Looking to build a website

[jamesandjill]

My husband and I just bought an Inn but the owner wants to take the name with her. I have a name picked out but I need to build a web page. We would like to build our own web page. What is the best website builder? I would prefer it to be free especially in the beginning. Our email address is [email protected]

 

[Lee2014]

If you are not getting the name, website, etc. What did you get for your money?!?
Did it come with: House? Land? Furniture? Goodwill? Guests list? Training? Employees?
Why did she keep the name? Are they going down the road to be your competitors?

 

[jamesandjill]

If you are not getting the name, website, etc. What did you get for your money?!?
Did it come with: House? Land? Furniture? Goodwill? Guests list? Training? Employees?
Why did she keep the name? Are they going down the road to be your competitors?.

We have a ten year guarantee that she will not open another B&B but she has other B&B's in California with the name. We also have the house, land, furniture. We are able to currently keep the name until we can get done what we need to do. She has also spent a week with us training us and is handling all bookings for now.

 

[EmptyNest]

HAve you ever had any website experience? This will be your main marketing piece it should not be a do it yourself job
do you know basic SEO? Free is never good. You don't have to spend a fortune ut you need to hire a pro to do it for you...really
have you secured your domain? Checked WHOIS
Do not host on go d a d d y!
All I have to say

 

[Morticia]

Because you are essentially starting from scratch, which may be a good thing, free is not the way to go. You need to build your brand as if you are a completely new biz.
She's taking a very large part of your biz with her. If this place has a good rep, you have to start over building that.
You need to find a professional to get you started if you've never done this before.
You'll need an entire marketing plan that involves all new branding. Website, name, logo, Facebook page, blog, etc.
You can search on here and on the web for website builders that focus on hospitality. You want someone who knows this business who can build the site and teach you to make updates to it.
Budget for a good site is $5000+. You also need photos.

 

[gillumhouse]

I hope the price reflected the losses (and the Go oogle and link love) the name change will cost you.

 

[Arks]

...the owner wants to take the name with her...

Hmmm. Odd. Wonder what her plan is for that.

 

[JBloggs]

Since you are asking this question I would say hire someone to create a website for you. The inn is existing, so you will have photos ready, hire someone. This is the MOST IMPORTANT part of your marketing, this is the storefront.
NOTHING FREE IS WORTH HAVING - when it comes to your business.
Congrats on the new life as innkeepers. Not sure how you bought it and she is taking the name with? What did you buy, just the building, not the business? I am a bit scared about this, maybe you can elaborate.

 

[Hillbilly]

Oh my I think that was an EPIC mistake not getting the name. Just my opinion on that. It would be like buying a Taco Bell and then having to change the name to something else. You are starting from scratch on everything. You bought a house that's furnished and some land. Now you get to start a Inn. WOW! I hope you didn't have to pay for the value of the business!
Hire a professional to do your site. Your going to need a lot of SEO work to get found being you are starting from scratch.

 

[Jcam]

Oh my I think that was an EPIC mistake not getting the name. Just my opinion on that. It would be like buying a Taco Bell and then having to change the name to something else. You are starting from scratch on everything. You bought a house that's furnished and some land. Now you get to start a Inn. WOW! I hope you didn't have to pay for the value of the business!
Hire a professional to do your site. Your going to need a lot of SEO work to get found being you are starting from scratch..

did they get the phone number? sounds daft but a lady near us bought but insisted on changing phone provider and lost the phone number - then took ages changing it on the web site - so you couldn't find out the new number! I was trying to send her referals but no way to get through! also divert on the email as well

 

[GoodScout]

If she keeps the name, you need something in the sales contract that she'll keep a box on her website for at least 12 months telling people your new inn's name and providing a direct clickthru to your site.

 

[MtnKeeper]

Sounds like not having the name is a done deal so I won't respond on that. You need to have a professional website done and photos. Your website is how everyone will find you and view your property - that's the one thing that you can't half-*** in this business and expect to be successful. Expect to pay at least $5K for a responsive site and at least a couple thousand for professional photos (you know the saying that a picture is worth a thousand words). Excellent responsive sites go for well over $10K. Years ago we had a nice site but not great photos. We had professionals (Jumping Rocks) come in and do the photos, changing nothing else on the website and we made over $60K more the next year. Yes, I'm not kidding. It was less than $3K invested for that return.
Think of it this way - if you go to even a site like craigs list to look at buying something and the photo isn't great, most people overlook the item and go to the one that catches their eye. It might be even better than the others but the photo doesn't do it justice. You need to catch their eye in about 3-5 seconds or they'll click back to their search results and you'll be off their radar. You can't invest hundreds of thousands of dollars into a bed & breakfast business and skimp on the one tool that will drive all your revenue.
Good luck and welcome to the forum and the B&B business.

 

[EmptyNest]

Sounds like not having the name is a done deal so I won't respond on that. You need to have a professional website done and photos. Your website is how everyone will find you and view your property - that's the one thing that you can't half-*** in this business and expect to be successful. Expect to pay at least $5K for a responsive site and at least a couple thousand for professional photos (you know the saying that a picture is worth a thousand words). Excellent responsive sites go for well over $10K. Years ago we had a nice site but not great photos. We had professionals (Jumping Rocks) come in and do the photos, changing nothing else on the website and we made over $60K more the next year. Yes, I'm not kidding. It was less than $3K invested for that return.
Think of it this way - if you go to even a site like craigs list to look at buying something and the photo isn't great, most people overlook the item and go to the one that catches their eye. It might be even better than the others but the photo doesn't do it justice. You need to catch their eye in about 3-5 seconds or they'll click back to their search results and you'll be off their radar. You can't invest hundreds of thousands of dollars into a bed & breakfast business and skimp on the one tool that will drive all your revenue.
Good luck and welcome to the forum and the B&B business..

Totally agree..with all except the cost to build a website. See this site...it was done for under $1K

 

[EmptyNest]

can you just change the name to xxxxxxinnnameoftown and the domain to xxxxxxinnnameoftown.com or xxxxxinnbandb.com or does it have to be something completely different?

 

[dumitru]

I look at people talking about $5000+ price tags on new websites and I'm wondering... WHERE WOULD I GET SUCH CLIENTS???

 

[EmptyNest]

I look at people talking about $5000+ price tags on new websites and I'm wondering... WHERE WOULD I GET SUCH CLIENTS??? .

Yes I am with you on this. It has gotten ridiculous

 

[jamesandjill]

I look at people talking about $5000+ price tags on new websites and I'm wondering... WHERE WOULD I GET SUCH CLIENTS??? .

My husband and I just bought this business and money is really tight right now. There is no way we can afford $5,000!

 

[EmptyNest]

I look at people talking about $5000+ price tags on new websites and I'm wondering... WHERE WOULD I GET SUCH CLIENTS??? .

My husband and I just bought this business and money is really tight right now. There is no way we can afford $5,000!
.

Did you get my email message.? I agree $5K is ridiculous.

 

[dumitru]

I look at people talking about $5000+ price tags on new websites and I'm wondering... WHERE WOULD I GET SUCH CLIENTS??? .

My husband and I just bought this business and money is really tight right now. There is no way we can afford $5,000!
.

Then WordPress it the way to go. I'm sure EmptyNest will take good care of you

 

[MtnKeeper]

I look at people talking about $5000+ price tags on new websites and I'm wondering... WHERE WOULD I GET SUCH CLIENTS??? .

My husband and I just bought this business and money is really tight right now. There is no way we can afford $5,000!
.

Yes you can certainly get a website for about $1000 or so. $5K is not ridiculous for a high quality responsive website including SEO - the saying that we all use with our guests that you get what you pay for works for all of us as well. You can tell when you open a website that's been done by a professional company and those that have not (sorry if it's offending anyone here, just being honest). Now if money is tight certainly getting what you can afford is necessary. But again, you have 3 seconds to IMPRESS someone with your website or they'll move on. This is where you need to spend your money and $5k is not ridiculous when the ROI is huge. But again I'm probably not the average B&B on this group and therefore gauge that as well.