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[GraffiTEE King Graphics]

I am getting ready to start on a website, but I am unsure about web hosting. Who do you all use? I am thinking about buying my domain through godaddy.com and they offer hosting for about $7.00 a month. I need help... Please give me any help that you can.

[heatpressvinyl]

There may be some disagreement here but I don't care for go daddy, they want you to use their software so they configure a little strange which sometimes will not allow you to run certain applications on their shared hosting plans. I host all my accounts on startlogic , they use v-deck for a control panel, another great host is bluehost, this forum is hosted with bluehost.

If you are going to use Magento neither one of these hosts will do the job, besides magento is hard to work with and is coded a little strange.

[curiousity]

I'd first figure out what kind of website you want to have.

Is your website just going to be informational?  Then it isn't a huge deal who your host is.  Try searching for highly recommended hosts.  Grab a few and ask them questions.  See how quickly they respond.  Of course, this doesn't guarantee anything, but can give you a little experience of what you might experience if you have an issue once they are hosting for you.

Is your website going to have a shopping cart?  Figure out which shopping cart you are going to use and then search for hosts.  Most hosts will have an "auto install" for select shopping carts.  Most homepages for shopping carts have recommendations for hosts also which I believe are paid for, but... 

I know it's very generic advice, but hopefully that helps a little.

[MXRacingDad]

There may be some disagreement here but I don't care for go daddy, they want you to use their software so they configure a little strange which sometimes will not allow you to run certain applications on their shared hosting plans. I host all my accounts on startlogic , they use v-deck for a control panel, another great host is bluehost, this forum is hosted with bluehost.

If you are going to use Magento neither one of these hosts will do the job, besides magento is hard to work with and is coded a little strange.

Ditto on startlogic, excellent hosting, excellent service, excellent support, many softwares and methods of building your site available. You can have anything from a small personal page to a full blown dot.com. Their pricing is very reasonable also. In another thread on this forum, Lou and some others also recommended some good hosting companies.

[heatpressvinyl]

Well I must say that I have worked out my differences with Startlogic and they still are a great host,,,

[MXRacingDad]

Glad to here it, you had me worried. After all the work I have done it would be hard to change.

[Ta2d Giant]

I hope someone sees this...

I just created my site with wix. I really like it, but was under the impression that they hosted domains, oops, they don't. So I looked at Startlogic (recommended by many here). Is their creation tool similar to wix? As comprehensive?

[MXRacingDad]

Have used startlogic for many years. I am unfamiliar with wix, will check it out a little later. I haven't used the website builder or cart that startlogic offers as I build most of my sites with Joomla or WordPress. I will try to compare a little later tonight.

[EnMartian]

I use LunarPages for hosting my personal blogs and have not had any trouble with it.  As a disclaimer though,  I have to say that I don't do my own web work.  I have a friend who does all the technical stuff for me. 

[heatpressvinyl]

well it looks like you have to upgrade to their premium account to use your own url, and it also looks like depending on what plan you use you may or may not have adds on your site,, I am not a big fan of flash either and it looks as if it is flash based.

as far as hosting it on your own account,, I don't think so,, if you have built a site already then thats a lot of work to re do,, I have not used startlogics web builder as I am the same as Dad,, joomla or wp,, and I use a nice tool to build most sites with and that is ezgenerator.com,, once you buy the program then you can build a million sites if you want and host them where you want and its always upgraded for free...

Hope this helps

[Ta2d Giant]

$$$$
I checked out Startlogic, the guy says that you can import your site to their site and host it from there. I am very confused about all of this. I make pretty pictures for shirts, not web graphics.
So you guys use Joomla to create your site and then you pay for a domain name through Startlogic and host your site there. Is that what I'm getting?

[heatpressvinyl]

The web builder you used doesn't give you the files to upload to your own hosting environment,, so you are stuck with what they offer,, and it looks like there "FREE" set up uses sub domains on their hosting,, and it looks like they put adds on your site,, thats how they pay for your "FREE" service.

There is what we call open source,, which would be Joomla,,  wordpress and others which is community supported for on going development,, this allows you to use the source files, then you can use it to host where ever you like but you still have to find a template or re-design the default that comes with the os files...

So using the Wix set up you are stuck with what they have to offer..

[MXRacingDad]

$$$$
I checked out Startlogic, the guy says that you can import your site to their site and host it from there. I am very confused about all of this. I make pretty pictures for shirts, not web graphics.
So you guys use Joomla to create your site and then you pay for a domain name through Startlogic and host your site there. Is that what I'm getting?

Yes but Joomla is not drag and drop and go away it is a complete contact management software and has a steep learning curve to setup. The problem with webhosting is they all say it is simple anyone can do it but just read the threads here and talk to folks that have tried it on their own there is no such thing, there is simple but still has a learning curve. What Roger mentioned about them setting up subdomains and using a flash generator to build your site is the problem with free sites. You can't take it with you you have to start over usually. Thanks Roger for the follow up, I am up to my elbows in Motorcycle right now.

[MonkeyMeMe]

I could never have all my sites without you guys,, this is a foreign language to me,,,
I can load them,,, but thats about it,,

[heatpressvinyl]

Giant if you need help just reach out here on the forum,, or even just start you a mall store and point your domain to it,, that would be free also its a perk to this forum...

[MXRacingDad]

Ditto if you need help we are here.

[deChez]

I used to use StartLogic, and for the life of me I can't remember why I switched. I've been using Blue Host for some time now. I have my husbands site, and both of mine (actually 3, but my old one is parked) on the same account....you can have I think up to 5 parked or add-on domains.

I use WebEasy to build my site (I have an old version that I got about 5 years ago)...it's a WYSIWYG. You can publish from that software, but I just build it there, then upload it with FileZilla (free).

I use Mals e-cart (free version), but if you're just using PayPal, you don't have to use a 3rd party cart....you can create buy now & add to cart buttons in WebEasy.

[cbsuperduty]

I use dreamhost for mine and I can host several domains. If you need any help just drop me a line. I played with Joomla a little but it seems to have a steeper learning curve than WordPress so I went with WordPress.

[heatpressvinyl]

I may be to the point here and please I don't want to offend anyone so don't take it that way.

Most people in business know that it takes money to get started, that is just a plain and simple fact. We decide what equipment we are going to use, we do our research on the best equipment for our needs look for deals and purchase what we need to manufacture our wares.

Now that we have our equipment and for some it maybe top of the line and some it may not be and this is going to depend on budgets etc. We design our products and decide what path we are going to take. Ok now we have a product what am I going to do with it  

Here is were I have a problem , we spend tons of money on everything we need to manufacture our product and we invest countless hours refining our methods and then the single biggest mistake I see is thinking that oh I can put up a website for free or cheap and to coin a phrase "If I build it they will come",,,, well that's just not the case....

You will be competing with thousands of websites that is doing exactly what you are doing and your online presents reflects directly back to you,, what I mean is if you have a crappy website then that is the image you reflect on your business, you get the point???

I can't stress this enough the single most important investment you will make is your website,,, its your store be it not brick and mortar however it is your store and in real life if you had a brick and mortar store you would spend a vast amount of time there and website is not any different, some people feel that they live at their store,, they work it advertise it, eat, live and breath it,, a website is not any different.

So if you want to be independent and be your own boss then you will have to put your time and heart into it.. it just doesn't come to you...  

[deChez]

That's so true. In most cases, your website is the customer's first impression of you, and your business. I've been doing my website myself for about 5 years. Like all of the methods we use for decorating, there is a learning curve. If you're going to do your website yourself, you need to educate yourself in the same way you would for learning any of the processes you use for decorating.

If you're not computer literate, then get a professional to do it for you. I recommend a local professional (not a hosting company who says "we will build your website for you"). Be involved, and be specific about what you want.

Go look at other websites and determing what you like about them, and what you don't like...I could go on and on about "how to build an annoying website". Get a clear picture in your head of what you want your site to look like, and what you want it to do for you.

While being my own webmaster is necessary for budgetary reasons, I also like having control of the site, and being able to add/delete/edit pictures, descriptions, etc. immediately. I also like being able to see my pages before they're uploaded so that I can decide if it's really what I wanted it to be. I took visitors comments very seriously from the start, and I also always try to look at my page as a customer would. I have a few musts when laying out my site:

1. I always post my phone number, city, and state somewhere accessible in the site (I have it on the home page, & the contact page). I don't like ordering from sites unless I know where the item is coming from (so that I can judge delivery time), or sites that don't have a phone number I can call. You would not believe how many sites have virtually no contact information.

2. I always put my menu on every page so that the customer can navigate through the various sections without having to keep going back to the home page.

3. I always let the customer know what to expect when they purchase something -- payment processing, shipping, return policy, etc.

4. I try to keep descriptions for products and services short, yet concise. People have short attention spans, yet they want to know everything.