Website building advice needed please

rexx

Good Morning MSE's

I have a business idea but I need to set up a website, which I have never done before, and I require customers to set up an account and make payments on line. Any idea where to start?

I want to do this myself, rather than pay somebody, but I have searched the net and I know I need to buy a domain and select a host but there is so much advice out there it's difficult to know who to choose. So was wondering if any of you guys had good experiences with hosts to help me choose one.

Thanks.

netboom

Go with Hostgator.com I use them for all my hosting. Then use http://www.godaddy.com/ for your domain. you will then need to set up google checkout or paypal business to accept payments.. or there are few others if you intend to set up as a business bank account just ask in your local bank.

stevewc84

My only suggestion would be - if you really want to make this work to its full potential - then hire someone to do it.

For what you are describing I would use a CMS which in plain terms would mean it would be pretty straight forward for you to look after

Cora150892

I do A-Level double IT, were creating websites, and its not something I believe you can teach yourself not in the slightest, so I would advice you getting a proffestional to do it if your wanting your website to look genuine and proffestional, I know the problem your having there because its so expencive and so hard to know what your going to get yourself in for. I am currently looking at being a freelance web designer that why I know so much in detail, but just shop around for the best deals, wish you luck :-)

angel2010_2

There are plenty of ways to do this yourself, I only used a web designer once and it was a complete waste of money.

Try
mrsite.com

Easy and professional packages and you can add an online shop, plus its easy enough now to submit your website to google, SEO listings etc.

Wannabedebtfree

Most hosting companies have a website builder on their C-Panel which is extremely easy to use without the need for IT degrees...

Most of them also have e-commerce additions which are FOC.

teabelly

Do you want people to pay online so they gain access to further areas of the website? Depending on what content you want them to have access to would depend on what tools you needed to do the job. If you are basically building a membership/community site then either the cms called drupal with the paypal subscription thing built in or something called amember would do the job. http://www.amember.com/

If you want people to pay online for an offline service then something simple like any of the shopping cart site builders around would work.

SunnySusie

I suggest hosts such as uk2.net and eukhost.com

Then select a CMS, free ones include wordpress, drupal, joomla and e107. A good host will even install these for you. After that you get a nice back end and do not need to know anything about web development. Although if you do you can customise it to your heart's content.

The hardest part about all this is taking payment. However there are "plugins" which will take this on for you. You will most likely want to use a pre created payment system, the well known ones are paypal, google checkout, amazon services, etc.

A commercial CMS package could be good if you want a little support, but you certainly shouldn't need to start out by trying to hire someone to build a site for you from scratch. Sorry Cora150892 but as "off the shelf CMS" systems get better and better the role of the freelancer becomes less and less. That said, this has opened up a whole new avenue of work - theme and plugin creation.

White_Panther

Hi SunnySusie. I currently use Freeola.net for my website hosting but have experienced all sorts of problems mainly down to their email servers which means losing all emails and any contact through my sites so I am currently investigating a new host. I notice you mention UK2.net and eukhost, are these companies that you've had a good experience with as I'd rather go with a company that comes recommended?

teabelly

I have a vps with eukhost. They're ok if a bit cavalier. I have also heard good things about heart internet. If the web service has been ok with freeola but the email is flaky then perhaps an independent email hosting system could be the answer? A good one is called the very good email company http://www.verygoodemail.com/ I used them for a while and I don't think there was anytime where my email didn't work. They also do a fax to email service called faxtastic if you want to have a fax number for contact too.

Frequent_Flyer_UK

I have zero web development skills and signed up for 1and1 hosting for the basic business package . The website builder is straightforward as long as you work at it in a methodical way.

The payment system gives you a range of option Paypal RBS WorldPay and SagePay all have different fees. RBS and Sage require tons of info to get the account set up eg utility bills business plan etc so went for the Paypal option which should be up and running for Monday - selling jewellery in UK