Which company to buy domain and host?

ESKIMO

I can personally recommend www.DomainMonster.com I like their format. Simple, easy to use - tick box and you're away, no frills, option to opt out of everything, which gives you greater protection from being syndicated onto some generic speculative marketing mailing list.

There are other big ones like 123-reg.com or Go-Daddy.com. But i do like and prefer the aforementioned.

And then if you're working on a tight budget i'd suggest www.000webhost.com - which is free, easy to use and kick starts you off in the right direction. Plus you dont have to put up with all the cr**py ads and banner links which i think can really ruin your site.

Good luck.

lynnysinger

are there any that host who can bump us up listings that dont cost the earth and do the job well?
so many online..cant see the woods for the trees!!

we have a lot of engineers in our area with websites.(gas heating) and getting up the listings is really improtant for us as only a small town.

nathand_2

lynnysinger wrote: »

are there any that host who can bump us up listings that dont cost the earth and do the job well?
so many online..cant see the woods for the trees!!

we have a lot of engineers in our area with websites.(gas heating) and getting up the listings is really improtant for us as only a small town.

You want to look for someone who does exactly that (SEO), not someone who hosts websites. Also, and this is very important, you will get what you pay for. Hiring someone for peanuts will get you nowhere. Take a look at jobsites like elance and odesk and pick a provider with a good reputation.

lynnysinger

nathand wrote: »

You want to look for someone who does exactly that (SEO), not someone who hosts websites. Also, and this is very important, you will get what you pay for. Hiring someone for peanuts will get you nowhere. Take a look at jobsites like elance and odesk and pick a provider with a good reputation.

was thinking more along the lines of getting the domain name and hosting done , but doing the web design ourselves as it only needs to be simple.
limited budget and complete beginners !! would a hosting company be the same people who put all in the tag words in so that we can be found?

suki1001

lynnysinger wrote: »

was thinking more along the lines of getting the domain name and hosting done , but doing the web design ourselves as it only needs to be simple.
limited budget and complete beginners !! would a hosting company be the same people who put all in the tag words in so that we can be found?

Absolutely not! Don't get confused. Hosting your website, means your website sits with their servers, you are effectively renting space from them. They have nothing to do with the content on your site. You are the masters of your own creation!

What you put and where you put it, is what will determine what a search engine will or won't see. A seo company should make sure the search engine picks up what you want it to pick up (or help you find what your customers are searching for) and help you move up the search engines for the search terms that are appropriate to your business. Other stuff as well but that's the main gist of it.

cquinn60

I am at the very early stages of starting a business and will need a website. Where do I begin? The more I read the more confused I get. The reason I am going to work for myself is because I am unemployed (on Jobseekers) so have no big bucks to pay for the best, at this time. I understand I need a domain name - where do I get this and how much can I expect to pay? How much can I expect to pay to create a website? What is webhosting and would I need this, why? Would really appreciate simple explanation.

ermine

Where do I begin?

You begin by first asking yourself what do you want of your website? This depends on what you are offering and how complex/unusual your product or service is. Is your website coing to be how customers contact you (ie it has your phone, email/contact form/ address on. Will it describe your product or service, and any unique selling points. Examples of your product in use/case studies could be good in some cases.

Then are you prepared to learn how to do it? Some small companies now use content management systems like wordpress to manage the few pages. The advantage of that is you can type in your page pretty much like here, you get to put some pictures and stuff and off you go, you don't need to learn HTML. Plus you get to add a blog easily if you have a use for frequent news/press releases.

Do you need your own domain? Depends how important the web is for your business, if it is a virtual calling card then you can sometimes get away without, I've seen people use blogspot, wordpress or their ISP freebie. I found out the hard way that having your domain name provider be the same as your web host isn't always good - web hosting is a commodity product and the companies are fragile, so I get domain name service seperately from the webbhost. That way when a webhost goes rotten you can simply move to another.

Or you can learn HTML or use a wisywyg editor, or pay someone to do it for you. Decent graphic design and page layout is not a widely distributed skill, but one you can live without at the start.

Bit first you have to have an idea of what you want your website to do for you, and ask yourself how a customer of yours would use it. If you DIY it then it can be instructive to ask someone to come onto it cold and ask them to pretend to use it to find your service and how to get to ring up/email whatever. Don't guide them, simply watch. It can be humbling to see that what you thought was a clear description is unusable to someone who isn't familiar with your product or site

cquinn60

Thanks ermine, you have given me even more to think about.

StevenDr

I can recommend 4uhosting. I used on the recommendation of a friend and have had no problems with them. Their customer support responds quickly and I've never had any downtime. I recommended them to a friend and she's happy too. That's three happy customers I know of.

glowgirl_2

Thanks, I'm sorted now:)