GBBO - Anybody tried this?

[Dan]

Getting British Business Online

Don't know how legitimate this is, or if there's a catch. But at first glance it appears to be a decent free service.

Anybody fancy testing it out?

 

[b30 villain]

Had a go spent a couple of hours building the site then it kept crashing after it supposedly went live. Had some rep ring me once told him my problems and he said he would ring back in a few weeks to help if i hadnt got me head round it that was 3 month ago:mad2:

 

[mz30]

Will give it a go dan will report back

 

[Dan]

Had a go spent a couple of hours building the site then it kept crashing after it supposedly went live. Had some rep ring me once told him my problems and he said he would ring back in a few weeks to help if i hadnt got me head round it that was 3 month ago:mad2:

Is it completely free then?

 

[b30 villain]

yeah completely free mate but a waste of time IMO maybe im just a computer mong(wouldnt surprise me:lol🙂and i did something wrong

 

[Dan]

Well if somebody manages to get it working and online perhaps they can give you a couple of pointers mate.

I'll take a look myself if it does appear to be half decent. Would be nice to see what it's capable of doing.

 

[user123]

I just had a look around, the only catch, if it works, I can see is the fee after two years, it says small, but what is a small fee? and would I be tied in with it? It says no, but something doesn't feel quite right... I passed the link on to Howard, he'll take a look, too.

 

[mz30]

Okay just tried it out and knocked up a basic website in 10-15 mins

Will add more content and see if its still free

Website here idm tiling

 

[Colour Republic]

I don't think it is a scam, i looked at it a couple of months ago and from memory it has government backing or may even be run by the state, but I quickly gave up when as it seemed buggie

One i'm looking at the moment is 'locallinkup', i noticed somebody else had a free website done by them and it seems to be a business network only just got through my login details a few hours ago (i registered 1/2 days ago). It seems quite good and free but haven't looked around enough yet....

 

[Dan]

Okay just tried it out and knocked up a basic website in 10-15 mins

Will add more content and see if its still free

Website here idm tiling

When does your free domain name become active?

 

[Dan]

I just had a look around, the only catch, if it works, I can see is the fee after two years, it says small, but what is a small fee? and would I be tied in with it? It says no, but something doesn't feel quite right... I passed the link on to Howard, he'll take a look, too.

.co.uk domain names are around £2.50 per year, minimum 2 years, so a fiver. I think they stand the cost for the first 2 years, but then you pay thereafter. So far, other than that, I can't see any catch.

It's using Googlesites, which is free anyway, but it's tagging a domain to it for you, so I don't see how they could 'take it off you' or bill your for it laterto be honest Gi. I think it might be a good thing this.

 

[b30 villain]

Okay just tried it out and knocked up a basic website in 10-15 mins

Will add more content and see if its still free

Website here idm tiling

Must be me then :lol:

 

[b30 villain]

have you tried google searching idm to see if its up yet

 

[Colour Republic]

just noticed it's powered by googlesites, which seemed to be one of the better easier to use free template websites

 

[user123]

That's the page I got when I googled idm tiling

idm tiling - Google Search

 

[b30 villain]

thats the problem i was having even after 2 weeks there was nothing there

 

[mz30]

When does your free domain name become active?

Just had an e-mail says it can take upto 72 hours,if it works great if not not a big deal.

Will wait till it does go active to add anymore though ,will let you guys know how i get on

 

[mz30]

What happens if you click the link i posted ?

 

[b30 villain]

your link is fine goes straight there

 

[Dan]

have you tried google searching idm to see if its up yet

It wont show quite that quickly.

It'll need a few links going to it, and some "IDM tiling" written in paragraphs and headings and the likes. Then give it a week or two and search then.

 

[user123]

idm tiling

from your link...

 

[mz30]

like anything online it takes hits to get up on the first page of google,have had an e-mail from them not asked me for money yet so thats a good sign

 

[b30 villain]

It is completely free for 2 years then i think bt charge you a nominal fee thereafter you should get a phone call off one of their peeps in the next week or so to ask how you are getting on

 

[david campbell]

set up a page a few weeks ago,seemed fairly straight forward but couldn't sem to access it after a few days,do however get e-mails every few days about ways to make the site more appealing and to divert more traffic to it

 

[penno]

It is free which is no bad thing but no one will ever see the sites, needle in a thousand haystacks. Site like that will always be way down on the list and will never really get higher, people pay for sites to ensure they are high on google listings. Customer could type in google for example "tiler in cambridge" (if your site is setup from there ofc), your page would never show up. You would have something like a hairdressers in cambridge listed before you. God i sound like Victor Meldrew 🙂 But in honesty your site doesnt have a prayer of being viewed unless it was direct links from the likes of this forum.

 

[mz30]

Just to update this,have had no phone calls ,except for people offering me mobile phone contracts,and as i used idm tiling on that website as a tester and use it no were else am guessing its a way to attract buisness for the 3 network as thats what i get offered all the time.

 

[hillhead]

So is the GBBO a pile of you know what? and a catch to pull you in?
I was building a website on it myself and was getting on well but now i can't seem to get in to edit the thing:mad2:

 

[Ajax123]

My duaghters website is done through this - it is completely free but limited in terms of picture uploads and the like. She wanted to set up gallerys of her photo work but ran out of space. The catch, if you call it a catch as you get a choice in the matter, is that she gets occasional calls from reps asking if she wants to upgrade it to get more hits and to allow more upload space.

Would be good to get it optimised but as she is not yet selling anything it seems a bit of a waste of money at the moment.

If you want a look here is the link

Faetography

 

[hillhead]

I'll have a look in a minute Ajax,i have quite a few pics up on mine.
100mb i think is the start up limit.
I'm trying ways to get in to edit my site before i advertise it,frustrating.

 

[hillhead]

Very tidy website Ajax,
it could be a simple problem locking me out. Fingers crossed.

 

[Ant]

Hi Everyone

It is definately a good thing!

I registered for this via GBBO and got my free domain (www.agtiling.co.uk), no '.whatever' bit inbetween.

You then create your site via Google Sites.

I first registered about 4 weeks ago, and have been adding and creating it ever since via Google Sites. Take a look at my site, not bad for free. I'm not bad at simple design programs, so that helps. If you want any help on it ask or PM me.

Also, type 'Tiler in Oldham' in google. You'll see i appear a few times on 1st page, with my actual site about 5th in the list and 2nd only to MH Tiler in actual tilers websites. I'm pretty happy about that. I think I achieved this by adding my details to loads of free business listings sites (Yell, UKBusinessDirectory.com, etc) and also kept my descriptions the same on each one, with 'tiler in Oldham' quoted once a twice in the text. Another thing i think i read is Google give you a 'honeymoon' period of about 1 month where you perform well in searches. Not sure if thats true but fingers crossed i stay up there.

I'm now working on 'tiler in Manchester/Rochdale/Ashton/etc' see if i can do better in them.

So, GBBO is great and free! From what i understand, you get the domain and hosting free for 2 years, then have the OPTION to carry on paid after that. Think it is government funded too.

Cheers

Ant