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P.
Red Rocket



Joined: 14 Feb 2008
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PostPosted: 09:14 - 03 Oct 2017    Post subject: Reply with quote

I can't tell you how much this is going to fail Sad

Save money.
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st3v3
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PostPosted: 15:15 - 07 Oct 2017    Post subject: Reply with quote

Not an easy option Paddy when people either say "use wordpress" or "spend £30k on doing it right"; ...because we've all got that spare down the back of the sofa. Rolling Eyes

I've never used WP, and I said from the outset my abilities to do the behind the scene's stuff is non-existant but there's still a bunch of negativity. Rolling Eyes

I just spoke to someone who said "people who learn to do it [coding] don't like WP"; fine, but that means I paid to get a template i'm struggling to use and nobody will touch it because they're arrogant twats who think they're above it - none of which helps someone who just wanted a thing there to use. Rolling Eyes


It really is amazing. Thumbs Down
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P.
Red Rocket



Joined: 14 Feb 2008
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PostPosted: 15:25 - 07 Oct 2017    Post subject: Reply with quote

Problem is... It's gonna be a waste of your cash. You don't have the dollar to make it proper out there, the advertisement will cost you dearly too... But it's gonna be aids
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Ste
Not Work Safe



Joined: 01 Sep 2002
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PostPosted: 15:47 - 07 Oct 2017    Post subject: Reply with quote

st3v3 wrote:
I've never used WP, and I said from the outset my abilities to do the behind the scene's stuff is non-existant but there's still a bunch of negativity. Rolling Eyes

That negativity is people being realistic. Wink

There's plenty of people on here who could take your ~£500 and make you a £500 website which would be nicer than what someone from freelancer.com would make for you but because BCF is nice, people aren't misleading you.
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Hahadumball
World Chat Champion



Joined: 07 Oct 2015
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PostPosted: 17:33 - 07 Oct 2017    Post subject: Reply with quote

i spent a fair while working in seo for a few new websites and it didn't happen overnight, the first gave up when he didn't make thousands in the first 6 months with his little budget, i was charging him a heck of a lot more than your quotes for the building.

Another company was similar however he laid out a lot of money on advertising and i was rolling in ££.. he was not because he got too big too fast had to spend out £££ on new work vans and attempt to employ staff who could do the job like he claimed.. he went bust after a year.

You cant just chuck a website onto the web and watch money roll in, it takes months to even get noticed, you need to budget for the advertising a lot more than anything else because that is what gets you views and money, money which you can use to make the site better.. spending £50 a year for a theme will get you a basic site that exists 500 times online.

Also ebay already exists, so does gumtree and auto trader... fighting a losing battle for now.

Last low budget website i was asked to build was a funny one, i went in for a meeting with the woman who wanted it, she estimated a nice big turnover, the company was already established just not online.. after almost 2 hours telling me and showing me what she wanted she told me she doesnt want to pay much more than £100... so i gave her a link to wix and left.
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st3v3
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PostPosted: 18:18 - 23 Oct 2017    Post subject: Reply with quote

Despined_By_Ex wrote:

You cant just chuck a website onto the web and watch money roll in, it takes months to even get noticed, you need to budget for the advertising a lot more than anything else because that is what gets you views and money, money which you can use to make the site better.. spending £50 a year for a theme will get you a basic site that exists 500 times online.

Also ebay already exists, so does gumtree and auto trader... fighting a losing battle for now.

You didn't read the thread, did you? Rolling Eyes

Cheers Ste, I get the sentiment and I really appreciate the reality of the situation, mostly because i'm stuck with it! I've spent all day with Filezilla and WP and the theme files and can't connect the dots. It's embarrassing. Crying or Very sad Laughing
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Jayy
Mr. Ponzi



Joined: 08 Jun 2009
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PostPosted: 03:15 - 25 Oct 2017    Post subject: Reply with quote

I just re-read this and the new replies and want to offer something a little more constructive, rather than just tell you outright it's a bad idea.

I'm not just guessing either, been in web design for 17 years, run many a SEO & PPC campaign in my time and have clients in many different niches, all with varying levels of success who spend monthly sums on digital advertising.

Most of the one's doing alright are spending your budget monthly on PPC but they are in industries such as house removals, bodyshops, vinyl wrapping... to name a few. For the removal companies, they are just competing on a local scale, nothing national, you'd be looking at 10x that budget to do that and then some.

However, even just local campaigns spending £500 odd a month, they can see 10 to 1 returns on their spend but that's the nature of house removals, one job could be worth £1,000. Another industry with exactly the same spend might only be selling products worth £50 a pop, so they'd see very different results.

Most small local businesses spend around £300 - £600 a month on PPC to attract other local business. That's what I find from my own clients, not based on anything else other than my own experience.

Quote:
I basically need something halfway between Gumtree and Ebay to start off with, including social media / payment options, also a separate area for advertising. Other stuff will be needed eventually but for the moment getting it going is the biggest hurdle.


So, with the super vagueness of your question and requirements, how about a little more info? You mentioned in another post that you already specialise in a niche? Was your original question not framed correctly? Did you actually mean that you need a website with similar functionality (in a broad sense, i.e. a marketplace) to ebay/gumtree but you're going to specialise in a niche?

Can we at least clear up that you're not trying to take on ebay/gumtree here? ... that would be silly.

Is it not the case, that all you really need is somewhere for people to come and sell their wares on your marketplace which specialises in a certain niche? Depending on the niche, with a decent enough turnkey solution and a budget of £300 minimum a month in PPC, you might actually be ok in getting people to join the site, especially if you can use Facebook for the ads and really target them so you don't waste ad spend on people who don't give a shit.

If it were a wedding dress ebay site, it would be quite easy to reach say: Women / Aged 18 - 65+ / Relationship Status = Engaged

You can't get much more targeted than that but that's an ideal scenario, most of the time it's super broad.

Once you get people to this website, how will you generate revenue? Will it be Adsense? Will you sell your own ads? Is there a fee structure in place to charge people for listings and featured ads, etc etc?

As I mentioned in an earlier post and a few more times by others.... people do not just organically flock to websites and buy products. No amount of pounding the same old copy and pasted message in Facebook groups, on your own page, in Instagram posts or tweets, is going to get you tonnes of targeted traffic who want to buy your product.

Let me also tell you something from experience... I have a Facebook page which has 175,000 likes on it and it's quite specific, so I know that my audience is interested in said niche. I can get post reaches with some content of up to 15 million (now and again) and on average, 50,000 and when I post products which I sell from a website the click through rate and conversion rate is very low. It's not the products, it's also not the page but when you post something which the audience didn't originally like the page for, they don't give a shit. So you can imagine bashing away shite on social media to randoms does absolutely fuck all!

Honestly mate, not just plucking this stuff out of thin air... your budget is crazy small for the scope of what you originally posted and if that's the case, you are slightly deluded and going to waste your money. If you went on dragons den and said that, they would absolutely destroy you.

However, if like I said it's more of a niche thing, you'd be better choosing a turnkey solution, whether it be a Wordpress or (insert other CMS here), choose that first... then post on a site like People per hour that you need someone to do all the setup and config for you and your budget is £450 - £500 for them to do that. Indians are particularly good at all that, just shite at design but the down fall of them is the time diff and communication issues.
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st3v3
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Joined: 16 Oct 2006
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PostPosted: 02:08 - 26 Oct 2017    Post subject: Reply with quote

I am sorry it's deliberately vague, but it's my nature, always been slightly cryptic.

No, i'm not taking on Gumtree or eBay, that would be madness.

I have my own monetisation plan for ads, and I do appreciate you levelling with the facts of your point. If I were new to the idea of it, the insight would have put me off but the project has been a labour of love for some years now and i'm damn well going to see it pay its own way.

Somehow.
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P.
Red Rocket



Joined: 14 Feb 2008
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PostPosted: 08:14 - 26 Oct 2017    Post subject: Reply with quote

Jayy it's a waste of time mate. He's gonna try it and lose money. He's stuck to the fact it can work. Sorry st3v3 but it's just not going to.
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Ste
Not Work Safe



Joined: 01 Sep 2002
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PostPosted: 09:34 - 26 Oct 2017    Post subject: Reply with quote

Paddy. wrote:
He's stuck to the fact it can work

We don't know anything about what the niche is or what approach st3v3 is thinking of to make it a viable alternative to people selling on eBay or on an appropriate forum.

It could be an amazing idea which will make him very rich or it could be an Adam Aarons type idea which will never work.
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P.
Red Rocket



Joined: 14 Feb 2008
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PostPosted: 13:36 - 26 Oct 2017    Post subject: Reply with quote

Ste wrote:
Paddy. wrote:
He's stuck to the fact it can work

We don't know anything about what the niche is or what approach st3v3 is thinking of to make it a viable alternative to people selling on eBay or on an appropriate forum.

It could be an amazing idea which will make him very rich or it could be an Adam Aarons type idea which will never work.


I'm voting Mr Adams, sorry
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Jayy
Mr. Ponzi



Joined: 08 Jun 2009
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PostPosted: 14:17 - 26 Oct 2017    Post subject: Reply with quote

Originally I thought he wanted something like an ebay / gumtree to compete with them... like the next big thing but after reading his later posts about being in a niche, like Ste says, it really depends what that niche is...

For example, let's say he finds a theme / script that has market place functionality and his niche is something to do with Equestrian supplies and he's well connected already in that niche / world. If it didn't already exist, you could do quite well bringing people you already know to your site and doing small bits of advertising to attract more.

I'm with Ste on this, depending on the niche, there could be "something" in it.

Budget is still mega small though.
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st3v3
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PostPosted: 01:28 - 27 Oct 2017    Post subject: Reply with quote

Paddy. wrote:
Jayy it's a waste of time mate. He's gonna try it and lose money. He's stuck to the fact it can work. Sorry st3v3 but it's just not going to.
No worries fella, I can see your point of view and why; I haven't given anything to inspire value in the idea and there's an equal chance that you're always going to believe it's a flop.

I had the same problem when I started my food delivery business and everybody told me I was stupid for relying on people being lazy and wanting service for convenience but I stuck at it and when my grandma died I closed up - then Deliveroo came about and spent money convincing the nation that they were "it", so my business model and idea was worth millions within weeks but i had shut up shop.

The business I mentioned i'm happy running is restarting what I put on hold because I can.
This website while a project will get used and pay its way, the hurdle is the start.
I have hosting and I have WP files with a theme sat on hosting but I haven't yet mastered how to make them talk... I will.
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Roger wrote: Women don't get damp for clingy puppies. Get some better happy pills, hit the gym & buy a medallion the size of a dinner plate. Job done
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pudder
Scooby Slapper



Joined: 04 Nov 2016
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PostPosted: 20:17 - 27 Oct 2017    Post subject: Reply with quote

st3v3 wrote:
I had the same problem when I started my food delivery business and everybody told me I was stupid for relying on people being lazy and wanting service for convenience but I stuck at it and when my grandma died I closed up - then Deliveroo came about and spent money convincing the nation that they were "it", so my business model and idea was worth millions within weeks but i had shut up shop.


Doesn't that kind of prove the point everyone has been making?
Your delivery business might have been based on a solid idea, but you have to have a hefty budget to cover setup costs and advertising.
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st3v3
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PostPosted: 01:32 - 28 Oct 2017    Post subject: Reply with quote

The delivery plan was started, run and shutdown with only £3k cash (self funded), this included a shop lease for a spell.

I don't believe it does, in this day and age marketing is not a big budget area if you actually know your audience.
Never spent £1 on advertising for the delivery business but the page got over 4,000 likes inside a month.
(edit unless you count a stack of 200 vistaprint business cards)

Same for this situation, the social media is prominant enough not to need money spending. It just needed a cheaps website it could start from to evolve and pay its own bills. Cheers for the words of wisdom, I know I need to be a touch more determined to figure it out.
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Roger wrote: Women don't get damp for clingy puppies. Get some better happy pills, hit the gym & buy a medallion the size of a dinner plate. Job done
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MahatmaAndhi
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Joined: 10 Jun 2015
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PostPosted: 08:28 - 28 Oct 2017    Post subject: Reply with quote

I'm curious on how you plan to monetise this site, should it get up and running.
If you're charging to place the ad, then you're running up against eBay, Gumtree (free), Autotrader (free under £1,000), Shpock (free) and more. And with such big sites with free listing fees, there would be not much incentive to take the time to list it on your site, when I can reach a much larger audience using the aforementioned big boys.

Or, you could get revenue for the display advertising route, as BCF does with their leaderboard at the top next to the logo.
I worked in the display advertising industry for several years and unless you're getting a lot of people clicking around your website, it is not very lucrative.
For a news site like the Yorkshire Evening Post which covers a large chunk of Yorkshire generally, you'd be looking at around £10 for 1,000 impressions (views). That's for ads which are relevant to the audience and have a human sitting behind the campaign, optimising it in order to try and get the best amount of clicks by trying to only show the ad to people who may be interested.
And whilst you could get your ad server for free (up to 9m impressions per month, I think it is with Google DFP), in order to go and get local businesses to be willing to part with their hard-earned, you'll need to invest a lot of time being a salesman, trying to extract blood from a stone.

You could also put Google AdChoices ads in that spot, which many people do when they don't have a more lucrative campaign running. They're the ads with the little blue speaker symbol on them and are populated by Google for pennies per impression.

TL;DR: Monetising is hard. Unless you have a new model that nobody has yet, there's no incentive for people to give you money to either list their ad, or advertise on your website.
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Jayy
Mr. Ponzi



Joined: 08 Jun 2009
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PostPosted: 16:02 - 31 Oct 2017    Post subject: Reply with quote

st3v3 wrote:


I don't believe it does, in this day and age marketing is not a big budget area if you actually know your audience.
Never spent £1 on advertising for the delivery business but the page got over 4,000 likes inside a month.
(edit unless you count a stack of 200 vistaprint business cards)


You're just being naive if you believe that.

Likes on a Facebook page mean absolutely nothing. People like stuff for no reason and likes do not translate directly to sales in any way shape or form. If they did, I'd be a rich man with my pages pushing over 200,000 likes between them.

Sure you can start a business with £200 buying and selling things on ebay and doubling it each time by re-investing profits and eventually build it up in to something big if you do well but when you're launching your own website, it really is a whole different level.

Spending it on likes on Facebook is a huge mistake these days, Facebook charge you to get the likes and then to reach them. You need to optimise for clicks to your website, which then needs to convert well.
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