Hi Sable,

I have done lots of sites for providers in the last two years so I will jump on this one. Well you got your domain name now you need a place to host your site. Lots I am sure will chime in on the best hosting companies to use so I will not go into detail on that except to say make sure that they host adult oriented sites so your site will not get taken down or you will not get hosed by bandwidth bill because the hosting company does not have plans to accommodate the amount of traffic you will get.  Also don't use Geocities or any of those free hosting options, most have bandwidth limits that can easily be exceeded if you post your site link on the TER or other boards. Beyond that (and others may differ with me on this) I think it looks cheap. Having a site hosted on a free server (with it's annoying pop ups) is like showing up on a date with a "Walmart Clearance Sale" tag hanging out of your dress. It does not exactly inspire that upscale classy image that most providers wish to project.

You can find a wide variety of html editors out there but FrontPage and Dreamweaver are pretty much the most popular. If you wish to do a really professional site I would stick to one of these as they have the capabilities to do the job and have lots of resources and tutorials by other users that can be mighty helpful. Additionally a good photo editing  software program like Photoshop is a necessity as well. Now Photoshop is quite expensive and is what I have been using for forever so I am not real up on the less expensive alternatives out there that might well serve your needs with out the high price tag. Perhaps others could address that area.

Ok now you have a domain, hosting, and all the software you will need to do a good site. What I recommend next is equally important in my opinion but is something that I think is overlooked by many providers out there...Good Pictures!. Remember you are selling yourself, and someone a few threads below posted about providers investing in themselves. This I think is an important part of that. Spend some bucks and invest in a good photographer (a professional one). Take a look at Jordan Kay of Phoenix  http://www.foxykay.com/  Lisa of Phoenix http://www.lisa4fun.net/  and CJ of Phoenix  http://www.unzipitnow.com/  for what I think are good examples of good photos. Yep they invested some bucks for that but not a lot of money. Having great pictures will not only make you and your site look much better but if you get prints made (and can scan them at any size you want) will give you the ability for lots of creative freedom in designing your site. If your photographer asks you if you want prints or have them on CD get both or just get the prints. Most photographers will scan them in photo gallery size which is nice when you get to your gallery but sucks if you need the picture bigger than what you were supplied with. Pictures can go smaller no problem but if you take a scanned image and make it much larger than it's original, you loose picture quality rapidly.

Finally, before starting all this be realistic about the amount of time you have for this project. Doing your own website is great for a provider as it is hard for even the best designers to get inside your head and make a site exactly the way you envisioned it but a lot of ladies do not have the time to devote to the endeavor. I have done several sites for providers that are not lazy or stupid by any means, but just did not have the time to do their own sites. Some even started their sites and then turned them over to me after they realized that with their time constraints it would take them a year and a half to ever get it completed. If time is a precious commodity for you, you might want to consider hiring someone to help you or do the site for you. Just something to keep in mind.

There are much more finer points to be made and think about but I think I covered most of the important ones I wanted to say. Like I say others may differ with me on some of my points but you have to decide what is best for you and go for it. Whatever you decide is best for you, don't get discouraged along the way and by all means have fun with your project.

Best wishes,
-Glen

If you want to email me directly I can assist you with this.  I have several websites and I design them myself.

Sable,
What is wrong with the site you have? It looks great to me. Do someone else manage it for you and you pay them a large fee to maintain it and now you want to be created yourself and manage your own site with less cost? I am asking for a reason. I might can help you cut out all cost other then your monthly domain fee. You will be suprise what you can do yourself if you to invest in web design software such as dreamweaver4 (possible free) at no expense other then shipping and receiving cost from my address to your.


-- Modified on 8/25/2002 9:52:01 PM

Looked at your site and it looks good. Someone with more experience in web design could give it a slicker look but it looks good. It loads fast and doesn't have any annoying Flash movies or music.

Basically what you need to do now is find a web host that will allow adult sites on their server. They run anywhere from a few bucks amonth to thousands a month. It all depends on what you need in the way of storage and bandwidth. You are merely offering an ad based site with no frills. Bandwidth should not be a major hassle. You can probably get a way with most of the low end packages, probably in the range of $50 a month or so.

Then just move your existing pages to the new site and away you go. Extra expense on web design is unnecessary. Your site is clean, loads quickly and has everything you need.

Nothing's so drastically wrong, but I think I can help.


I've sent my ideas under separate e-mail.

-- Modified on 8/25/2002 11:36:12 PM

She just did Lisa's design.  She's done a ton of X sites and has firsthand knowledge of our industry.  

I'm pretty sure she'll do your site for a reasonable fee.  Spend some $$$$ on good photo's by a pro.  

A lil spent goes a LONG way.  You should be able to get a professional looking site for under 1000.00.

BTW, time for me to change mine. I've been copied to death LOL


Good Luck