Website Startup

[Bram]

Hey guys and gals,

 

[Bram]

Sorry for the short post, prematurely hit post without even know it, I was looking into starting up a website and I was wondering what you would recommend to use. I want my own domain name and my own layout and everything, I was really tight for cash so i'm not looking into finding a web designer to create my own website. Anybody have any input/recommendations? THANKS!

 

[tirediron]

For hosting and domain registry, I use Namespro.ca; they're just over in Richmond, and have excellent customer-service. I've been with them for seven years, and in that time, there has been only one, brief (<1 hour) unexplained service outtage. All service queries are answered & dealt with very quickly, politely and professionally. For the actual website content, look into some of the plug-ins for Wordpress. They range from free to relatively inexpensive (I use Pagelines, which at $100ish is pretty near the top of the price list).

 

[Bram]

Thanks for the quick reply! I will definitely take a look into that website! I have been putting this off for wayyy too long and I think with a website like (bramvandenboom.com/ca) I think I could get some traffic :lmao: Thanks!

 

[Joves]

I use Zenfolio and then GoDaddy for domain name registration. For Zen it depends on what level of account you want as to what you pay, and what you can do with it.

 

[Bram]

Thanks for the recommendations guys, I am looking ofcourse for the best deal, most space, cheapest price, domain name, content editing all that jazz you know.

 

[KmH]

.....cheapest price.......

You usually get what you pay for.

In other words, the cheapest price usually means - the worst deal, the least space, with the least content editing, the fewest sales options, minimal support, etc.

What you need to look for is the 'best value', which is rarely the ''cheapest price'.

You have to spend money to make money

In another similar thread (about 1 a week is started so if you do a bit of searching you'll find many others pretty much just lick yours here.) a part-time photographer was bemoaning SmugMug's top Pro=type site cost of $300 a year.

I pointed out that $300 is less than $1 a day. How much do you spend in a week on soda pop, bottled water, energy drinks, specialty coffee, etc?
If you skip soda pop, bottled water, energy drinks, specialty coffee, etc 4 days a week ...............

 

[Bram]

Valid points right there no argument. However I checked out Namespro and Zenfolio. Zenfolio was cheaper and also had more space and more content editing for a yearly $60.00 subscription then Namespro had a $9.99 a month for roughly the same content. That's almost double the yearly price.

 

[Mully]

I have used Blue Host for years and never had a glitch... Look int Rapid Weaver to build your site ...easy to learn and use.... but is only for Mac

 

[Light Guru]

Check out squarespace.com creating a website there is supper easy and thy look amazing. They have a free trial, and if you end up paying for their service it includes free registration of a custom domain name.

 

[Bram]

Thanks for all the recommendations guys! This is awesome great thread with great information I have literally checked out ALL of these sites. THANKS!

 

[Bram]

I am having some trouble understanding how people mix and match domain and website things. I am so confused with this. Say you register a "domain" which is simply the name of your website right? you register a domain on namespro but want a website from zenfolio... how do you make sure you don't end up with www.websitename.zenfolio.com Because I don't want that. I simply want www.websitename.com so confused

 

[Light Guru]

I am having some trouble understanding how people mix and match domain and website things. I am so confused with this. Say you register a "domain" which is simply the name of your website right? you register a domain on namespro but want a website from zenfolio... how do you make sure you don't end up with www.websitename.zenfolio.com Because I don't want that. I simply want www.websitename.com so confused

Yes it can be quite complicated.

The easy way to do it is build your website with the same place you get your domain name from. Squarespace.com will give you a free domain naim when signing up for the first time.

But if you end up using two different services then it gets complicated. What you have to do is have the place you bought your domain from forward the purchased domain to the generic one and then m ask it so that the generic one from the place you built the site does not show.

 

[KmH]

Zenfolio has a page that explains how to do that.

What is done is you tell the DNS (domain name server) your domain name.

The DNS page should be part of your account where you rented the domain name.

 

[Tee]

Some sites like SmugMug require you to have an advanced membership in order to remove the web host name from the URL. Not sure if Zenfolio does the same thing.