? for those who have started websites!

[thotfulspot]

Howdy, DISers!

I have a question for anybody who has created a website, and I really really hope you can help me!

A friend and I are working on putting up a website, and we are a bit stumped on which company to use as a web hosting service.

Can anyone make a recommendation for me? There seems to be such a lot out there, and the prices are astoundingly low, but I would love to find a company that's reliable and has good service and won't make a couple of novices feel like doofus-heads!

Many, many thanks in advance!!

 

[Brianne]

We use GoDaddy.com for site hosting. No complaints so far & the prices are about as good as one can get.

 

[thotfulspot]

Hey, thanks! I'll check them out!

 

[dolphinrescuegirl]

I use www.freewebs.com They are free but limit you to 7 pages. They are easy to use. I had never made a website before and I was able to use this site.

 

[thotfulspot]

Marvelous!

Any others?

 

[sulleyfan]

You can try googlepages. It's hosted by google (250MB of files i think), the only downfall is that they don't allow a lot of customization. If you're a beginner, its great because it's a very good point, click, what you put in is exactly what it looks like, WYSIWYG editor

www.googlepages.com

The pics page in the my sig is using their hosting.

 

[happybratpack]

If you haven't bought your domain yet, here's a special at Yahoo. They've had this a while, but sometimes it's a bear to find. $1.99 first year

http://smallbusiness.yahoo.com/domains/?p=BESTDEAL&ovchn=GGL&ovcpn=Domains&ovcrn=sr2yb57go10342gx9072pi5ai79+yahoo+small+business+d&ovtac=PPC&SR=sr2yb57go10342gx9072pi5ai79

 

[whjoyjr]

Because it is harder to get everything sorted out. If the domain register goes under, your site is still up and running. If the host goes under, you can transfer the domain pointing to a new host.

I use 1and1.com with the Developer package that can handle up to 5 domains.

 

[thotfulspot]

Good advice!

I've seen that many web hosts offer free software that includes templates for webpages. If you transfer to another host, can you continue to use their templates?

 

[makinorlando]

I use www.ipower.com. I have no problems with them and I feel the price is reasonable. It is a personal site, but I did not like the limitations of the free sites, so I prefer to pay. It has an easy web builder with templates, but I prefered to build mine using Microsoft Publisher. I have no formal training on web building, so I'm learning as I go. A friend of mine who knew nothing about building a website used them as well, and also used Publisher to create her page, and she was amazed at what she was able to do (now that has nothing to do with the hosting service, except to say that it is easy to "start from scratch" and not just use the templates!


www.marthaandtara.com is my site
www.fallenfencefarm.com is my friends site.

Customer service has been exceptional during the two times I had to contact them.

Just my two cents!

 

[epcotfan]

I've used ipowerweb.com and godaddy. I prefer ipowerweb. Great customer service and the control panel interface is easy to use. I've had less problems with uploading media such as .wmv with ipowerweb.

The godaddy control panel and hosting settings are a bit more restrictive. The godaddy hosting prices sounds great at first, but then they kind of nickle and dime you to death whenever to want an extra feature.

 

[LoraJ]

I also use ipowerweb.com for my personal site and haven't had many problems. The server rarely goes down, and customer service has been very helpful whenever I contact them.

And every time I see that they are offering customers more space for the same price I am paying, they will upgrade me. Right now it is 50GB for $7.95 a month.

 

[tiger95]

I use http://www.1and1.com. Their uptime is outstanding and the pricing is pretty good as well.

 

[mckryan]

I'm there with tiger95 and whjoyjr in recommending 1and1.com. I've been using them for 4 years now, and I love them.

 

[beachblanket]

My site is heavy travelled, and I've used GoDaddy for hosting since I started it over four years ago. Have never had any problems and the customer service has been excellent. If you expect a lot of traffic, GoDaddy has better pricing than almost any other hoster that's been listed on this thread (the free and cheap ones others are mentioning almost always have very low thresholds for traffic, ergo, the moment you start getting a lot of visitors the price jumps way up).

 

[whjoyjr]

Good advice!

I've seen that many web hosts offer free software that includes templates for webpages. If you transfer to another host, can you continue to use their templates?

From what I have experienced, the in-house page maker tools provided by a host do not allow you to port your site over to a new site easilly. I use stand-alone site creator software, so I do not have much experience using host provided stuff. I usually use it to put up a splash page that says "in the process of moving" for the 3 days ot takes to get the change poplated thru the net...

 

[whjoyjr]

My site is heavy travelled, and I've used GoDaddy for hosting since I started it over four years ago. Have never had any problems and the customer service has been excellent. If you expect a lot of traffic, GoDaddy has better pricing than almost any other hoster that's been listed on this thread (the free and cheap ones others are mentioning almost always have very low thresholds for traffic, ergo, the moment you start getting a lot of visitors the price jumps way up).

Not bashing GoDaddy, but most hosts now provide ample storage and bandwidth. 1and1 and GoDaddy are almost the same price point for enrty level. What you need to watch out for are setup fees and domain regrestration and transfer fees.

 

[Papa Deuce]

We use GoDaddy.com for site hosting. No complaints so far & the prices are about as good as one can get.

I have godaddy for one, and 1and1.com for another. Personally I think both are good, but 1and1 gives you more for the money. Both are large companies.

 

[whjoyjr]

And I am violating my own advise. I have all of my domains with 1and1 right now...

Let me see when they are due for renewal and find someone else to transfer them to...

 

[lsyorke]

Go Daddy!!!! I just changed to them last year after my old server was down more than it was up. We haven't had downtime AT ALL since making the switch!!! My site is a message board that gets about 3 million hits a month.. no problem for Go Daddy!!