Hi Folks,

I'm at a decision point and not sure which way to turn, so I thought I would ask the "recognized experts"! I'm trying to soup up my website, Island Life 101, both to sell my products (books I wrote) and to get some income from Google ads. My website is built through the godaddy.com Website Tonight templates. I used that because I do not have web building skills, and while now there may be some other options, such as the things Bob and Josh teach on this site, I have put an awful lot of work into this little website.

It is only five pages, and yesterday I was informed that I had just surpassed my 50 MB limit. Either they will charge me every month for being over the limit, or I can upgrade to a lot more megabytes and pages -- probably more than I would ever use, but I could certainly fill a few pages with more content and get more ads.

My question is, should I do that? I haven't put any ads on the site yet; still learning how, and reading the Joel Comm e-book I found through recognizedexpert.com. I imagine that just those scripts are going to put me over the limit even more. I am paid up on this website for three more years.

Here's the thing: a website designer told me once that search engines don't like templates -- she said there's a bunch of extraneous code on there, and it's kind of like the difference between a good homemade recipe with five ingredients and the same dish in a package with lots of ingredients you've never heard of.

Should I just can this website and start over with Weebly or something? The thought of doing that boggles my imagination, since I'm really not a techie and every step of this is a major learning experience for me. (and maybe Weebly is a template, for all I know!) But I don't want to waste more time and money upgrading the website and putting on ads and trying to get links, etc. to a website that is never going to work for me the way I want it to.

Insights and opinions gratefully accepted!

Aloha,

Jill

Website tonight 4.1 sucks, 2.3 was very usable and easy to create pages with. 4.1 just seems like it hangs and then errors out or says you don't have account authority or some BS like that.

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Hmmm. I've been using Website Tonight (WST) to build several website. Some are my own, and some for other people. WST can be a little tricky, but so far, it's turned out to be an excellent little tool! Godaddy has updated some features recently and it's getting more versatile every year!

Personally, I don't believe search engines care how the website was built - template or no template. Even someone who knows XML/HTML can write bad code.

But, there may come a time when you should either consider moving to a different tool (like Kompozer), or hiring out the site design.

Aloha Jill and RE friends!

Jill, I hope you went with Weebly

I've used Kompozer, Ewen Cia's Free Webiste Builder, as well as site builders that my previous web hosts provided (inmotionhosting & Network Solutions) ... that is until I stumbled across Weebly 2 yeas ago. I know and can do HTML but honestly, when you have design, editing and publishing as easy as Weebly there's just no reason not to use it.

And even though places like GoDaddy have added site building features to their line up I have yet to see anyone I know that has created results that rival what I can crank out with Weebly. Here are just a few unfortunate examples: Potlatch Blues Fest & Atom Heart Music


Since "discovering" Weebly, I've created a nice side business building crisp and professional websites for a wide variety of people, groups and organizations. Unless you're doing something very sophisticated that requires complex shopping cart or membership features (which has been about 2% of my client base) most people appreciate not having to fuss with code in order to create a great web site. Here's a sample of sites I've done in the past: ClientSpotlights - Better Marketing Online


LOL! I think maybe the "designer" doesn't like templates because that might mean less job security for them... Personally, I prefer to work smarter, not harder.

As far as search engine optimization (SEO) is concerned, how a web page is built (using templates or not) is irrelevant. Search Engines rank web PAGES not web Sites so it's more important to create good and relevant content and know and understand how to market it so that you do get awesome page ranks. And despite what a lot of people (i.e. "gurus") may lead you to believe, this isn't hard to learn. If I can learn it from a one-and-a-half hour webinar training, so can you

I hope the info and examples are helpful to any and all who run across this thread. Feel free to check out the resources below & don't hesitate to get in touch with me if you have any questions.

best,
Michelle
(aka ZenMarketer)

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Enjoy these FREE marketing webinars.

How much they are charging you monthly if ever you decide to pay? If it's a reasonable price then I guess go for it, but if not then I guess you have to start again.

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Hey Spader,

Start with the free account. That's what I did. The "upgrade", which adds some way cool & worthwhile features, is
6 Months $4.58/month
1 Year $3.99/month
2 Years $2.99/month

Visit here to see some of the websites I've created for other clients and myself... ClientSpotlights - Better Marketing Online

Hope the info helps. Feel free to get n touch with me if you have other questions

best,
Michelle
(aka ZenMarketer)

__________________
Enjoy these FREE marketing webinars.

After helping my mom make her website, I thought I would put
that same information together in a bunch of short videos,
so everyone that wanted to make a website could learn what
she learned that day.

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