Getting British Business Online (GBBO)

Dunx69

oops sorry, thought it was a new thing, first time i have seen it advertised on the net.

SiJes

Hi,

I've grabbed a domain name via GBBO.

Agreed, the site wizard is less than nice and the output is basic, but it's free.

I'm going to get it pointed to my own hosting (via hostgator) - never had issue there, so a great freebie. (would've cost me £5.98 for a .co.uk for 2yrs via 123-reg, who i use for all my other domain names)

I'm pretty sure that if you need just a basic web presence, company overview and contacts page, it may be possible to knock out something ok with a little effort on the google sites system - easily adds in google adsense too by the looks of it (only had a quick glance tho..)


Si

trixietoes

If you want another option....Office Live Small Businesses seem to be quite good. I am using them until my business get up and running properly then will get another site done to my exact specifications. It was easy to point the page to my own domain name - can be done yourself and takes up to 72hrs to 'take'.

claytawc

Hi I have been reading all of the posts on the GBBO and am now really unsure where to go to get a good first website, it doesn't have to be free, but that would be good, it is for a brand new small family business so money is tight.

I don't want one that is free initially and then you get stung with horrendous fees, just one that is easy to use, and good value for money.

Can anybody suggest anything?
Thanks

hotpot1000

I did one a couple of years ago with microsoft Office Live Small Businesses and it is totally free, I just bought the domain, and for a co.uk one it's about £5 for 2 yrs

steve1980

All you need to do is do a search, everyone has their own favourite place for hosting etc. I do mine myself, others go elsewhere

oldoakey

claytawc wrote: »

Hi I have been reading all of the posts on the GBBO and am now really unsure where to go to get a good first website, it doesn't have to be free, but that would be good, it is for a brand new small family business so money is tight.

I don't want one that is free initially and then you get stung with horrendous fees, just one that is easy to use, and good value for money.

Can anybody suggest anything?
Thanks

I can strongly recommend EKM powershop. I have my ecommerce shop with them and its reasonably easy to set up, has a great forum for advice and costs just £19.99 per month with no set up fees and no contract.
You can choose from their templates (or custom design) and add your own logo etc. I have been with them about 2 years now and had no previous knowledge of setting up an ecommerce site and am not techy but I now have several products on page one of Google natural listings.

steve1980

oldoakey wrote: »

I can strongly recommend EKM powershop. I have my ecommerce shop with them and its reasonably easy to set up, has a great forum for advice and costs just £19.99 per month with no set up fees and no contract.
You can choose from their templates (or custom design) and add your own logo etc. I have been with them about 2 years now and had no previous knowledge of setting up an ecommerce site and am not techy but I now have several products on page one of Google natural listings.

There are plenty of others that don't charge that amount of money. £239.88 per year is a lot of money.

Marteebies

I was quite suspicious when they announce it. They did lots of marketing around it etc... so I wasn't expecting for something too good but more something that can support a mass demand.

Anyway, like people have said in this post, not really good but still free, I guess it is enough for some people that don't know how to do things

James1968

GBBO only provides a basic no-frills site. You have to use Googles' site designer and from what I have seen, these sites stand-out like a sore thumb.

Much better to use them to get your free '.co.uk' domain then either -

1 - Host it yourself (if you have unlimited B/B and your site won't generate so many hits that it grinds to a holt)
2 - Host it elsewhere (i.e. UnlimitedGB, 123, Fasthosts etc) and get the nameserver records updated to point at the new host.

At least you will (hopefully) have a site that you can be proud of as you are not limited to a few templates.