Another Web page question

[jj4091]

My hairdresser niece is in the process of opening her own salon. She has very limited funds & advertising appears to be an expensive undertaking. Knowing even less about the internet than I do, she asked if it is possible to have your own website. My limited research suggests that she would need to have a web page designed & then pay a monthly fee for someone to host it. Obviously every penny counts at the moment for her & I think I could put together a reasonable page, using photoshop, illustrating the different services she offers & other info required by potential clients, but there would still be fees to host it. I have read that you can post a pic on a web host like photobucket & then generate a code to make it show up like a web page, but would this come up in a web search for someone looking for local services? Can any one suggest another way of overcoming her problem. Thanks

 

[^woody^]

If she got a gmail account with Google then she would get a Google+ account too - which is a social network from Google

With this, she could then set up her business as a 'page'. It wont be in the same format as typical web page, but she can still showcase the business and put in contact links just the same

She can also directly link to the business page via links or put links on cards and flyers etc

The big advantage, is that Google is prioritising active G+ users in search results

See here www.google.com/+/business or put " g+ pages for business " into err, Google.

Failing that, someone like www.1and1.co.uk can offer a package for about £1.99 a month with a free page desginer

 

[jj4091]

Thanks ^woody^, would you mind if I PMed you to discuss it further.

 

[^woody^]

You can if you like, I don't know much more though!

 

[timtheenchanter]

id look around and choose another option, there are loads of companies offering free webhosting, with various features.
i use http://www.000webhost.com/ not had any issues with their service, they also have a free page designer if you wish to use it.
The only thing you would need to do is purchase your domain name, depending on what your want can be anything from a couple of quid a year/two years.
photoshop isnt really the tool for creating web pages, creating pictures to go on a web page yes, but then you need to put those pics into a webpage, I use dreamweaver, other options are available.
Feel free to pm if you require any help with it.

 

[timtheenchanter]

Also register the business on google, then it will show up in google map searches as well (which I use alot to find places from my android phone) plus every 6 months or so, google will send you a voucher for free advertising (they do me anyway) I have had a few customers find me this way, you can also add your webpage link to this, an easy way of getting people to your webpage before its made its way up the search rankings.

 

[jj4091]

Also register the business on google, then it will show up in google map searches as well.

Funny you should mention that, it already comes up on google maps without having registered, probably as it is a salon that had a previous tenant. Ive not been able to add a direct link to a my pic host though, just post the address in the comments section. My neice says thanks to all for your help, things seem to be going well & she doesn't have much time to spend thinking about publicity as she seems to be in great demand just from word of mouth. If this proves to be just the fact that people are wanting to try a new business & trade falls off then she thinks she will have to invest in a domain name & host.