Do you think that a good professionally done web design help in sales? Do you think that it’s worth it to go and pay a couple of thousands on a really good design like HostRocket did? Or do you think that a site done with Geocities site building tool does the job? Or that you can spend $200 and get an ok site and still get the same amount of sales? So my question is... Does web design have an affect on sales?

I don't think it hurts. :D Seriously, when have you looked at a site and said, "This site looks TOO GOOD, nahhh, I'm not gonna do business with them!"

I don't think you need a hostrocket site, as many successful sites are not this fancy, but you do need a site that doesn't scream out, "MY NEPHEW MADE THIS IN 5 MINUTES WITH FRONTPAGE!"

"MY NEPHEW MADE THIS IN 5 MINUTES WITH FRONTPAGE!"

i have seen a lot of hosting company sites screaming thing much worst then that:D

Maybe you should ask your self a question.
Would you sign up for a site that looks good, or a site that was made in 3 minutes in frontpage (without knowing the service conditions)?

well you really never know. i would signup with a company that has a site done with frontpage if they and ***** where the last 2 hosting companies standing... well now that i think of it i would just forget about the internet:D

I think the most important thing is that your website explains everything clearly.

I have seen websites that are just confusing and make no sense. I would never buy froma site like that. I mean, when it says "Annual price: $50" and then with the same package it says "Or pay by the year and save: $45" somthing is not right...
That is one example I ran accrsoss once...


IMHO all you need to do is make sure that all the information is there, and it is not an eyesore. Make sure all your packages are clearly laid out... All the info is clear... There is info about your compant etc etc etc...

Just a note. I think HostRocket would have spent way more than a couple of thousand, looks like a $8k+ design, flows well, a lot of flash, lots of work. And they're big now with lots of money to spend on that stuff :) I think your design is quite important though, like what everyone else has said, I don't think people want to see a page that looks like it was whipped up in FP by a newbie designer.

they spent 20,000. what i mean by a couple of thousands its 4000-8000

I was going to say $20k, because I thought I heard that before, then I didn't write it because I thought that price was insane. But there we go, $20k on a website. Yikes..

I think a professionally designed site is the way to go, something individual and easy on the eyes would make me more comfortable going with that host than seeing the same general design over and over.

:eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek:


$20,000!!!! WOW. Thats about all I have to say. Now I wanna branch off into web design! :)


I also have something to add. I would not suggest spending much on your website unless you can truly afford it. You may even want to do it gradually. Pay $100 (or less) to have one aspect of the site (or one page) modified (or built) professionally. If this seems to help your business, continue to redo the pages or different parts of your site. If it seems to make no difference at all, maybe you should consider whether or not you really want to spend that much money....

Just a though. What does everyone else think about this?

I certainly think a professional looking web page is the way to go. It's often the first thing that a customer sees of your business, and gives them a first impression. The Internet is rather like window shopping - people look at lots of stores but only go into the ones that appeal to them (of course, you'd be hoping they're doing a little more than just window shopping, and actually want to pay for your services...)

I don't think you need to spend thousands on a professionally done design though. I just looked at HostRocket's for the first time. It's very nice, but it also takes a long time to load. I prefer fast loading pages that do as much as they can within a 50KB or so limit.

Honestly, if you're going to be doing business on the web for a while, I reckon it's a worthwhile investment learning some web design skills yourself. Even if you're a poor designer, with some skills you can get just a single page template or some graphics done by others, and then piece it all together yourself.

Simple and subtle I say!

I wasn't really thinking this way before, but the answer to your original question should probably be largely based on you marketing approach... If you were just advertising in places like webhosting forums, and web hosting directories then chances are the people looking at your site are just looking for hosting. They don't care a whole lot about gimmicks... But if you are putting banners up on banner exchanges and buying bulk visitors and things like that, you would need more gimmicks to convince your visitors they want web hositng...

Those are my thoughts...

Originally posted by NetDotHost
I wasn't really thinking this way before, but the answer to your original question should probably be largely based on you marketing approach... If you were just advertising in places like webhosting forums, and web hosting directories then chances are the people looking at your site are just looking for hosting. They don't care a whole lot about gimmicks... But if you are putting banners up on banner exchanges and buying bulk visitors and things like that, you would need more gimmicks to convince your visitors they want web hositng...

Those are my thoughts...

Never thought of it like that. But i think web hosting is like this. you need it or you dont.
I dont think that you can convince someone that they need web hosting if they dont need it. its not like a kitchen utensil that they make you think you need it so you buy it but you never use it. i dont think you can do that with hosting.

Never thought of it like that. But i think web hosting is like this. you need it or you dont.
I dont think that you can convince someone that they need web hosting if they dont need it. its not like a kitchen utensil that they make you think you need it so you buy it but you never use it. i dont think you can do that with hosting.

I guess I worded that a little bit wrong... I agree, for the most part, either you need web hosting or you don't. However, there are the people that use free web hosts like geocities, and if maybe if they saw the value of your packages then maybe they would consider paying for their hosting. Also, if I were John Doe that had a firend that needed web hosting... I am passing though sites and one catches my eye, I read on and I find these great hosting offers, I pass them on to my friend. However, if the site were really basic, and I wasn't interested in exploring its flashy design, then maybe I would not have told my friend to go visit your site...

Thats more what I meant.

well about prices that i dont have. i dont offer $1.99 plans my plans are more realistice to wha it cost to run a company. so they are much higher then some host out there. but i guess that if i have a really good design and then target a more experienced group of people then i will be able to sell my plans. right now i have 800 unique visitors per month coming from host directories so i think that people are willing to pay those prices since they see the pricing and see general description of them on the directory. so i guess if i bring in a better looking site then i will have a higher percent of signup. what do you think

Well, in that case... I think a well laid out flashy design would help you. Chances are your market is more people that are not overly knowledgeable about the market, they like the look and feel of your website, or you offer them something else that they like over the other people. Another possibility would be people that have just put there foot in the water and have not really looked at many (or any) other hosts. If your site screams at them "You want this" then they may buy.

Hope this helps.
Mike.

Originally posted by one_web
they spent 20,000. what i mean by a couple of thousands its 4000-8000

You get what you pay for!

a $4000-8000 would be a really good site. you may not get all the flash and things but you will get a nice layout and nice images and things you may get some flash but not as much as they did. but as you can tell flash is not the best thing for hosting sites since they might take too long to load and when someone goes to your company's site they want to see speed. they dont say well i understand that its slow because they have a 800k flash intro...

well every body is speaking about hostrocket.com have any body
had a look around addr.com

addr.com have very cool design and navigation concept. i just love the site. yeah that one is also very slow loading. but ok when it comes to browsing experience.

overyall i will give it 10 / 10.

;)