Web design and web hosting advice needed

[powayseller]

I’m looking for web design software and a web hosting company. I checked out Yahoo! but was told the support is poor, and page updates would be cumbersome. inMotion seems pretty good too.

I would be willing to pay for this service, but think it should be simple enough to try on my own. Yahoo!’s software for web design is like making a power point presentation.

This is for a business I am starting later this fall.

Any advice is appreciated, or you can e-mail me directly at [email protected].

Thanks.

[PerryChase]

Try http://www.godaddy.com for web hosting.
Their services are good and prices are low. They are also a very reputable company founded by Bob Parsons. Perfect for starting a business.

For web design, there are countless solutions. Godaddy has a quick design type solution.

[sdappraiser]

Are you starting a web blog? I registered a few domain names earlier this year in hopes of selling them off in the future. If you are thinking about starting a R/E webpage, these might interest you. Some of them look like doubles but they are variations in spelling that would be sold together.

homesindefault.com
homeindefault.com
thinkingaboutforeclosure.com
thinkingaboutforclosure.com
throwthekeysin.com
throwinthekeys.com
putsomelipstickonthispig.com
sd-foreclosures.com
sd-forclosures.com
buyashortsalehome.com
sandiegoforeclosurespecialist.com
sandiegoforclosurespecialist.com
sdforeclosurespecialist.com
sdforclosurespecialist.com
sandiegohomesindefault.com
sdhomesindefault.com
sandiegoforeclosureinfo.com
sandiegoforclosureinfo.com
sdforeclosureinfo.com
sdforclosureinfo.com
sandiegoreolist.com
sdreolist.com
sandiegobubbleburst.com
sdbubbleburst.com
thebubbleisbursting.com
victimofpredatorylending.com
homeloanfraud.com

Hope Rich doesn’t mind the plug. If so I will delete.

[carlislematthew]

I use hostmysite.com.

They’re great if you’re into the development aspect of web hosting, i.e. a SQL Server database and ASP.NET pages and stuff like that. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, then you should probably go with someone else as you’ll be paying for something you won’t use.

However, if you’re into these Microsoft web technologies, then hostmysite.com is pretty awesome. Their service is really good – you can always get someone on the phone very quickly. I’ve been happy with them.

[rankandfile]

I have had success with Linux-based, or open-source hosts, as opposed to Windows-based hosts. If you don’t know much about open-source applications, be prepared to enter a whole new world. I started to delve into it a couple years ago when I started my own business. I was looking for an inexpensive way to establish a web presence and open-source fit the bill perfectly.

I use Site5 as my host and have most of my domain names registered through 1and1. I also used GoDaddy in the beginning, but 1and1 is less expensive and provides private domain registration for free. Private registration is what you use if you don’t want anyone to know that it is you hosting the site as they will be able to look up your name, address, and telephone number in any WHOIS-type database.

I have been really pleased with Site5. They allow me to have 5 individual domain names (websites) for each account. So, if you start one account, you can have 5 completely separate websites on it at no additional charge. Another feature I like is that they have Fantastico in their control panel. Fantastico allows you to install any number of different scripts, or programs, with a few mouse clicks. Examples of scripts would be content management programs like Drupal (which is what this site uses), PHPBB which is a forum program, or WebCalendar which is an online calendar. Again, all of these programs are open-source and are free. One caveat, learn how to update them as they change and like all programs are susceptible to hackers.

Feel free to contact me if you want any more info:
[email protected]

[SD Realtor]

PS it depends on what you want the website for. My wife’s business is http://www.mpiclinic.com for her skin care and permanent makeup business. We paid a pretty hefty fee for it. Also we have another company that maintains the google pay per click campaign and constantly plays with the site so it is nailed by webcrawlers. However if you are simply looking for a hosting site for a blog site or something of that nature then go cheap…

[rankandfile]

There are also many open-source solutions for e-commerce, or having a shopping cart through which to sell products. Zen Cart and OSCommerce are two big ones. Zen Cart is supposed to be a bit easier to set up and maintain. As with any open-source solution, you have to stay on top of it and keep it up to date. You might even be able to outsource the updating process to someone who is more experienced at it. I looked at e-commerce vendors and the costs were out of hand. Their whole deal was, we take away the headache so that you can focus on selling your products. They take away the headache alright, but they also take away a huge chunk of the profits for doing so. You should still look into them for yourself, but I think with your computer science background that you’d be able to be a bit more involved in the creation and maintenance of your site.

[mrquoi]

Just to make it easy, you might want to see what the ISP you are using right now offers, particularly if your support has been good.

I’ve used Earthlink in the past and was happy. They have both DIY or professional design service and the cost was very reasonable.

[powayseller]

No blogs, I need a website. I will cover the local economy (employment, real estate) with free articles, and a fee for the forecast. Yahoo! has some design software, but are they reliable? I don’t want to do any coding, and may end up paying someone. So with this in mind, any other recommendations?

[rankandfile]

Think free first and pay later. No, you are not an expert and will want to focus on the core of your business…so you will probably end up paying someone to help by the sounds of it. But I recommend checking out the less-expensive avenues first. Look at content management programs like Joomla!, PHPNuke, Drupal, etc. They are not just blogs, they are full-fledged web sites that allow you to post articles, news, whatever. You may need to get up to speed on the basics of how websites work, but you are a former CS major. If I can do it, you certainly can. How much are you willing to spend to get this website rolling? How much are you willing to spend to keep it maintained?

[yojimbo]

I agree with Rank. Even if you don’t want a blog you can find WordPress templates that look like magazine style new sites. I’m not a big fan of Godaddy or 1and1 and moved most of my domains away from them long ago. For web hosting I use Hostgator.

I would recommend some research into Drupal and WordPress and see if one of those two would work for your needs. There are even membership plugins for wordpress that allow you to charge a monthly fee for entry to the site or parts of the site.

It’s really fairly easy to setup a good looking site for very little money. After that you can move toward search engine optimization which can also be done cheaply once you’ve learned the ropes.

[Jazzman]

I have done quite a few websites and had a graphics background. I use GoDaddy but they are not easy to navigate being cluttered with all sorts of deals etc. Like anything, the more your use them the easier it becomes. There are many templates that make it easy to create a website, but I have never used one since I prefer the artistic freedom. Google should flush them out. For a professional site, use a web designer, and before you contact one, have the website content mapped out clearly. Don’t try and offer design ideas, but describe the business, message, and the general feel, or tenor eg conservative, lively, minimalist etc and let the designer create some roughs.

[svelte]

You guys do realize you’re responding to a question that was posed 5.5 years ago.

[Jazzman]

Oops! Why are these old posts getting dragged up?

[Author]

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