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  1. #1

    Looking for a good host for small business...

    Newbie posting here..

    Im looking to open a small business site, but, I have very little HTML training. Im hoping for a host which caters to my lack of ability by providing templates or other tools that make it easy to start up an online store w/ no expertise.

    Ill need email of course, domain name and a fair amount of storage in addition to the above credentials.

    Ideally I'd like to open a site that looks as professional as, pickyourshoes.com, in that everything is very organzized, you can easily add products to a cart, etc...

    I'm not sure if im being too naive in this effort so please take it easy on me

    thanks fellas.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Sep 2004
    Location
    Fairborn, ohio
    Posts
    923
    Most hosts that offer cpanel and fantastico have autoinstallers for OSCommerce and other shopping carts with fantastico. This is one of the cheaper solutions, having the shopping cart as your main site. I'm not sure of any companies offhand that will completely make AND host your site, but I'm positive someone will chime in soon with some suggestions for you.
    Imeanwebhosting.com - Shared cpanel hosting, 99.9% uptime.
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  3. #3
    Join Date
    Mar 2005
    Posts
    56
    The best thing i can recommend is:

    - Get your domain, try www.godaddy.com

    - Make sure you get your hosting from a different place to your domain. There's many hosts out there, find the one that suits you.

    - Get someone to design a nice professional template for you, it usually woudn't cost to much.

    - Get some help with the online store, you can ask here or some other webmaster forums.

    Good luck !
    Webmaster Tools at iWEBTOOL.com

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Mar 2005
    Location
    Chicago
    Posts
    276
    Take a look around this forum, there are a lot of companies and one of them will surley suit your needs. Try the hosting offers forum.

  5. #5
    Ever heard of Miva merchant? A little digging up and you'll find what you are looking for.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Oct 2002
    Location
    EU - east side
    Posts
    21,920
    I will sort of support redwan's advice. If you don't have the necessary skills, you can hire/rent help, or you can spend (probably quite a bit of time) learning the new things you need to learn. The first option will mean you'll be able to open your store sooner. On the other hand, at the end of the other option, you'll know almost everything about the way your store operates. Of course, there is also the matter of spending money vs. spending time.

  7. #7
    thanks a lot fellas!

  8. #8
    So you are looking for Hosting and Design?

    Or just help on setting your site up?

    Regards.
    Portugal Networks
    Shared and Reseller cPanel Accounts. NEW! Windows 2003 with Plesk, ASP.NET 2.0 and MSSQL 2005.

  9. #9
    both, depending on price=)

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Mar 2005
    Location
    Chicago
    Posts
    276
    Unless you find a great package it would be lower in terms of cost if you got both of them seperate.

  11. #11
    thanks.

    ive been searching the offers section, no luck yet..

  12. #12
    does anyone know anything about "hostway" .com.......

  13. #13
    Join Date
    Aug 2004
    Location
    Earth
    Posts
    8,154
    Domain, you can get it for as low as $8.88/yr from namecheap.com

    Design, ask around for quotes from experienced designers on these forums.

    You can look around for a web host in the shared and reseller hosting offers section, plenty of decent web hosts on these forums.

  14. #14
    I would also recommend that you not skimp on your hosting. You're hosting a small business site, so treat it with the importance it deserves. Don't go for the absolute lowball hosts. Choose a host that's been around for 3+ years (better if it's 5+). I disagree about not getting your domain through your web host. Pick a reputable host and the odds of you having any problems with your domain registration are slim.

  15. #15
    Join Date
    Dec 2003
    Location
    Birmingham, UK
    Posts
    400
    I ditto ReasonSinger's last post, I mentioned on these forums only this morning how some small businesses go for absolutely rock-bottom budget webhosts, then wonder what's going on when they get poor support and downtime. It's no surprise that if you think the price is too good to be true, it very much often is.

    Shelling out a bit more on a reliable host will see you in good stead, and of course, you won't get the problem of them holding domains hostage for a few extra quid per year.

    As for your site, I recommend the advice above; get a copy of some shop software such as osCommerce, and get a decent skin made for it by a designer; plug the two together and put it on a reliable server, and you're ready to go!

  16. #16
    And of course, if you need any help, WHT members will gladly help you.
    New Project: COMING!

  17. #17
    something no one mentioned yet, when you get your hosting make sure that it has SSL support (you will need a dedicated IP), without SSL support users probably won't place an order because of fear from hackers and whatnot.
    Webair Internet Development Inc.
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    My comments do not reflect the views of the company or its management.

  18. #18
    thanks once again. ive been researching for a fair amount of time but this is the 1st time ive found this site..the amount of help ive received is great!

    is there any forum where i can request a review on certain hosting options?

  19. #19
    Ideally I'd like to open a site that looks as professional as, pickyourshoes.com, in that everything is very organzized, you can easily add products to a cart, etc...
    This will probably be the most challenging part of getting an ecommece site up and live. Simply installing a shopping cart from an auto-installer will not do you much good as far as look and feel goes. Also, there are MANY other factors associated with eCommerce. Probably the easiest way to get something professional looking is to utilize an ecommerce package that will integrate into an existing static site vs a shopping cart type of solution which really limits you WRT look and feel. It really depends on how many products you will be seeling, what specific type of functionality you will require, etc...

    Before even shopping for a host, I would do some more research around your ecommerce requirements - and get a better understanding of what is required to complete this sort of project -

    Hope this helps...
    www.cartika.com
    www.clusterlogics.com - You simply cannot run a hosting company without this software. Backups, Disaster Recovery, Big Data, Virtualization. 20 years of building software that solves your problems

  20. #20
    thanks a lot everyone, youve been a great help

  21. #21
    you should check out Tekcetera and the Sitewizard Service they offer... I too am new here and have been reading about diff. Hosting companies out there and have tried a couple and have not been very impressed with many.

    The Sitewizard Service has been GREAT for me! I would recommend checking it out. And since I'm new I can not post a link to it... or my site! BOO!! Soon though!

    If you search under google for Tekcetera and Sitewizard I would guess you could find it!

    They also do ecommerce, but I did not go that route... I just did a personal site.

    Let me know! If you check it out!

    Take Care,

    Mike

  22. #22
    Join Date
    Aug 2003
    Location
    Singapore
    Posts
    422
    take a look at www.apchosting.net. they provide domains at $9.95/year and hosting at just $1.95/month. They set up everything for you!

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