OT - Best way to do a new website from an obsolete one

[NHAero]

I have a website I had created for my engineering consulting services >15 years ago. The website builder built it so I could add content and edit it in Macromedia Contribute. I moved and took a job in 2010 and stopped doing anything with the web site. Now I'm back working for myself, and I'd like to either rehabilitate the existing website or start a new one (it's OK if I have to re-load content, most are PDFs.)

I also have a blog I haven't posted to much on Typepad, but I can still use that blog.

Squarespace? Wix? Other DIY software? Other approaches?

I don't need the site to get work, I'm plenty busy and only aiming to work half time.

My current site is hosted on Pair.com and I definitely need to keep the URL.

[.RJ]

I dunno if Squarespace is the best but its pretty easy. Try it and I bet you figure out within 15 minutes if it'll work for you or not.

[C40_guy]

Originally Posted by NHAero

I have a website I had created for my engineering consulting services >15 years ago. The website builder built it so I could add content and edit it in Macromedia Contribute. I moved and took a job in 2010 and stopped doing anything with the web site. Now I'm back working for myself, and I'd like to either rehabilitate the existing website or start a new one (it's OK if I have to re-load content, most are PDFs.)

I also have a blog I haven't posted to much on Typepad, but I can still use that blog.

Squarespace? Wix? Other DIY software? Other approaches?

I don't need the site to get work, I'm plenty busy and only aiming to work half time.

My current site is hosted on Pair.com and I definitely need to keep the URL.

I've been on pair.com for a long time, love them!

I still have a couple of websites that I created with FrontPage. Gawd are they outdated!

I think the only way to go is to start from scratch. Save your images and content, rebuild using a new template...

If you're on a Mac, I'd suggest RapidWeaver. Relatively easy to use.

[XXtwindad]

Incredibly timely thread. I’m in the same situation myself. I was all set to call “Go Daddy” today. Any graphic designers on the site? I seem to remember that Paceliner “Redir” has a lot of knowledge on the subject.

[NHAero]

I'm Mac-based.
If I understand, if I use Squarespace then the site is hosted by them, and I have to move the domain from Pair.com to Squarespace. Is this right?

Also - a feature I want to add at some point would be a store to sell some of my Excel-based calculators, and maybe even host short how-to videos that are subscription-based or pay per view or ??

Does that change where I should go for this?

[.RJ]

Originally Posted by NHAero

Also - a feature I want to add at some point would be a store to sell some of my Excel-based calculators, and maybe even host short how-to videos that are subscription-based or pay per view or ??

Use a shopify plugin + youtube & patreon

[kppolich]

If budget allows, I'd recommend an actual CMS (Content Managment System) like Hubspot that you can use for your website and forms as well as contact management (lead tracking).
Backup would be Umbraco Cloud.

I'd stay away form Wordpress due to the various plugin's required to build the actual site that have to be updated quite frequently for security holes that usually take down the site due to spam attacks, SQL injections, etc.

However, WordPress can be managed by GoDaddy or FlyWheel and they auto-update things for you at a cost. They are also decent vendors for all in one solutions like Website hosting, domain purchasing, SSL certificates and WordPress management with backups and a staging site as well.

WIX or Squarespace are pretty limited and are usually reserved for blog type websites.

[redir]

It's actually not that bad for a 15 year old site.

Being PHP I assume you are using a database. Is it also some sort of content management system?

I would just find a host that lets you build what ever you want, stick with PHP, and then go through every page of your site trash what you don't want and keep what you do then rebuild.

Maybe consider making some of your PDF's into actual web pages too.

[.RJ]

I dont think a guy actively trying to be 'less busy' needs a content management system and lead tracking.

He needs a hybrid to run to the farmers market, not a Tarmac SL7 eTap.

[RWL2222]

I have had good experiences with sites like Upwork, where I will post a creative job like this and then set a fixed price amount, for narrow scope of work, for a designer to give me an indicator of their work. I run this in parallel with 2-3 three different people, look at the results, then award the full job. There's a better than good chance you will get back a huge amount of creativity and productivity, with a fast turnaround time and limited risk.

[C40_guy]

Originally Posted by NHAero

I'm Mac-based.

I took a look at your site...

You could do this in a week with Dreamweaver, just selecting a new template from their library and manually porting the content over section by section.

You'll have some startup learning to do, but when you're done, you will be able to update/modify easily whenever you want.

Take a look at my *old* consulting site. I had some help with initial graphics creation, the rest I did, and updated myself.


Not fancy, maybe a bit creaky/broken at this point, but it's been years since I touched the site...

[C40_guy]

Choose your (future) storefront separately. Make a choice now regarding your current content. You can always add a storefront later, from a different supplier, and attach it as shop.energysmiths...

...in the same way that I used wordpress at blog.aceleragroup.com...

[dgauthier]

While you're at it, go to Pair's Let's Encrypt page https://www.pair.com/solutions/lets-encrypt/ and install a free SSL certificate for your site.

Not having one will hurt your search engine ranking (like you don't exist) and depending on a user's security settings can cause some browsers to pop up a warning when they try to visit your site.

[KarlC]

Good info and timely for us also.

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