Web Hosting Questions

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snowangel03

New member
Hello!

I have some questions about web hosting. Warning!! I know almost nothing about this. I have a friend that is using Network Solutions to host their website and he has registered his domain there (I think that's the right "terminology").

He wants to build a website and I'm not so sure using Network Solutions is the best idea. Not that it's not a great company - I have no idea, but I've been working to get him a couple of proposals through people we've been referred to and they're saying they provide web hosting. However, one of them also said since my friend also has his domain registered with one company; to transfer it may be a little bit involved?

Can anyone provide me with any information, suggestions, etc? Remember I am at the building a website, web hosting, domain for dummies stage, LOL!

Thanks!!

Carol
 
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5_spot

Member
I think for ease of use, especially for a beginner, Godaddy.com is your best bet. They offer all services mentioned at very good pricing. Transferring a domain to them is not difficult at all. They have very good
support and tools are easy to use. I've had a few friends use them who can pretty much just check emails and facebook, and they did just fine.
 
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dcsnomo

Moderator
I have just recently gone through changing all this, while not an expert I have a familiarity with it.

OK, three separate things:
Domain name registration
Web hosting
Web design

Companies try to get all three services, thus you get companies like godaddy.com that register, host, and provide templates to get started. When the domain name is registered through a company, they are acting like a broker on your behalf, they register the name to you with them as an agent, mark it up, and bill you. To change this requires the "broker" to do a release when the change order comes to them. I had my domain transferred to me directly, no broker involved. A buddy did it for me, bit of a headache but not bad. Depends upon how cooperative your provider wants to be.

Web hosting is a commodity business, low cost providers all over the internet. I used hostgator.com and the price went from $30 month at my full service provider to $8 per month. Again, you do this yourself, just sign up.

Web design can be done with a template from a hosting supplier or on your own. My buddy used Word Press to do mine, he charged me $600 and I can edit the site on my own. Lots of people can do that, high school kids included. I paid because I wanted a professional looking site with reservations built in (www.lullabi-inn.com).

Remember to do this in the right order. The last item is notifying your current supplier that you are leaving, because once you leave your current site will be taken down. So, design your site, get a hosting acct, then notify the current vendor of the switchover and the registration change.

Others on this site will be much more informed than I, and I yield to their knowledge. This was pretty painless for me, but the $600 covered all these steps as well as the design, and I was glad I did not have to learn on my own and lose presence for my business.
 
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peppermill

New member
We did this a few year ago and didn't know where to start. We just picked a company and went with them. They did the web-site and all but when it came for us to want to make changes or up-dates we couldn't get a hold of them. They wouldn't answer phone call, e-mails or whatever. We looked into changing hosts and went with one that is local. We wanted to keep the same domain name as the previous one but she had registered it to their company and we couldn't get it. We had to change it. We were never billed from the 1st company and after about 2-3 years they did release it as it was never paid for. The girl we went with kept checking all that time to see if it was released and one time she found it was and let us know so now we have our current domain and the previous one. I also don't know how this all works but if you use either one of our domains you can get into our web-site. The current one takes you right in. The previous one takes you into google and it is there. Now if we want to change hosts she will release it. We have had no problems now. She is easy to communicate with. I don't believe she is adding any more customers. Be careful with the domain and have them register it to you. This is from our experience. By the way I still don't understand any of it but it seems to be going good.
 
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polarisrider1

New member
I have two internet businesses and I use Network Solution to host and Influx networking designed the sites and maintains them for me.
 
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snocrazy

Active member
Network Solutions is fine for registering the name of the site. (DNS)
$6.99 is not a bad price.
Godaddy is another option.
It really does not matter who you use to register the name. Just look for the cheapest price. Discounts for registering for multiple years at the same time. This is also believed to help with search engine ranking.
Make sure you register your own domain name and keep the login info. NEver let some one register it in their name for you.

Web Hosting. I personally use hostgator. I have a reseller package having a lot of sites. It makes it a lot cheaper. I recomend powweb for hosting the site. I have never had issues with their services and support has always been decent. I am sure there are other companies out there. Just look around for the best prices. Google search for reviews or complaints. If you see a lot, I would stay away.

As far as the design, there are a lot of templates available out there. You can work with a company or person that does designs. If using a template, it can be pretty cheap. If you want a custom designed site, you get what you pay for. Decide on a budget. Look around at other sites you like for ideas. A lot of times you will see a link at the very bottom of sites (footer) showing whe designed the site.

Hope this helps.
 
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snowangel03

New member
Thanks to everyone for your responses!!! Has anyone used Network Solutions to host their site? Right now they have an "offer". Get a professional website built for free. The person that I am working for is insistent on using them for everything. The people that I got proposals from are really wanting us to use their web hosting. They "say" it would be cheaper in the long run because if there are any problems then they can work on it directly without going through Network Solutions.

Thanks again everyone!!! I really appreciate all the help I can get from all of you hear whenever I have a question about anything!

Carol
 
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snocrazy

Active member
Thats a little shady if you ask me. Where your site is hosted does not make it any easier to access and modify. All they need is the ftp account or the admin account for the web based management.
They try to steer you to them hosting the site because they want you to pay a monthly service or maintenance fee.

I would get you own hosting account (Network Solutions is fine for low traffic sites).
Pay the site designer a one time fee to design and turn over the source files.
I just dont like the idea of being stuck with some one that is looking to nickle and dime you.
 
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berglandbaybar

New member
I have used godaddy for over 5 years and can't think of a single time I called, even at 3am, that they didn't answer the phone and didn't get me straightened out on the first call. I would not use any other. I am sure there are many others that are good but my experence has been great with godaddy.
 
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