How can I start a website with no experience in Web Design?

Question

I want to start a website similar to ratemyprofessor.com that generates revenue through advertising. However, I am a college student with no experience in web design. I don't want the site to be second rate at all, which means I won't be designing it. Which direction should I go in to produce a quality website on a low budget?

Answer 1

Check out designers on www.elance.com

Best way to do stuff on a low budget.  

Remember, you get what you pay for.  

Answer 2

If you have a good idea for a site, register a business and get a business loan. Why?

1) GOOD web designers cost a lot of money. Unless you want a half-assed site, you are going to need to spend a good amount of coin on a decent (team of) developer(s).

2) Pretty much every site needs a database back-end. The web developer may design and build this, but if not, you'll have to hire a database developer. If the site is large and complicated enough, a full time DBA would also be required.

3) Hosting. It's not cheap, especially if your site is attracting a lot of traffic. And being that you are looking to make money purely on its ad revenue, I expect that the site is going to need a good amount of bandwidth. So you're going to need a good chunk of change to get it off the ground before your ad revenue starts coming in.

These are just the first 3 things that first pop into my head. There are a lot of costs involved, and if you want a GOOD website, it's going to cost you. Even a decent, small, non-interactive business website costs around $1000, so unless you can do the whole thing yourself (which you've indicated isn't the case), you are going to need to get some help.

If you are serious about the idea, get a business plan on paper, apply for a business loan, get some proposals from some web developers, and weigh the initial investment against the projected returns. If the idea really is worth it, you'll be raking in the cash in no time!

Answer 3

http://www.samwilson3d.com most websites are around $475

it never hurts to find out

I've had 2 websites built there; the latest is http://www.signaturecowboy.com

Do you have a domain name but no hosting?