Is it worth having a website?

[claire33]

hi not sure if this is the best place to post this but was wondering what other people thought about whether its worth having a website for my childminding? do you think it gets you more business as i would probably have to pay someone to make it for me, also if i do have a website do i put all my policies on there for parents to look at? what info should be on? should i put fees on?
sorry if im asking too much, there is just so much to think about and prepare
thank you for any help

[sarah707]

The owner of this forum Pauline makes some lovely websites.

have a look here :D

www.childmindinghelp.co.uk

[huggableshelly]

I had my own website for CM but chose to remove it, I felt that it had no benefit to me or my parents as I always seem to be full with no spcase to advertise due to having a lot of shift working parents.

I have seen a few made by Pauline and they are great so worth you looking at the link sarah has posted. She does a nice price too, take a look at other online website services but they will be either more costly or a do it yourself with templates to choose from.

[Hebs]

i have a website and it gets lots of hits, all of the parents that come to visit me have veiwed it before getting in touch :thumbsup:

[Pauline]

Thanks Sarah and Huggy :)

This link will take you straight to the information www.childminderswebsites.co.uk

(the one Sarah posted will too, but the above will save you a bit of searching :))

Most people I have made one for say that they have got lots of work from their website.

I wouldn't recommend having the whole of your policies on a website, people have been known to copy them and steal your hard work, even selling them on eBay. :(

Also have a look in the Childminders Websites section on the forum :)

[Polly2]

About half my mindees have come via my website :thumbsup: its definately worth thinking about in my opinion

[pinkbutterfly]

It's definitely worth it. I'm just making one myself. As to policies ... I won't put mine on there. Just general info about me and what I offer with some photos. If you just can't afford to pay to have your own website with a domain you can use one of the free services to host a website the disadvantage is that you'll get an address that's not easy to remember ... probably something like www. nameofthehostwebsite. com/nameofyourwebsite . Alternatively you can buy your own domain with a nice address like www . nameofyourwebsite. co.uk and try to build it yourself ... it's not difficult and there are many free tutorials available on the web ... some domain hosts even provide a service within their website where you can choose background, upload photos and move them etc it is very basic though. It's not expensive ... the cheapest I found was first year free then £1.99 a month plus something like £8 to buy a domain name for 2 years. Others for example one for £2.99 a month offers domain name of your choice for free. Browse around.

[Twinklestars]

I made my own, it cost me £9.99 for the domain name for 2 years and then its 2.99 a month, just thought it would be nice for them to have a look before they contact you

[Pauline]

I made my own, it cost me £9.99 for the domain name for 2 years and then its 2.99 a month, just thought it would be nice for them to have a look before they contact you

I should put my prices up!! :eek: :laughing:

I only charge £35 for the year AND build the site.

[Bushpig]

I change my childminding website quite often - new pics, change info etc. It's a handy tool to have a website... when I have an inquiry I just give them the URL and don't have to send loads of info via email like I did previously, or chat for ages on the phone.

Well worth the time and effort... and the majority of people comment on it and say they liked the professionalism ... and in a business which is often misconstrued/not thought of as 'professional', a website can put any thoughts like that to bed, straight away :thumbsup:

Re policies, I give the titles, but don't paste the actual policy, for copyright reasons.

[Bushpig]

I should put my prices up!! :eek: :laughing:

I only charge £35 for the year AND build the site.

Yikes that is cheap. Even for a freewebs site (and not using Flash/Photoshop etc. to create it). I would charge for the initial site build, and then an annual maintenance fee on top of that.

Pauline -----> :littleangel:

[Twinklestars]

I should put my prices up!! :eek: :laughing:

I only charge £35 for the year AND build the site.

yes you should!!! when i looked companies were charging ridiculous prices which is why i did my own

[claire33]

thank you all for your replies ill have a look into all the different choices