How to create a website with no monthly costs??

Nicky2012

I am more than capable of searching for information I just thought if somebody would be kind enough to answer my questions that would be nicer...I really don't see why you bothered replying just to say that

WhiteChristmas wrote: »

If you're incapable of searching for such information, then you're incapable of acting on it once you have it, sorry.

Pay someone who knows what they're doing.

Nicky2012

Thank you, I am creating a website on create.net at the moment, I just wanted to make sure that paying hosting fees is something everyone has to do, as it seems that is the case I am very happy to continue using create.net.
I have a very successful ebay shop but would like to expand and that is why I am getting a website.

lcharm wrote: »

You need an off the shelf package, there's no way you'll be able to use dreamweaver if you're having to ask this question in the first place.

Even with an off the shelf, you'd need some basic HTML knowledge and it will cost you anthing from about 10-20 per month, this is unavoidable as there are hosting fees.

Even people that create their own site with dreamweaver have to pay hosting fees. (the software is a few hundred quid to buy!)

Try create.net or volusion.com (better)

Also with ELance you can outsource to india/pakistan and get a logo and website created for for between £200-500 of the same quality that someone here would charge 1K upwards

Nicky2012

Thanks, I am willing to pay, I just wanted to make sure I wasn't going to be wasting money if I didn't have too.

InsideInsurance wrote: »

Dreamweaver is a desktop application for creating the HTML/ code for a website. In addition to Dreamweaver you also would need a graphics program, given DW is made by Adobe then Photoshop or Fireworks are the natural two partners to it but you can use anything.

By the sounds of it you are looking at online website creators that bundle hosting costs and use of their website creation software into one monthly/ annual fee. You cannot sensibly remove the hosting costs but you can move off of their creation software. One option is to use something like Dreamweaver, but I wouldnt recommend it. Another option is to use an open source solution that has the functionality you need and then get/buy a skin for it. The final option is to pay a professional to do it for you.

Given your level of knowledge I would recommend you do seriously consider the final option. a good designer will charge between £500-£1000 to set up an ecommerce store using a custom skin on an opensource solution. If you arent willing to pay for your store I would ask why your customers should be willing to pay your store either

tombruton87

create.net the markup on there templates isnt that great so u wont get the seo. obv the hosting isnt unlimited so u need to look at what ur really getting. I think you need to ask urself how long u want to keep the site for and how much money u want to make from the site. As you really need to invest in a good site to have a sucsessful online business

RealGem

You don't need to invest a lot to have a professional site. And you do not need to know any code. I have many sites and would never use anything other than Wordpress. The free one with no ads. Download from Wordpress.org, NOT Wordpress.com; that is the free hosted one, that has THEIR ads.

With the free non-ad one, you still pay for your own hosting but you can get that for $5 a month, so about £3. And the domain you can pay £5 - £10 a year for.

For what Wordpress can do, it's a STEAL compared to what some sites are charging a month, and compared to a professional designer, it's nothing.

Most hosting companies have a Cpanel which have wizards such as Fantastico so you can install Wordpress in a few clicks, then choose from hundreds of free themes.

There are also hundreds of free plugins and shopping cart plugins in particular.

Many businesses have a shopping cart on their site, but still have an Ebay shop as well, either with items a bit cheaper there, or the same price.

I'd highly recommend having a self made Wordpress site as they look professional without the cost, and you can have an optin box for subscribers that you can use to let people know about your new products and services, and latest offers.

For this, use a kosher company such as Aweber or iContact, who do not tolerate spam and let the subscriber opt out whenever they want. This way you can build your subscribers and fan-base (get them to Like and Tweet stuff in return for freebies)

I use Namecheap.com for domains and Hostgator.com for hosting, but if you want a British host, 123-reg.co.uk are good.

Good Luck

tombruton87

real gem there are very few themes that look proffessional that are free on wordpress so learning some code is essential to having a professional product. However you are right wordpress is a super powerfull tool with a great community i have helped develop a few plugins myself.

Things to remember tho you are storing peoples data so you are regulated by the data protection act. there are many scripts out there looking for weak wordpress sites, either sites that aint been updated to latest software or have weak plugins with security holes. Random storm a leeds company have a tool for checking wordpress sites it a command line tool written in ruby. however security is somthing that is an ongoing issue not just check it once then leave it

If the OP is an established business, they really should seek proffessional advice doing otherwise is putting the reputation of his/her business potential on the line. there is no such thing as a hack proof site, but having the tools set up so you know what happened in the event of a breach is business critical. do you know about database security? and what is considered an adequate password? wordpress doesnt come as standard with a way to protect against brute force attacks. Do you know how to stop this?

for a man in his shed with little rescources yes save money this person has said they run a sucsessful ebay store, so we could be talking anywhere from a couple of grand a month to a hundred grand plus. The scope of the business really needs to be taken into consideration.

Tech101

Weebly offers free websites and hosting. There are many readymade templates into which you upload your own content plus it does PayPal shopping.

You can even use a subdomain of weebly.com for free if you don't want to shell out for your own domain to start with.

Take a look at weebly.com (I'd post a link but as a 'new user' here I'm not permitted to).

steve1980

You want to start your own business but want to pay nothing for a website.

Make sure you've registered with HMRC for your self employment.

Farway

tombruton87 wrote: »

I am a web developer, been working for others setting up on my own atm whilst finishing off a degree. Here is my site www.tlbdesign.co.uk

BTW the site is not properly published yet

OK Tom, please be sure to run a spell & grammar checker before it is, I spotted at least 4 spelling errors on your home page

Two here "compertition away in every dapartment"

Just helping, not denigrating

victor2

Farway wrote: »

OK Tom, please be sure to run a spell & grammar checker before it is, I spotted at least 4 spelling errors on your home page

Two here "compertition away in every dapartment"

Just helping, not denigrating

Absolutely. Presentation is at least as important as functionality.
I'm sure I'm not the only person who, if I am interested in a website, am put off by poor spelling or grammar, concluding that it's probably been built by someone far away who is primarily interested in taking my money.