I want to build a web site for my business (it's fairly small at this point - 15 employees), and was wondering if anyone had any suggestions as to what online web builder programs were out there. I don't want to pay a firm or developer to build it, but I also don't have the time to learn how to program a website. Has anyone used any web based site builders? What were your experiences? Are they easy to use and update? Do you have links to sites built with these builders? (I want it to look professional...)

Thanks!
Craig

I think all the website builders suck and I wouldn't be caught dead having a serious business site based upon one of them. If you're just looking to put up a brochure type site, you can get a nice unique template and someone to plug in your info to it for maybe a hundred dollars or so.

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Peter T Davis
Frixer, Inc.
Helping people make profitible businesses on the web.

I know what you mean - I've seen some real doozies out there. But there has got to be a web based builder that can actually produce a clean, professional looking site that I can maintain myself! (It will be more than a 1 page site, with frequent changes.) Are you opposed to the idea of a web based tool, or just feel that way because the results seem to be...shall we say...less than desirable?

I have been inside of http://www.internetbasedfamily.com and it is very user friendly. Many 'html dummies' I know love the easy aspect of it.

There are limitations. You generally give up good stats with a site builder. You have limited formats, etc. You can't FTP so it's no good for a blog. You can't have cgi or php anything.

But someone who really doesn't know how and can't afford to pay someone, they find it a life saver

Now... as an alternative, if you can find a host that offers the cpanel you can like Peter suggested having someone install a template for you and get you started - then it has an HTML editor that behaves a lot like Front Page (I say that loosely), so if all you need from there is to add or change text - you are all set. I've done this for some friends who wanted a website, had no html experience but need quality stats. (My host provides awstats and I love them!)

If you're interested in something like that I recommend my host, http://www.ariaswebhosting.com.

Neither of these links are affiliate links

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Kelly McCausey
Work at Home Moms Talk Radio

Coming Soon! ==> The Truth about Traffic

I thought I might provide you with an example link of a site on the Internet Based Family site builder... http://www.logo45.com

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Kelly McCausey
Work at Home Moms Talk Radio

Coming Soon! ==> The Truth about Traffic

I have to agree with Peter. It's one thing to be a sole proprietor operating as a home based business with a limited budget...

But, it sounds like you have an established business with 15 employees, I would wonder if you would really want to risk the reputation of your business with an online presence that looks less-than-professional.

Even the best point-and-click web programs need a professional graphics design integrated to avoid looking like either a run-of-the-mill website or a site that was slapped together with bits and pieces

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I could probably give you some better specific advice if you let me know what you want to accomplish with this website. What type of business is it, first of all? Do you have specific goals for your site?

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Peter T Davis
Frixer, Inc.
Helping people make profitible businesses on the web.

i've used 'web studio', they have good support and a forum for help topics. It's kinda fickle and you'll run into issues with different browsers like mozilla. So you have to download whatever different browsers people are using, i-explorer, mozilla, amaya etc. and check your site through them all then tweak it accordingly. Poke around http://w3.org and you'll find useful things, it's a sweet resource

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A friend of mine recommended Intellyweb, which also got a really nice review at Onekit Software Magazine http://www.onekit.com/store/review/116.html. It seems to be fairly easy to fill in your information in pre-designed templates and publish the pages from within the program. This could very well be the right tool for you.
www.intellyweb.com