Websites

[Mark Atkinson]

Recently I was asked to quote on fixing two Web Site created free. Aside from the fact that the appearnce was very amatuer, the Web Sites were "invisable".
Fixing the appearnce was really a matter of changing the backgroud and adding more info. But a Web Site that cannot be found by your potential clients is waste of time and money. Unless it appears on the first page of a Google Search for your chosen keywords, it is invsible. most people will not search beyond the first page of search results unless they are looking for somthing very specific.

I'm not sure I agree here. While ranking for keywords is a primary goal for 90% of businesses who trade/advertise via the internet, certain businesses simply don't require that. We designed a website for a blue chip company who was only interested in providing a professional facade to the people who searched their name specifically. They weren't interested whatsoever in ranking in Google for any specific keywords.

I firmly believe that a "free" site is good enough to rank 1st for your name. If that's all you need, then go for it. It's not like there aren't hundreds of reasonably professional looking templates around on the net.