Deciding on who to host with - Page 2 - Virtual Assistant Forums

Lia-VSS · #16 (**permalink**) 05-05-2008

I will have a look later this week

kagome · #17 (**permalink**) 05-07-2008

I'm using godaddy for my other website. Everything seems fine now but I've never tried their customer service yet. I might use them for my virtual assistant business website.

YourLeftHand · #18 (**permalink**) 05-14-2008

I too use Yahoo and have been VERY happy. You can download their Site Builder program and it lets you do quite a bit - they have a lot of ready made templates or you can do your own. I actually have a VERY basic layout - black background only, because I felt like my logo "popped' a lot more since it has a lot of color.

I think it ends up being about $10-11 a month for the domain and hosting. It has a lot of great tools to see how your site is doing, hits, where the hits originate, dates of hits, etc.

Agnes · #19 (**permalink**) 05-16-2008

I also host with Tess and I recently realized how good a choice I made to host here. I had major issues with my wireless router almost 2 months and I enjoyed the personal attention I got from Tess

Tess · #20 (**permalink**) 05-16-2008

Aw

Thanks Agnes! We're so happy to have you!!

#21 (**permalink**) 05-22-2008

I do not know HTML, but have made a few web sites. My first web site was made on Homestead. I loved the ease of making the pages. I have also made one on Freewebs, very user friendly. These were personal sites, so they were free. I made one professional web site for a company I worked for years ago, but do not remember the program I used.

I have a client that happens to be an author. I researched hosting companies for his web site in order to promote his book and he decided to go with Host Monster, which utilizes the C Panel. This makes me leary of C Panels...lol

I spoke with the techs and told them what I was looking for and was told it was very simple to use. (was looking forward to ease through like I did on my personal sites) After purchasing the hosting package, I was sorry we went with them. It was not so "user friendly" for me as I was told.

I am do not profess to be an expert in web design. I was disappointed and frustrated (my client did not want to go with Homestead). I am hoping to overcome this challenge as time goes on.

Now, as I am researching building my own professional web site, I am hesitant about who to go with. I do want a host who has a sitebuilder like Homestead or Freewebs. But I do not want to repeat the experience I had with my client.

I appreciate any feedback on my challenge. Has anyone recently used Homestead? or Freewebs? I know if you pay, there are no ads.

jeannedb · #22 (**permalink**) 05-22-2008

I've said many times that I'm not a fan of site builders. They create bloated, poorly validated code, they aren't flexible, they're often easily spotted, and search engine spiders/bots (whatever they're called these days) can actually time out sifting through bloated code before getting to the real content of the page.

If you have a cpanel host, you may have access to Fantastico scripts which, in turn, gives you access to several CMS (Content Management System) options and some blog options.

If you truly want something easy, you'd be better off looking to something like WordPress rather than a full-blown CMS (like Joomla, Mambo, Drupal, etc.)

I also found this link which briefly discusses the effect of bloated code on SEO, but it does discuss the use of site builders and templated sites in general. http://seoblog.microwebmasters.com/s...ite-solutions/

Tess · #23 (**permalink**) 05-22-2008

I'll second what Jeanne has said about sitebuilders and Cpanel. We specifically sought out Cpanel three years ago when we purchased our servers and believe there is no more stable hosting environment - but yes, I can see that it might be difficult to navigate if you're used to a system like Homestead.

In terms of scalabilty and future growth, nothing beats a solid Cpanel server with a stick-built (hand coded) website.

Perhaps exploring the option of a blog-as-website that Jeanne has suggested would be a good option. Otherwise, it may make sense to help your client find a designer/coder he can afford.

#24 (**permalink**) 05-22-2008

Thank you both for the information. I will check into that this weekend.

va4eva · #25 (**permalink**) 06-12-2008

Delady...I'm considering Microsoft Live Small Business. How can I create an email address that has the domain form my business? Does MLSB allow you to do that? Thanks. Right now I just use a gmail account and I need to stop that because it looks 'cheap'.

lanelt · #26 (**permalink**) 06-12-2008

Originally Posted by jeannedb

I just snatched up yet another domain last night through Godaddy.com and the total cost came to $10.19 for one year. I don't know if I'm remembering correctly but I swear the first time I bought a domain from either Network Solutions or Register.com, it was $75 <--- I take that back, I think that was the cost for two years for one domain.

I get mine for $7.20 for one year through GoDaddy. Just look around.

Originally Posted by JacksonAO

I was advised not to use godaddy.com because they have a poor customer service reputation, but that is only rumor

I used to host my site through godaddy but had some problems that I'm not sure were due to godaddy or just a fluke. I did deal with their customer service and have had varying opinions. It all depends on the person you talk to.

I ended up being able to save money by moving to Dreamhost. I have multiple websites and am able to host all my sites and a clients site through my hosting plan which ended up saving me a lot of money. (Well, in theory it's saving me money. I went from two websites to maintain to four which means I'm paying someone to maintain four sites instead of two...not sure if I'm saving at this point LOL)

Donna · #27 (**permalink**) 06-12-2008

I have used GoDaddy for almost 2 years and the customer service has been great, but the templates are awful and there are hidden costs. I am currently looking for a hosting option for a client and have done some research and StartLogic's ProLogic plan seems to be a really good deal: http://www.startlogic.com/startlogic/prologic.bml I would totally appreciate any feedback my more web-savvy colleagues would like to offer.....

Also thanks for the link re: using sitebuilders and SEO, I will read over the weekend.

Donna

va4eva · #28 (**permalink**) 06-12-2008

I've checked a number of links on this page for the hosts but the problem is that in order to take advantage of the lower monthly price, one has to enroll and pay for one year. I'm just starting out and I'm not comfortable laying out funds if I don't know if I'll still be a viable business in a year. Anything can happen in this market. I might have to go back to work in the traditional sense ....

VagabondetteVA · #29 (**permalink**) 06-12-2008

I use websitespot.com and I think their prices are very good, you can host more than one website at a time (which was my main thing) and if you do pay for a year in advance to get the discount, you can cancel at any time and you get the unused portion back. They also have TONS of free pre-installed add-ons (forums, wikis, blogs, store-fronts, etc.), templates and excellent customer service.

They're also running a special where your name is $1.99 if you buy a hosting plan.

Their basic plan starts at $4.99/month and offers more than enough for a basic website, including $45 worth of google and yahoo advertising (which alone covers almost 10 months of hosting). Just make sure you choose the Linux hosting if you're going to have a wordpress blog. I started with the windows hosting and had to change. Granted, it took less than 5 minutes over the phone to do it, but why go through it if you can avoid it.

I know I sound like an ad, but I really like this company (and I've used a few others).

Also, it looks like this is a sister site of theirs (http://www.hostfool.com/) and you can get hosting for only $3.95/month. However, it looks like you get less disc space (but still 5 gig so fine for most purposes) and it doesn't have as many bells and whistles as websitespot so I think the total value is lower (along with the cheaper price). But, the monthly cost is less. Just make sure you get your domain name elsewhere as it seems their domain names are more expensive.

lanelt · #30 (**permalink**) 06-13-2008

Originally Posted by VagabondetteVA

you can cancel at any time and you get the unused portion back.

Godaddy does this too. When I moved my site to dreamhost I called and canceled my hosting plan and was refunded the prorated portion within a couple of days.