Web site designer and host

pontman43

pontman43

New member
I want to start a website of my own, but have no idea how to even start. Does anyone know of any good designers, web hosters (I gotta have one right?), etc.? Basically where should I go that, wouldn't cost too much, to get my site done? What do you guys use?

My brother knows how to do it, but he is too lazy to do it, even if I pay him and detail his car (which I do free anyways, cause I know he wont). :nixweiss

Also should my domain be; flawlessdetailing.com or flawlessdetails.com? (flawlessdetail.com is taken by someone who doesn't use it. :furious: )

Thanks
 
There are any number of website designers and hosts to be found either in your local phone book or on the web (google for 'em).



If you have a high speed Internet connection you may already have web and ftp space on their servers included in your account. If not, when you register the domain name (I vote for flawlessdetailing.com) whoever you register with (I use Networksolutions.com) they can host the site and do your DNS for you. IIRC correctly they may even help out with website design.
 
I know there's some guys here (including me) that do it. I'm not particularly good as I don't do it often, but I've done a few in the past with good results.



Your best bet is to grab a WYSIWYG(what you see is what you get) HTML editor and learn the basics so you can get a decent layout and navigation setup. Since you said you are going to start selling products, you're gonna need a shopping cart system on your site with SSL or you can go with many of the premade services out there. I believe paypal may have merchant tools.



That also reminds me, Yahoo offers premade templates for websites and you pretty much put in your information and they offer everything else needed to run an online store.



http://smallbusiness.yahoo.com/merchant/
 
It works out for me, because my previous job was a web designer. If you'd like to barter or something, maybe I can help you out.
 
Check out 1&1 for hosting and they also include tools to build a decent site without having to learn anything. This is the solution I use most for my customers web needs. I do recommend this solution, as you can do all the upkeep yourself...otherwise it gets real expensive.



I would recommend doing something simple, such as a one page site, that you can keep fresh. Too often you see sites that have a lot of initial work done, then they sit stale, and it turns people off. Keep it simple, have something that you can update, like a gallery, or maybe a tips and tricks column.



I have seen too many companies spend money on bad sites that don't bring any new business to the owner, to even justify the expense.
 
1&1 looks good, but it doesnt say anything about the band width. I was asking my brother a little about it and he said that its important because some will charge if you excede your given band width.



Yahoo seem kinda expensive. I'm not sure how much I would actually sell and $40 a month is pretty pricey for someone just starting.



Any more info?
 
Chjeck out mobileworks.com The guy who runs that site also designs websites. I don't know much about it but it's worth a look.
 
HomicidalSloth said:
Check my sig for an article I wrote on starting a website if you're thinking of doing it yourself
Click to expand...

Nice write up! I haven't read it all (bed time now), but will tomorrow.
 
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