trying to set up my own website? cheapest way to buy domain name and host

WilliamO

I agree with posts 9 and 10. There's nothing worst than having your website down for hours or days. At least with a separate domain and hosting you can redirect the domain name to another host if need be.

Gunstar

Just out of interest, how many people that have replied are actually web developers? And how many have just cobbled something together?

As a non-professional are you really in the best position to be offering advice?

Top and bottom of it, if you built it yourself it will be poor, it will look bad, it won't work properly and you will ultimately damage your business by being tight with your money.

im-lost

Gunstar wrote: »

Just out of interest, how many people that have replied are actually web developers? And how many have just cobbled something together?

As a non-professional are you really in the best position to be offering advice?

Top and bottom of it, if you built it yourself it will be poor, it will look bad, it won't work properly and you will ultimately damage your business by being tight with your money.

What complete nonsense, vested interest in the sector?

The majority of 'professionals' aren't even professionals, more like someone doing a little bit on the side, setting up a blog here and there for a few mates.

How will it work bad, in what way? The majority of 'professionals' will use one of the main blogging packages, they are all setup the same, they all run the same, regarding the design, again moat will just use some freely avaliable skin and change a few bits to change the colours etc

There is absolutely no reason what someone can't setup something as simple as a blog and do it just as well as a socalled 'professional'

booler

im-lost wrote: »

What complete nonsense, vested interest in the sector?

The majority of 'professionals' aren't even professionals, more like someone doing a little bit on the side, setting up a blog here and there for a few mates.

Can you provide a citation for this claim? If not then I am afraid that it's you who is talking nonsense. I have been building websites since 2001 and I would say that 95% of amateurs who try to build a website for their business do more harm than good. I have no figures to back this up, just 12 years of experience of dealing with the mess left by the "triers" when they realise what they have done.

im-lost wrote: »

There is absolutely no reason what someone can't setup something as simple as a blog and do it just as well as a socalled 'professional'

If the site is for a business then there are very many reasons why they can't do this. Most of them are related to a lack of the required knowledge and expertise.

What about layout and typography?
What about responsive website design?
What about browser compliance? How do you ensure that your site displays properly on all browsers and all media?
What about SEO?
What about W3C standards?
What about advice on content and grammar (check your own for example)?
What about creating intuitive navigation?
What about validation?
What about accessibility?
What about legal compliance?
Etc. etc. etc.


.

booler

WilliamO wrote: »

I agree with posts 9 and 10. There's nothing worst than having your website down for hours or days. At least with a separate domain and hosting you can redirect the domain name to another host if need be.

Can you tell us why a website would be down for days and why this is more likely to happen when using a common host and domain name registrar?

Cornucopia

For domain registration: uk2.net is cheap and reliable.

For hosting of a basic site: 000webhost.com is free and just requires that your site receives regular visitors. It is ad-free.

For someone with a basic understanding, and a willingness to learn, there is no reason why a basic hobby site should not be easily achievable. For business, yes, some of the arguments above apply, and getting professional results will be that much more of a challenge.

This question arises quite often, so perhaps we can turn this thread into a "how to"?

booler

What we need is a return visit from the OP to explain what the site is for.

digp

Don't listen to the naysayers who reckon you need a web designer. What tosh. Most web designers are useless. The decent ones cost good money.

booler

digp wrote: »

Don't listen to the naysayers who reckon you need a web designer. What tosh. Most web designers are useless. The decent ones cost good money.

Citation required.

WilliamO

booler wrote: »

Can you tell us why a website would be down for days and why this is more likely to happen when using a common host and domain name registrar?

I think you have misinterpreted my words. What I mean is when a website is down due to problems with the host's server (the computer that is hosting the website) you can easily redirect the domain name (name servers) to another web hosting company's server (provided you have a second host of course).