Sure, I enjoy a really dazzling custom site, and appreciate all the time and effort a gal puts into one of those; but I know that kind of effort is not for everyone.

A cookie cutter site with really nice photos, and some helpful and heartfelt prose is fine too.

At least the cookie cutter sites avoid some of the worse excesses of poorly done sites such as print that is so small as to be illegible, and colors that make is hard to distinguish the print, or are just not aesthetically pleasing.

Websites and advertising seem to be a necessity on some level, but then again, I think the money is best spent advertising especially if you are a traveling provider. I think most of us rather have drama-free experiences and excellent service. If you want to create a blog site, you'd save tons of money and if you are good with communicating, you'll meet more and better hobbyists based on a reputation of taking care of business in the best sense of those words. All of that spit and polish just means someone else is likely to have a good web site designer and that doesn't necessarily translate into a following.

those of us using smartphone to view your site. I travel a lot, and depend on my phone for viewing provider's websites and others.

All those fancy graphics and Flash contents really bog down our devices, and in most instances render these websites unviewable.

As for website design, and the cost associated in updating them, I would consider investigating Joomla. It is an Open Source (Free) Blogging platform, that is also a very capable Content Management System (CMS), with large following, and a dedicated developer community.

You can find thousands of free & commercial templates that can be easily customized, or find one of the thousands of developers to design a template for you. The beauty of this system, is that after the initial design of the template, you have the freedom to update any of the contents your self. There are also many Joomla Hosting companies that charge as little as $5.00 a month.

By the way, I like your current website, and I think it does look very professional.

This question is about designer vs. cookie cutter websites.

Yes, I know this questions has been asked over and over again, but my question comes from more of a "general" business standpoint.

Now, I am not asking if you will see a lady who has a cookie cutter website. Clearly, the answer is yes. More so, would you see a lady who charges a premium rate who has a cookie cutter website? Do you expect more from ladies with designer sites? Do you expect more of them (adv. education, personal compatibility, etc.)?

I ask this because in most business areas, cookie cutter websites usually belong to small business owners who are just starting out, and do not have the budget or expertise to build their own sites. They pay a couple hundred dollars for hosting and the option to choose from 1 of 50 templates. Yet, established and successful companies have custom sites, with unique and dynamic features, and logo branding. Their polished and professional look encourage confidence, loyalty and respect from the entire business community.

Is this also reflected in our little (maybe not so little) community?

Kisses,
Vanica

while they can be very attractive and image enhancing there is also a downside. some SW developers may do an upsell for site maintenance. they see the rates you charge, multiply by 40 and figure you are a cash cow for them. so a little later you want to update pics or other information, they then hit you with an outrageous bill for the service. something that far exceeds what a reasonable maintenance effort would cost. i know of several ladies who had this happen and they had to let their custom sites go because they could not regain control of the site.

1.) you need to make sure that rates for routine maintenance are spelled out.
2.) you need to be sure that you are in control of the stite, the hosting domain, etc. otherwise you can be at the mercy of the developer. it is good to be able to take the site to a different developer if something should go sour with the initial developer. some ladies trusted their initial developer way too much.

They let more of the ladies personality shine. There is three ways to catch my attention, having a beautiful face, having a great body or impress me with your whit and charm. Cookie cutter website don't show your personality. I have booked based on personality alone.

Now the more you charge the tougher it is to impress me with just looks. If you are going to charge a amount more than average personality must be there in order to get me to bite. So, would I see a lady who charges a premium rate who has a cookie cutter website? Truthfully most likely not unless I get a glimpse of her personality elsewhere like on the boards.

Now, do I expect more from ladies with designer sites? No, I expect every lady to bring what makes her the one I selected, that varies from lady to lady. Do I expect more of them (adv. education, personal compatibility, etc.)? Again no, I don't care about the education of the providers I see as I am not well educated myself but I would not book if there not something that I found intriguing about a lady. I do screen for compatibility as well as safety.

The biggest turn on for me is personality. Custom websites allow that to shine if well done. A well done website is a major selling point. As you said "established and successful companies have custom sites, with unique and dynamic features, and logo branding. Their polished and professional look encourage confidence, loyalty and respect from the entire business community." This is reflected in this community at leased in my opinion it is.

On slick advertising.

If you designed it yourself that might appeal to me on some irrelevant intellectual level but the bottom line is what you have to say about yourself and the photos. Mostly the photos (and what THEY have to say about you). The visuals are key but the slickness of your website doesn't mean very much to me, especially if I think you had nothing to do with it.

-- Modified on 11/22/2010 6:23:26 PM

I have designed all of my websites from scratch. I have never paid anyone to design a site for me.

Coding can be tiresome, but there is some satisfaction in getting things exactly how I want them. Plus, I like the control of editing when I want and how I want.

Kisses,
Vanica

This question reminds me of a demo of some software I worked on. The software had some great features the competition did not have. These were features that clearly maximized our client's return on investment. It would pay for itself in a matter of weeks. However, the client was most noticeably impressed by a cheesy animation we played at start-up. Sad. The fact is that most people can't do math, and are easily drawn in by shiny objects.

I use a stripped-down computer with limited browsing capabilities to shop for providers. If your site requires flash, I can't see it. All I really want is your email address, and a few nice, accurate, pictures. I would like pictures that are just a little better than I see on Eros. I don't know if the cookie-cutter sites put limitations on the pictures you can use, or the providers using these sites just happen to have small, low-res pictures. It seems like the most basic photo editing skill is all that is needed, but, I seldom see evidence of this.

"Lastly, the grammer and wording (including spelling) should reflect your intelligence and your quality of service."


It's "grammAr".
Looks like we see your reflection. LOL!

me, it is more important that the web site be a true reflection of you as a woman.  The pics should be fairly recent (at least every few months) and the information should be current, including your calendar.  Lastly, the grammer and wording (including spelling) should reflect your intelligence and your quality of service.  You don't need to list a bunch of menu items either.

I've seen web sites advertising a tour that took place 2 months ago.

> If your site requires flash, I can't see it. All I really want is your email address, and a few nice, accurate, pictures.

I agree big time. Flash, music that defaults "ON", bells and whistles that I can't see or hear are all killers for me and my limited access.  As I've said before, many of us do not want and are not capable of viewing a Disney-calibre website. KEEP IT SIMPLE, SWEETIE! KISS!

"Coding can be tiresome..."

Tell me about it. I've been doing it for 35 years.

I do like women who like to be in control and get things exactly right though. Nothing more awesome than that!

-- Modified on 11/22/2010 11:19:00 PM

Just a question here: Does the website format really make the personality of the provider come thru? Isn't it her wording, choice of format and well...reviews worth more than a "fancy" website?  I am not saying this because I chose to go with a "cookie cutter" site, but because I believe I took alot of time to make sure my "About me" came thru as real as possible, which, based on the gentlemen Ive met, say definitely does...Just curious??

It's what the lady puts on it.  A web site needs to kept up to date, esp pictures.  Good pictures that open to a viewable size.  
I think that custom web design is fine but would not waste the money on it if it had to be done by others.  
skb

As always first my disclaimer...
DISCLAIMER:
I am a web designer so take that as you will with the answer I am about to give.


My personal opinion, professional site seem more legitimate.
A free site requires an email address to set up, no money, no investment on the part of the lady.

A professional site can be done for as little as $500 with hosting as little as $50 a year, you own the site and can use it for years if you so choose.
If a lady charges $250 an hour two whole hours of her income can cover a custom made web site.

If a lady only uses a free site, and free ads on message boards like TER I get the distinct feeling she doesn't want to invest in her business, she wants profit without the expense of the advertising.
If the same lady charges a premium for her time but uses a free site it seems a touch greedy on her part, to my mind.   Want $600 - 800 and hour but won't spend $500 to advertise those rates...?

Cookie cutter sites are just that cookie cutter...
they don't stand out in anyone's mind,
they don't "brand the product" if you will.

Then of course there are the more practical reasons for not using a free site...
read the terms of service of the free sites, note little things like they own all your content.


Now on to the warnings about some web designers...
yes there are bad web designers out there, but then there are bad providers out there too, and I doubt anyone would suggest not being in this hobby because some are bad...
in the same vein, no one should suggest no using a professional web designer because some are bad.
The key is professional...
best advice on that is find ladies sites that you like and ask them about the designer that did the site.

Ask what the rates were,
ask what rates are to maintain the site,
ask if you own the site once payment is made in full,
ask about all the things you are concerned about from the customers of the designer and not just the designer themselves.


Oh, and a couple hundred for hosting is a rip off in and of itself.

Does the website format really make the personality of the provider come through?
      The exact formate is less important that the feel of the sight. Most Cookie cutter web sites all look, and feel the same. They don't draw me in to read the actual content of the site. A good more custom site does.

Isn't it her wording, choice of format and well...reviews worth more than a "fancy" website?
       I find that reviews as they are not written by the provider and most good providers custom there sessions to their clients reveal more about the clients personality than that of the lady reviewed. Look at my reviews notice how not one of them brings up DFK? Well that is because I am not into that as it feels like cheating yet some of the ladies I reviewed love kissing. Now as to wording, yes this reveal a great deal about the lady but some thing has to motivate me to spend the time to read them, that thing is often the look and feel of her website.

        So to answer your question, yes, the wording, choice of formate, and reviews are much more important than a "fancy" website but if the website is not interesting I will not likely get that far. I looked briefly at your site and to be honest unless a board post or an ad got me into screening mode, I would not read it. In fact I did not read it, now if I lived in Chicago, you may have lost a customer as a website  can entice  me to look deeper and maybe book. Your website could reveal a lot about you, yet I would not know it as it failed to do its job and draw me in.

       Please note a website with a unique feel does not have to be fancy or loaded with flash content. It just has to look and feel different. In fact a simple website is likely better as many are using their smartphones to view your site.

It's advertising so it should make you look your best.  I'm shopping for a hot time, not a web designer.