing, so think about how you can generate traffic to the site. This is the wild west of the internet – a lot of cowboys will say they can get you on the front page of google for so much cash.

The number 1 rule of websites is that you can have the best website in the world but if no one comes to it you make nothing,

And number 2 rule is to work out what you want people to do when they arrive, and start designing from there rather than what you think looks nice

Also use google apps for email (and their excellent drive / docs). They are £3.50/mo for EACH email address. So if you have hello@, nat@, tom@, that’s 10.50/mo, for example.

You can get round this by creating groups for the email addresses you do not need a mailbox for. I use this for things like accounts@ support@ etc which all just forward to me

Right well I wanted to say another thanks as I’m now up and running.

Obviously (you all knew this but were too polite to say) it took a bit longer than planned but there has been a lot of work outwith the website to get it all going.

I used Squarespace in the end + Google Domains + Google workspace for that side of things.

Anyway thanks again. Here is the final product for anyone who can be bothered.

I’m not that savvy with all the tech side but from an admin point of view the best thing I ever did was use separate companies for managing my domain names/registration and hosting.
If you don’t then the hosting company can hold your domain names hostage.
If you separate them, then if the hosting is shit then its a simple thing to just point your nameservers elsewhere via the domain registrar and change hosts.

I’d echo the advice above but add that registrars differ and it’s worth registering with a reliable provider as moving later can be a real pain. Someone on here suggested mythic beasts and I’ve just moved from 123-reg to them. They really are good.

NicksArtStuff.com – created in a weekend and seems to work. Cheap, I think, any easy to update. Reminds me, must add some new paintings.

I used a small local business to do my website – they’d previously done my Wife’s too.

They sort out the templates and you add the content, the editor is really simple to use, they also have a shop application which they can add too.

This is there site: Beuie Web Development

And just for reference here’s mine and the Wife’s:

Tuhura MTB – Coaching & Guiding

On Canglford Nock Self Publishing