Website/Web hosting?

[tree md]

After 10 years I finally got my domain name back. Someone took it from me way back then when I let my domain name expire. So now I have got my company name back as a domain name and am looking for info on pricing and names of services for building and hosting a website.

My brother built my old website and I had a guy who provided me with 2 years of hosting and 5 emails as well as traffic statistics for like $20 bucks. Can anyone point me in the direction of a straight up hosting and possible building service?

 

[BCbound]

Check out godaddy.com or hostgator.com. Both have reasonable rates. You could do a wordpress site for under 100.00 or have them do one up for you. Probably only a few bucks more.

 

[ATH]

Web hosting provider - Bluehost.com

fully featured hosting service, a lot of tools - even site buildng tools that I have never used. Unlimited storage, I think there may be a limit on e-mail accounts, but it is more than you will ever use.

I really like WordPress for building a site. Joomla is another good one with lots of templates. I find Joomla less user-friendly than WordPress (and I know html code...). It is shocking what some folks will charge to plug your stuff into a free template (or maybe even spend $30 to get a 'premium' template). I have seen estimates of $2500 for 2-3 pages. I could have that done in an afternoon if you provide the content...

 

[tree md]

Thanks for the input. I doing some research this morning. I found a hosting service that is willing to give me:

Unlimited GB's of Space*
Unlimited GB's of Transfer*
Unlimited Domain Hosting
Unlimited E-Mail Accounts
Unlimited MySQL Databases
FREE Site Builder
FREE Domain Name
FREE Instant Setup
Anytime Money Back Guarantee

for $168 for 4 years. They have great reviews. The service is called Just Host.

Does that sound like a good deal?

 

[BCbound]

If they are setting up a site for you, that sounds reasonable. Make sure your able to get into your site for minor changes. That would save you $$ later on. As ATH said wordpress is very easy to deal with and easy to change if you don't like the site after some time(free). Also spend a few minutes on youtube to see if "Just Host" has tutorials of any kind for future reference.

 

[lfnh]

Might dig a little more.
Cnet or PC mag or consumer report stuff on top hosting sites.
read fine print on unlimited storage/data transfer (per r, day, week, month).
some gotchas in some plans.
just a thought.

 

[tree md]

well I went ahead and paid for a hosting service. Not the one I posted about earlier but another one. It was a little cheaper than the one I mentioned before but seems to be just fine for my needs.. I have managed to publish a page with my basic info and a message saying the site is under construction... I've got a lot of learning to do... A web designer I am not.

Thanks to everyone for the input here and through PM.

 

[lfnh]

Maybe find a high school kid to lend a quick hand. cheap. get ya going.

 

[Juicemang]

I made my site with wordpress. Hosted with bluehost. If you have average computer skills you should be able to learn wordpress in a short period of time. The website is by far the most cost effective form of advertising. I also find that customers from the website are easier to close with and willing to spend more money. Focusing my ad $$ online has made my overall advertising budget go down and still keep very busy. If you don't feel like making your own site, a couple thousand for a good site would still be $$ well spent in my opinion.

This is the second version of my site, just started building it after the new year. Still working on it but i'm happy with what it looks like for just being a tree guy haha...
Tree Service Livonia | Arbor Man LLC

 

[tree md]

Very nice!

I'm almost embarrassed to show you mine after seeing that one. I did mine with WP as well... Not too much so far but it's a start. It's my first website so don't laugh.

Complete Tree Service Serving Tulsa Metro and All of Green Country

 

[Juicemang]

Lookin good!! You already have a lot of good content up. As you continue to use wordpress you will find you can update the look of your site and then just plug your old content right into the new theme. Once your happy with the site you should start a google adwords account. Google ad words rocks, you can turn it on when you need work, turn it off when you go on vacation and don't want calls.

 

[tree md]

Great info! I was wondering about the Google adwords. I have a $75 credit for google adwords with my hosting service. Appreciate the info!

 

[nitrousbaby]

I use square space im about as smooth with a computer as a newborn and there hosting and site builder helped me build a pretty nice site for $12 a month

 

[tree md]

I use square space im about as smooth with a computer as a newborn and there hosting and site builder helped me build a pretty nice site for $12 a month

Way too much. I am paying less than $4 a month and can host unlimited websites.

 

[rtsims]

How long did it take you to get the site up once you signed up with the service?
I ask because i have been building my own site off and on for 3 months, rediculous i know.
Im not tech savy and im thinking about starting all over with one of these hosting company's.

 

[tree md]

How long did it take you to get the site up once you signed up with the service?
I ask because i have been building my own site off and on for 3 months, rediculous i know.
Im not tech savy and im thinking about starting all over with one of these hosting company's.

It took 24 hours for my domain to register and I had a site under construction page up the next day. I had a contact page up pretty much immediately after that. It took me a couple of days to get my first couple of pages up. Took me a week or so to get most of my viewable pages done and about a month of studying and adding content for SEO. Optimization is an ongoing process. It actually takes more study and time than creating the viewable content.

 

[rtsims]

Thanks. Maybe i will keep plugging away with the site i have been working on.
Its crazy, i was scheduled 2 weeks out for a while and now i havent been in a tree in 2 weeks. I understand it though, im still in the startup faze of my business and all my work has come from word of mouth or someone picking up my business card at one of the local markets. Im excited to have an internet presents, im young and hungry and love this business. Takes money to make money thats for sure.

 

[ashevilletree]

After 10 years I finally got my domain name back. Someone took it from me way back then when I let my domain name expire. So now I have got my company name back as a domain name and am looking for info on pricing and names of services for building and hosting a website.

My brother built my old website and I had a guy who provided me with 2 years of hosting and 5 emails as well as traffic statistics for like $20 bucks. Can anyone point me in the direction of a straight up hosting and possible building service?

I believe that the builder solutions prob. won't be the best LONG TERM solution for you...We had one when we first started out and had to replace it because you can't do much with it. Although it's low cost, it's prob. better to go with a wordpress site. You can find decent themes online and customize it to your liking..

 

[cnpser]

I believe that the builder solutions prob. won't be the best LONG TERM solution for you...We had one when we first started out and had to replace it because you can't do much with it. Although it's low cost, it's prob. better to go with a wordpress site. You can find decent themes online and customize it to your liking..

I have to agree with this. There is not much you can do with those build it yourself sites and you are limited on the number of pages that you can have also. I am constantly replacing these types of sites with a much better wordpress based site. Do not get a wordpress.org site, host your own wordpress site. I know that some are limited on their budgets but it is the best advertising money you will ever spend.

 

[rtsims]

I ended up using Fat Cow for something like $3.99/ month. It has Word Press and other options. I got so frustrated putting a site together that i hired my brother in law's girlfriend. She had a site up in a few hours. One problem, she didnt use any of my images, none of my text, and under the services page she put topping as something we offer. I have called her, sent her text messages and emails. No reply. That was a month ago. The web site doesnt come up in a google search either, i know thats all SEO stuff but geeez. So i guess a need to take down the site and hire a pro. Ill put up a link when the time is right.