Hi

 

So, long story short, I'm setting up a new business venture and am looking at getting to grips with obtaining a web domain and host.

 

Having read a little about said subjects this evening I find the options a tad confusing as I'm no IT expert.  I need a simple website for a detailing business, something easy to set up but something to sell the business.

 

I guess there's no such thing as a free lunch but 1&1 and Reg123 appear to be recommended. Is it better to go with a company for domain AND hosting or separate?

 

Any personal recommendations would be gratefully received.  I'd thought of just setting up a dedicated business email account and using FB as a free advertising platform to start with - would that be a better option?  Or maybe just buy the domain name I want to secure it for now?

 

Thanks in advance

 

All the best

 

Chubbs

I use 123 Reg. They're okay, far better than the last one I used who went bust and took my domain with them (I managed to get it back eventually). Register your domain name through them and use them for hosting. then you'll have your own email address system in place, like your website at www.http://tidyupyourcars.co.uk and email at [email protected]

 

Cost isn't a great deal (I forget how much I pay) and it's simple to set up a website and have it hosted any time you like.

If you need the site designing etc,

Summit360 on the sponsored/entrepeneurs sections would be worth a punt

Plenty of options around - I use www.easily.co.uk

 

Bought my doman on a 2 yearly deal for £8.99

 

Email is additional @ £18.99 per year

You can and I would advise you to, buy through a known domain host. The likes of 123-reg will be fine. Just buy the domain, the rest can be done for free!

 

Email - Can be had for free, setup takes a few hours to make it truely invisible i.e. part of your brand not  polishthis71 @ gmail.com

 

Web hosting on the other hand... how deep do you want to go?

 

At a high level there are static and dynamic websites.

 

Static - Nothing changes till you upload new 'stuff'

Dynamic - You can login and add 'stuff'

 

You probably only need a simple static site initially, think flyer on the web. Who you are, What you Do, Where you are and say hello. then apply a tone, so minimal textual or rich fashion mag-esk...

 

I do a startup pack that covers all the hosting, (web)email, crm(docs, calendar, invoice), dns, ssl, google(maps, local, etc) - Hosting is provided for free btw for this sort of site.

 

So don't be paying for monthly website packages for web space nor email!!!

 

Recently setup; feel free to email Graham to ask how it was: http://www.youththerapyservice.co.uk/ < Monthly cost for web and email £0 It's dynamic with content that he can update, but made to be static, I call it a dynamic static site.

 

Deeper and this is almost bottomless. If you're convinced you do want a dynamic site, so you can post news/testimonials then you're initially into a 'dynamic static', it's generated and then sent to the webserver or fully dynamic with a 'database' web login portal, you'll see wordpress mentioned a lot! 

 

Well a wordpress site is deeper again. Depending on your skills, you can get a very long way on a 'static' site, a static site is free to host, or intrinsically free. Wordpress is a good call, especially if you want to sell stuff too. It can get complex, but crucially time-consuming, your time.

 

Checkout this site http://www.briskoda.net, the home page and models stuff, so all all bar the /forums is a static site, but generated from data. Whereas the forums is a full on dynamic site that has pages of config options.

 

Another example site I've done on a dynamic basis allowing upload of property, searching etc is http://www.alpine-independents.com/ hosted in the cloud it's costing <$20 a month, but it could of costed over $100.

 

 

The temptation to build your own is strong and it's made to be easy and it is. The 20+years of what I've done is now a few clicks and drags for a few pounds per month. That's not the hard bit anymore!

 

However, consider that it's not your focus right now and will be/could be a time sink getting it just right. I'm happy to discuss and help

 

Colin.

Thanks everyone for the replies..... I find stuff like this a bit of a minefield until you do a little research.

 

Web domain secured in the first instance!

The temptation to build your own is strong and it's made to be easy and it is. The 20+years of what I've done is now a few clicks and drags for a few pounds per month. That's not the hard bit anymore!

 

As a professional web developer this is how I see 'home-made' websites.

 

I use 123-reg for that side of things and Moonfruit for web design. I personally find it comprehensive enough but not too complex. That's run alongside Facebook/Twitter accounts too.

As a professional web developer this is how I see 'home-made' websites.

 

 

 

http://www.lingscars.com/

 

I actually ended up having a bizarre conversation with this site owner once upon a time after citing it as an example of bad design.

I suppose it's now a feature.

MY EYES!!!  :'(

http://www.lingscars.com/

I actually ended up having a bizarre conversation with this site owner once upon a time after citing it as an example of bad design.

I suppose it's now a feature.

On a side note...do you think he actually does any business haha??

On a side note...do you think he actually does any business haha??

 

I think she does ok, it's certainly been around for a while. She was on dragon's den once upon a time.

 

She's always recommended on MSE for lease deals and while the website is terrible, it clearly makes it distinctive in that market.