# Building your own website VS hiring a designer



## impressions (May 5, 2014)

Something I'm pondering about-

with a designer you could probably get a kickass website, but you will need to pay for some protocol which will allow you to edit and update it. because without it you will stay dormant until you can ask him for another update, which also takes a bunch of time, to describe it and put it on the correct places. also it costs alot more than paying a monthly fee.

with building your own website you can update your website regularly if needed. the design probably isn't top notch. and the question is how top notch do you need it to be according to your market. but, its much cheaper than a designer.

the free website which i've seen people around here use are wix, weebly, wordpress.
I'm sure there are more.
most of them have not so good themes for composers. 

html5 is a better option IMO. if you want to be mobile apple friendly. 

so, if you are recommending a "build your own" please say what you are using, what are good themes, prices etc.
if you hired a designer, what are their prices usually? how frequently can you update? is it easy etc?


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## Simplesly (May 5, 2014)

Bluehost for hosting, themeforest for wordpress template. I have to tell you, Wordpress has a bit of a learning curve, but I think it's constantly being improved. I am overall pretty happy with mine but I've seen some that just look for lack of a better term, more "modern". Now if I could just stop procrastinating and update my website... :?


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## alexmshore (May 5, 2014)

Take a look at Squarespace for an all-in-one 'build your own' option.

They have a load of great looking templates, which are fully customisable, you can of course implement your own bits HTML/CSS to take things even further. They offer a whole load of features including automatically scaling for mobiles, e-commerce, loads of different social integration options, all SEO done for you etc. I know of a few composers/musicians who use them and honestly cant recommend them enough myself.

They offer a free full 14-day trial which is handy to see if its right for you. You can also save 10% off an annual plan here: http://www.squarespace.com/coupons/


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## Hannes_F (May 5, 2014)

impressions @ Mon May 05 said:


> Something I'm pondering about-
> 
> with a designer you could probably get a kickass website, but you will need to pay for some protocol which will allow you to edit and update it. because without it you will stay dormant until you can ask him for another update, which also takes a bunch of time, to describe it and put it on the correct places. also it costs alot more than paying a monthly fee.



I just wanted to add that these are not the only options. It might be a clever move to have a custom template designed by a designer but at the same time to use a cms (content management sytem) with that custom template. That way you could at any time edit and update texts and other content but still have a good looking design.

One open source cms system would be website baker:
http://www.websitebaker.org/en/home.php?lang=EN
Joomla is also quite popular for the same basic idea:
http://www.joomla.org/


The idea of cms systems is that the design questions are treated independently from the text content. With other words once the site is set up you can enter a special administrator area any time and edit text, add new pages etc.

In order to get to a good template you could search for a template that already is close to what you want with a search in a database like:
http://websitebaker.at/wb-templates/
http://www.joomlatemplatesproviders.com/

Then you could ask the author of that template what would be the cost to alter the design according to your taste, finetune it to your needs and implement the whole thing on a server of your choice.

WebsiteBaker and Joomla are but two examples of many CMS systems ... here you get many more suggestions:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Content_management_system
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_co ... nt_systems

Also, there are some web designer talents around here, so perhaps ...


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## Vin (May 5, 2014)

Simplesly @ 5/5/2014 said:


> I have to tell you, Wordpress has a bit of a learning curve, but I think it's constantly being improved.



Really? I think it's even more user-friendly than do-it-yourself solutions like Virb or Squarespace.

Just pick a theme on ThemeForest or Mojo Themes, install it and you're ready to go. 

BTW, almost all modern Wordpress themes are responsive, meaning they look great on smartphones and tablets.


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## G.E. (May 5, 2014)

If you are willing to put the time in and do your research I definitely recommend building your own.If you don't think you have the time or if you think the negatives outweigh the benefits, leave it to a professional.You will definitely save a lot of money doing it on your own and once you get the hang of it you will realize that it's not rocket science.

I personally don't think that wordpress is well suited for something other than blogs(though you can make it work).I recommend using Joomla because it's easy to learn,easy to manage,easy to update and quite flexible for building any type of website.You can get a reliable premium template for $25-50 and a custom template can cost you $1000+ 

For hosting services I've personally had great experience with Hostgator in the past and I recommend it.

If you are thinking about hiring someone to do it for you,check out this website and use it to estimate how much it would cost you based on your personal needs:
http://www.designquote.net/html/dq_estimate_wizard.cfm


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## Simplesly (May 5, 2014)

Vin @ Mon May 05 said:


> Simplesly @ 5/5/2014 said:
> 
> 
> > I have to tell you, Wordpress has a bit of a learning curve, but I think it's constantly being improved.
> ...



This was 2 years ago, maybe it's better now. I am completely lazy when it comes to my website so I haven't done much since I first made it. :oops: Being a complete newb to website stuff, I found at the time the wordpress manual and user interface layout to be a little unintuitive. Once it's set up it's not bad at all though. Another thing I'm probably going to do in the near future is change all of my embedded music samples over to soundcloud. It just has a nicer interface and it's super easy to add/remove tracks, vs using your web hosting service to store your music and an html5 player.


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## wonshu (May 5, 2014)

For my private site I run Wordpress and do everything myself, meaning finding themes / plug-ins and everything else.

For my business page it's also Wordpress, but I had a designer put it all together so all the buttons and things match the company logo and so on.

Regarding the Joomla recommendation: I've used Joomla many times but find Wordpress to be _much_ easier to handle, understand, update and extend.

Best,
Hans


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## Marius Masalar (May 5, 2014)

I do everything myself because I like web design, but I wanted to chime in because I think you have a skewed idea of what it means to hire a designer.

Hiring a good designer means they will do three things:

1. Build you a nicer website than you could get without them, and they have the knowledge to be confident in saying so regardless of whether or not you know what makes it better than a standard WordPress theme. Their job is to know good web design, so trust their expertise.

2. Ensure that it's not just going to look pretty, but will function the way YOU need it to, which means if you need to update it frequently they'll make sure you can do so without them needing to be called back. It also means that if you're not going to be using the 400 extra features that come with a ThemeForest WP theme, they can disable them cleanly so your site isn't unnecessarily bloated with things that are never utilized.

3. Get you cheaper hosting, better deals on service, etc. thanks to their contacts and affiliate connections. They can also integrate your favourite third-party file sharing system or billing service so you can have a happy ecosystem tied to your site.

I say this in every thread about websites because I think it's important: if you're going to get yourself a website, invest the time and/or money into making it good or don't waste the time. 

A bad website makes you look worse than none at all.

If I'm a director/producer and I'm landing on a Wix/Weebly/etc. site that's all ads, Flash, frames, and nightmares, then what does that tell me about the person who thought it was a good enough way to present their work to me?

As you said, it has to be tailored to the audience. If you want to attract the crowd of "good enough" then your site only needs to be "good enough"...but I think most of us want to aim a little higher, for which you need either the time to become knowledgeable and do it yourself, or the money to hire a good designer to get you where you need to go.


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## ThomasL (May 5, 2014)

+1 on what Marius said.

Also, if this was a film-forum and you were a director asking others if he should do the music himself or hire a composer you know what you would have wanted the answer to be


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## aaronnt1 (May 5, 2014)

Simplesly @ Mon 05 May said:


> Another thing I'm probably going to do in the near future is change all of my embedded music samples over to soundcloud. It just has a nicer interface and it's super easy to add/remove tracks, vs using your web hosting service to store your music and an html5 player.



But doesn't that mean all your tracks will only playback at 128kbps? Surely for your own website you'd want music playing back at lossless standard or at least 320kbps. I only ask because I'm currently in the same boat trying to decide.


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## rgames (May 5, 2014)

I manage my own website and built it off a template that I got for about $50. If you know a little bit of HTML then it's really easy to tweak it to your liking. The only real hard-coding I did was the Flash-based player for my library collections, but you can do all of that with Soundcloud. I didn't like the way the Soundcloud player presented my library collections but my demo reel is on the main page in a Soundcloud link.

One thing is for sure: avoid Flash if at all possible. The only reason I use it is because I couldn't figure out how to protect my library tracks within HTML.

Having said that, I'll also add that, for me, a website is useless. Maybe if you're a band you need one but if you're a composer, your customers are not the mass public so I'm not sure how useful a website is. Even then, I think most folks are going to look for you in their Facebook feed, not via a special trip to a dedicated website. But I don't market directly to the public, so who knows...

The vast majority (90% maybe) of contacts I get through my website are from other composers looking for info. I can think of one small gig I got as a result of a contact through my website.

rgames


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## Simplesly (May 5, 2014)

aaronnt1 @ Mon May 05 said:


> Simplesly @ Mon 05 May said:
> 
> 
> > Another thing I'm probably going to do in the near future is change all of my embedded music samples over to soundcloud. It just has a nicer interface and it's super easy to add/remove tracks, vs using your web hosting service to store your music and an html5 player.
> ...



I don't think it's that big of a deal. If the tracks are good, they should stand on their own, even at 128kbps. Of course for delivery i'd be using dropbox or FTP.


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## KeviD (May 5, 2014)

If you are using a mac, I highly recommend RapidWeaver. http://realmacsoftware.com/rapidweaver/


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## Ciaran Birch (May 5, 2014)

Wordpress is actually good to use, I have absolutely zilch knowledge of building a site, but with the themes available, and clicking on loads of buttons until things look right  it's pretty good. I got a friend of mine who is a web designer to upload the theme to the hosting servers, and I did the rest on my site in about a week on and off. Just read the manual the theme designers give you and it's fairly straightforward. I got my theme off themeforest, think it was $45, and then you have the .com which was about $10 and whatever package then you have for hosting? Not too bad, plus wordpress is so easy to edit yourself and update pages after it's all up and running. Here's what I did, again that took me about a week to do.  http://www.ciaranbirch.com


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## wst3 (May 5, 2014)

Part of my misspent youth was operating a boutique web design/e-commerce consultancy. Prior to that I worked for one of the largest technology consulting firms in the world. So I too have an opinion on this<G>...

First, you must decide the purpose of your web site. If it is a business tool then I'd suggest hiring a good design firm for (at least) the first version. If it is just to get an idea of what the whole internet business-to-business thing is all about then maybe do it yourself.

Second, you must decide just how much time you want to take away from creating music. While tools like Wordpress, Joomla and the like make it easier, there is still a learning curve. If you have a natural penchant for programming (and most musicians do), then it's not all that bad. Only you know your skills, and your time constraints.

If you do decide to build it yourself then you need to spend a little bit of time learning HTML5 and CSS (Cascading Style Sheets). These two technologies are the "stuff" that makes a great web site great. (You could spend YEARS just learning all the cool CSS tricks!)

Even if you are using templates you will need HTML and CSS to understand how they work.

You'll also want to spend a little time learning about how different browsers (and the same browser on different platforms) render pages differently. It's not quite as bad as it once was, but there are differences, and you need to know them.

If you want mobile users to be able to access your site that is a whole nother kettle of something or other - skip it for now, but remember that you will need to come back to it.

All of this is why I suggest hiring a designer if this is a business tool. Because notice we have not even discussed the visual design element, or the dreaded man-machine interface issues.

BUT, if you have the time and the interest, and you do not need an instantly usable business site then by all means take a shot at it.

It is fun, and it can be a neat alternative outlet for your creativity. Mostly - it will be YOUR web site, your personality! You just have to make sure you have the time and interest.

If you hire a designer absolutely require that they design a framework within which you can manage the content. Anything else is simply not acceptable today.

What I use... call me a dinosaur, but I use a text editor (vi if you are really curious). I use the least expensive hosting provider I can find at any given time, and I host on *nix boxes because I do not want to learn any of the dotnet framework or ASP<G>!

I also use a sandbox called XAMPP (cross platform Apache/MySQL/PHP/Perl) that lets you have a full blown web server on your local PC. Makes testing things so easy.

There used to be a really cool freeby editor called HTML-Kit, looks like they charge for it now, but it makes developing web sites a lot of fun. I used it when the number of features in HTML ballooned beyond what I could memorize...

Hope this helps...


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## guitarman1960 (May 14, 2014)

As web design is my day job :D I probably have a bit of a skewed opinion, but even if you want to do your own website, here's things I would recommend so that you come across as serious and professional, and also future proof yourself a bit!

1. Register your own .com domain name, hopefully your own name or the name you use to represent your music. If the .com has gone as many have then just add music or something nice and short after your name. Try and avoid hyphens in the domain name, and always try and get a .com domain. 

2. Purchase your own hosting account, this doesn't cost much, some very cheap and reliable ones are companies such as Hostgator. Some hosting accounts even offer a free domain name if you sign up for 12 months hosting. This only costs a few dollars/pounds a month so if you aren't willing to invest that much in yourself that's pretty lame.
Most hosting companies have a system for a one-click installation of a CMS such as Wordpress or Joomla. I would recommend Wordpress as Joomla is always getting hacked!

3. When you have your domain name and hosting, then set up your email account, such as [email protected] this looks like you are professional and serious, never use Hotmail or gmail or any free email accounts for your business it instantly looks amateur hour.

4. The advantages of your own domain, email and hosting are many, but the most important is that you own the whole shebang, and if you want to move your site elsewhere, you can just download a backup of all the files and uload it to a new hosting company. Using free third party hosting means you are stuck with them.

5. Once you have your site up and running then set up social media accounts on Facebook, Twitter, Linked In Youtube an also Google Plus and link them to your site. Keep these separate from your personal social media accounts and keep them just for your business. Set up a Blog and post regularly and include links to your site.

6. Set up Google Analytics and Google Webmaster Tools. Create an xml sitemap using one f the free online tools and upload it to your site directory, use Webmaster Tools to verify your site map and Google will index your site. You can monitor your traffic etc with Google Analytics.

7. Get links that point to your site on as many relevant websites and forums as possible.

Hope this helps.

Oh yes, and Hire a professional designer! :lol:


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## aaronnt1 (May 14, 2014)

rgames @ Mon 05 May said:


> One thing is for sure: avoid Flash if at all possible. The only reason I use it is because I couldn't figure out how to protect my library tracks within HTML.



Can I ask what is meant by 'protect' here? Do you mean there's a way of protecting your copyrighted music with Flash?


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## Chris B (May 28, 2014)

I've created flash and HTML5 sites for composers, and I have some insights.

1. Don't make a flash site. With everyone viewing mobile these days— simple is better.

2. It's easier than you think to learn basic HTML, and this little knowledge goes a LONG way. If you have any spare time, I'd encourage you to go for it. The fastest way to learn is to download an HTML template and use Notepad++ (free) to start modifying things. Themeforest offers a free template each month.

3. Soundcloud provides very nice HTML5 widgets now. It's not uncommon to see these featured front and center on many composer websites these days. Many insist that music on Soundcloud is devalued or unsafe, but the other side says it's also a great way to land placements and licensing deals— if that's what you're into. If you're wanting to license A LOT of music through your website, some other premium tools like http://store.soundminer.com/webportal-home (Soundminer), SourceAudio, or LicenseQuote may be useful.

4. Knowing how to use Photoshop or GIMP (free) is a plus, but not necessary. Just get a decent picture of you in action and make sure your image file sizes are under 50KB. If you do a large background image, try to keep it under 150KB.

5. You can find free Navigation Menus and Contact Forms on Google. Most come with the appropriate documentation explaining how to embed and customize them. When you get stuck, a good Youtube tutorial will come to the rescue. 

6. I've never had a reason to switch from GoDaddy. Solid service. Build the site in the folder on your desktop, and drag the contents of your folder to the server when you're ready to go live.

7. If the main purpose of the site is to attract NEW leads (as opposed to a showcase/contact portal for word of mouth referrals), then you should consider adding pages gradually with specific keyword phrases or start a blog. This is where a developer may come in handy because it takes a little bit more time to set up a blog with proper SEO.

8. Consider using a CMS like Wordpress if you don't care to learn HTML or if you don't want to pay your developer to make updates. The back-end of Wordpress is very intuitive once it's set up, but there are limitations.

9. Another key benefit of Soundcloud Playlist Widgets is that the updates are instantly reflected on your website. If you add a new track to the top of your playlist on Soundcloud, it will be reflected in that playlist's widget on your site. This is the most common type of update for composer sites, and you can make it without modifying any code. Embedding a new playlist is also a breeze.

10. For my own music site, I paid $15 for a nice HTML5 template that had Soundcloud integration and I modified it to my liking. This is what MANY developers will do anyways if you hire them. As soon as I put the new site up with a decent licensing form, I started receiving numerous requests and opportunities from the same traffic flow. I still have relatively low traffic to the site, but the new site has already blown away my expectations. I intend to replace the "listen section" of the site with "projects" and incorporate a monthly SourceAudio plan for the "listening/licensing section" once I'm ready.

*To answer your question about developer rates— I usually charge between $2800-$5500 for sites like this. SEO strategy sessions are additional and every job varies. I've been more focused on making music these days, and I'd imagine you can find someone that does good work in the $1400 range. Of course even this is considered high because there are a lot of insecure web developers who don't value their work appropriately.

Hope this helps!


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## gsilbers (May 28, 2014)

any thoughts on 
http://www.squarespace.com/
???


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## Chris B (May 28, 2014)

I haven't used it, but I've played with the interface and it seemed intuitive. They do have a way to integrate Soundcloud— if that is the player you intend to use. They added Audio Collections sometime last year.

I imagine this is a good alternative for the hard-pressed composer that doesn't want to mess with code (other than embedding). Squarespace is somewhat similar to Wix, and they both have some creative limitations. 

Speaking of Wix... I'm not sure if Kevin is on these forums, but he recently followed me on Soundcloud and I clicked through to his site (looks to be made with Wix). I thought it was very nice.


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## aaronnt1 (May 29, 2014)

I would like to steer people away from GoDaddy. I just opened a hosting account with them and their servers are absolute crap. I have some locally hosted videos on my website and they simply won't stream properly. The videos aren't particularly large files, 50MB or less but they keep starting and stopping. Doing some tests shows that my download speeds from my site are averaging around 200-300kbps which is simply pathetic!!! I am on a 20Mb/s broadband package and regularly achieve those speeds during daily use so it's not that.

I spoke to GoDaddy about this and they said there's nothing they can do. They said their shared hosting infrastructure is not designed for hosting videos and media!! So all the marketing spiel about 100GB storage space and unlimited bandwidth is just bs. They said I should look into embedding videos - I'm going to have to but what a cop out, and I think it's looks better to host your own stuff.

Luckily I only signed up for a 12 month hosting plan and won't be renewing.

Anyone recommend a good hosting company that will give decent download speeds?


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## Chris B (May 29, 2014)

I can only recommend a dedicated box because I've noticed this also occurs on other shared hosting plans as well. Maybe someone else has had a better experience— I'd also be interested to know.

Also, I have noticed the videos can respond differently with different players. Sublime seems to work well for me, and I usually try to stay under 20MB with self-hosted videos. If I remember correctly, FLV always seemed to work best with jwPlayer.

Although I definitely still see the value of locally hosted videos, I tend to lean more toward Vimeo embeds— especially when considering the performance and customization available with Vimeo Pro.


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## Marius Masalar (May 29, 2014)

I don't self-host videos, but I run all my sites off DigitalOcean droplets. Best servers money can rent at the moment, as far as I'm concerned (in terms of price/performance ratio, service, etc.)

Exceptional across the board. Unfortunately, they don't do managed services, so if you don't know your way around server administration, you'll find it daunting...that being said, their Community documents are magnificently helpful and accessible.

Give them a look if you're in need of hosting:

https://www.digitalocean.com/

SquareSpace is the only code-free, do-it-yourself site platform worth looking at, but it's priced accordingly. Great service though.


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## Allegro (Jun 3, 2014)

I'd call myself a noob at making websites. Not trying to promote my website. NOT at all. But whatever you are going to see is a wordpress theme from themeforst and a hosting plan from hostgator (good hosting company for me btw).
And honestly, i really like my website, exactly what i'd hoped for from a dedicated designer. I can turn my website upside down without using any html. If I can do it, you can do it. Really easy to set up. there is a small leaning curve with wordpress and its not that secure. that's all.
www.dexound.com


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## Dracarys (Jul 7, 2014)

What's wrong with a hyphen?

www.native-instruments.com

Well, a minus hyphen, I don't think an actual keyboard hyphen is in any domain name.
Always wondered why native instrument's has this, especially since www.nativeinstruments.com directs you to it as well.


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## Chris B (Jul 7, 2014)

Casalena @ Mon Jul 07 said:


> What's wrong with a hyphen?
> 
> www.native-instruments.com
> 
> Well, a minus hyphen, I don't think an actual keyboard hyphen is in any domain name.



The main issue with a hyphen is that you have to say "hyphen" when communicating your domain by word of mouth. Somebody here may correct me, but other than that, I don't see a problem with it. Native Instruments should have no issue communicating by word of mouth because they own both domains. It's also a bit easier to read with the hyphen.

I've used hyphenated domains for companies targeting keyword phrases which were already taken, and this helped them get to #1 on Google. So I don't see any drawbacks as far as SEO is concerned— as long as your site has related branding, text and content.

You probably won't want your clients visiting the "dehyphenated" domain (possible competitor), so you'll want to communicate the hyphen clearly or try to boost your Google rank for that particular phrase.


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## marklaukkanen (Jul 11, 2014)

I've been lurking around this topic for a while, as I've been in the process of making a new website for myself. 

I finally ended up going with Squarespace and have to say that I'm happy with that decision. The service worked well for me and the editing interface is quick to get a hang of. So definitely recommend it. Also, they have the 14-day trial period (which can be extended if need be), so you can see if it works for you.

So here's my final result (at least for now): http://www.marklaukkanen.com


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## Uncle Peter (Jul 23, 2014)

Try Prosite. 

http://www.prosite.com

When i had a website - I used that - it looked awesome. Did it myself and got inspired by looking at all the fantastic sites that the various graphic designers have done. Integrate soundcloud, vimeo, twitter etc and you have a functioning site. Simples (o)


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## MMC (Aug 24, 2014)

I used CMS Couch in addition with HTML5 pages which I created in Dreamweaver.
In CMS you can convert your html page into php pages and makes them editable.

I never builded a website before that, but CMS Couch made it it easy for me to create a dynamic website.

CMS Couch was the best thing a have seen as opposed to Wordpress which I in the first hand planned to use.


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## Cowtothesky (Aug 25, 2014)

I just changed website services to Wix and built this website:

http://cowtothesky.wix.com/david-duncan-music

I haven't pointed my domain name to it yet, as I'm still in the process of building it, but at least you can get an idea of what the website service is like. It was incredibly user friendly and took me just a few hours to build.


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## _taylor (Aug 25, 2014)

I've always rolled my own. Sometimes starting from scratch, or using framework like wordpress, and more recently bootstrap as a jumping off point. 

http://getbootstrap.com/

In the long run it saves me some money, also I enjoy the process and like to change it up every so often.


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## handz (Aug 25, 2014)

As graphic designer being my main job - I will advice you - find a good designer to make GRAPHIC for your site and then tell some programmer to put it onto wordpress or some free platform - which you can then update via admin interface whenever you want. (maybe this you can do yourself) 

Making site yourself (unless you are by accident also composer and also graphic designer) is not best option. Your web is the first thing people will see - often even before they will hear any music. And if it look like free web generic sh** it is not good first impression. 

Some companies already found out that visual identity is very important even in musical world, Especially 8dio moved into very nice direction with their graphic style and their current website is very nicely done. East Wests graphic style is also very nice. 

Honestly I did not saw many really well done composer websites from graphic design standpoint, which is quite sad. I think too many people will rather do it themselves which is not right way to go.


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## MMC (Aug 27, 2014)

The case differs as that person has a low financial budget.
I did it myself too because I like graphic design on a decent level however I am into music.

Youtube has a lots of terrific tutorials to lead you the way to make decent websites.

If you are grown company like Dio8 with enough budget then is there is no excuse not to hire a professional graphic designer.


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## Cowtothesky (Aug 27, 2014)

^^ It basically boils down to, do i want to buy the next great VI or hire a website designer. I'll take the next great VI every time. Because it's FUN and inspiring.  But, if I had the extra cash, I would definitely get a pro to do it. 

It's really not hard to make your own website now. There are a lot of do it yourself website services that look fantastic. When I first made a website, I had to get into learning html scripting and java code. Now, it's easy peasy.


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