I am starting a website for my mom’s restaurant. I am pretty computer savy, and I know I need to build the website, buy the domain and get it hosted. She doesn’t want to spend much money. I will need a website builder/template to help me. I’ve looked at godaddy.com and their website builder seemed expensive. I looked at webs.com which seemed cheaper. Any suggestions?
Also what about ipage.com? They seem cheap and user friendly!
May 6, 2010
How do I start a website?
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WordPress.
It’s FREE and easy to use and good for a beginner… the original setup might be a bit tricky if you are not used to it, but some hosts will have it all ready to go for you.
Godaddy is a good choice… you can get your domain and their budget hosting for less than $50.00 if you search for an online coupon…
Comment by SearchWizard — May 6, 2010 @ 5:16 am
You can easily find some people on Elance, weblancer, or odesk, who would do that for you for $20-$50.
Thought, if you want to do it yourself – there is many options, like WordPress, or Joomla – these are CMS (Content Management Systems), that could be installed in 10 minutes, and would be already working websites, with UI (user interface) for easy managing your website – like change themes, adding pictures, and posts.
B4 you start buying hosting, and domain – first you will need to decide, which keywords people will use to find your business, so later on, when you will start marketing your website it would be very handy.
Then, get a hosting.
Never use a free host – it is unprofessional.
Good hosting start at $20-$30 a month. Yes, you can get a Godaddy hosting for 5-6$, but it is something different.
Then find a domain – only .com, or .net – others would work that well – everyone already get used to type .com in the end.
After that – you can connect your domain to the hosting, and start uploading your website files.
Comment by Igor Shaman — May 6, 2010 @ 6:01 am
Hi,
You can use Microsoft Office Live Small Business to build the website for your mom’s website. It is template-based so it is very easy to use. Office Live Small Business is also very inexpensive and ad free, which cannot be said for many free website hosting services (the restaurant website won’t be cluttered by ads for other businesses). To learn more about creating the website, check out http://smallbusiness.officelive.com/en-us/.
I hope this helps. Good luck with the website.
Isabella
MSFT Office Live Outreach Team
Comment by Isabella — May 6, 2010 @ 6:07 am
First of all, ask your mom these question:
1- what kind of website she want? is it interactive website or is it just informational website?
2- what did she expect the website to do?
i build a few website for small business customer. all they want is just an informational website. which means, the website state info about their business, the address, operating hours, menu and so on.
maybe you also want to add some suggestion box and all. but all of that can be done in a blog. for example blogger.com and wordpress.com. choose any layout that you like and create your own banner. it’s more saving isnt it??
Comment by Tash — May 6, 2010 @ 6:25 am
Of those three iPage is definitely the best and they have a great price right now.
Their standard price is $84/year ($6.95) but they have
a 50% sale, one year of hosting for $42.00. (domain name included)
They have one of the most popular hosting platforms, which currently hosts over a million websites. They’re also one of the oldest hosting companies, founded in 1998.
They include a free point & click online site builder so you can create a website without any programming (easily, just by drag and drop) or you could install WordPress (they include easy, one click install from their control panel), choose a theme that you like, and start adding content.
They also have a great custom control panel with OneClick installs of all the popular software like WordPress, Joomla, Forums, Chat, Galleries, Online stores and a lot more.
For more info check: http://www.top3hosts.com
Comment by James — May 6, 2010 @ 6:55 am
Tell your mom to check out Yola.com
There is a free website builder and hosting. If she wants to upgrade to a more professional version than she can at http://www.yola.com/packages
Comment by John — May 6, 2010 @ 7:46 am
It would be easiest to use a website builder software, e.g. A4Desk (http://www.a4deskpro.com) for your mom as she can edit the website by herself and also update it anytime she wants. If you use a web based site editor, you would need to pay monthly fee and it might be too difficult to learn for your mom.
The website builder software, which install on her own PC can be used to build any number of websites, and comes with many templates she can use to build website quickly without learning any coding. And only cost a fixed price (free during trial period)
Comment by Teddy — May 6, 2010 @ 7:56 am
Hi, when you decide to create this site and find you need a web host, remember Pandora Hosting. Large hosting companies are notorious for their bad customer service and overloading their servers with too many clients. On the other end, free web hosts are unreliable and filled with ads. For Pandora Hosting, if you call, you will reach a person immediately, and we limit the number of clients per server to ensure top performance. We have one of the lowest client/server ratios in the web hosting market. Our packages start at 20GB of storage and 50GB of bandwidth with competitive prices and great customer support. You can email me at JohnWeinrich@pandorahosting.net for more your specific hosting/web site building needs and how I can match your budget.
Comment by John — May 6, 2010 @ 8:36 am
I like BoxedArt as a template source – http://www.boxedart.com. Tlhey give you unlimited template downloads so you can try out as many designs as you like for no extra charge.
Comment by Web Commando — May 6, 2010 @ 8:38 am
I’ve heard bad things about iPage…
The web host I use (Webhostingpad) provides its users with a free domain.
They’re very affordable and they offer free domain registration or transfer if you already have a domain name. Unlimited disk space, bandwidth, domains, POP & IMAP email, and SQL databases . A free site builder and so many other features at no cost!
If you want to learn more check them out here http://www.webhostingpad.com/7294-0-3-1.html
Comment by helper — May 6, 2010 @ 9:22 am
As an experienced webmaster I recommend BH web hosting which I’m sure it would work for you and fulfill all your requirements. They have a really great offer for hosting & I have used them for over 3 yrs now, and have never had a single problem with them.
You can reach reviews about this web hosting provider and its latest DISCOUNT COUPONS at:
http://www.threehosts.com/reviews/1st
Only $3.95 /month (with discount coupon)
******IMPORTANT********
* This service was awarded the “Best Web Hosting OF The Year”.
* If you sign up for this service you will have $75 credits to advertise your website with the google & yahoo search engines for free!
* You Can Register A Free Domain or Use Your Existing Domains. They Support All Domain Names.
****************************
Another useful link:
http://www.threehosts.com/build
There you can find a step-by-step guide to start your website.
If you want to use templates refer to:
http://www.threehosts.com/business/3rd
Hope this helps.
Comment by David M — May 6, 2010 @ 9:44 am
You should check out http://www.simplelayer.com for your needs. Plesk Sitebuilder with 4,500 templates is included with every hosting package, and it’s very easy to use!
Comment by markctc123 — May 6, 2010 @ 10:34 am
Yes, iPage is one of the most reliable and fast website hosting servers with unlimited bandwidth with your package. Their customer and technical supports are definitely top-notch. Most of the other hosting companies don’t offer prompt services as far as the customer support is concerned. Here’s some discount they are offering: http://www.webhostingbreak.com/ipage-discount/
Comment by Danny — May 6, 2010 @ 11:20 am