Forum Moderators: mack
Anyhow, I think my first site will relate to my professional business, stuff clients might like to know. And the other site will be a hobby I enjoy, so I hope to grow these sites and build them the right way, hence my question.
thanks.
I'll send you a stiky with their name.
P.
I wont be able to monitor traffic flow and incoming links
That is why God created raw logfiles - just download to your own machine and run one of the many log analysis programs. Server-side stuff for logs simply provides the same data but online and so is more "bells and whistles" than essentials.
Same comments apply to incoming links - if you have raw logfiles there's not a whole lot of general purpose information that will go unrecorded.
what if I want to move the website? Will it exist as a dead link in google that I cannot remove
Like I said at the start - CGI isn't that important these days given the amount of other powerful scripting languages available, something as simple as a redirect can be done so many different ways it would make your head spin (either as a server configuration change, or via scripting, or via something like htaccess).
On the other hand if you just mean changing host rather than moving the contents of domain A to domain B then that's down to your DNS rather than your server.
My parting 2c ... look at the full list of features your hosting package includes, among other things if you don't have full raw logs, reasonable space, reasonable transfer and at least one scripting language (PHP, perl, ASP etc) available to you then it sounds like you're just setting yourself up for problems later on with a limited host.
- Tony
I just typed and looked my first test page. Gawd, I am so stupid, it's the most little things that mess me up. Like how to open my page and see how it looks...I really need How to Start This Stuff: The Really Obvious
I really need How to Start This Stuff: The Really Obvious
Ask and you will receive! Try this thread:
[webmasterworld.com...]
Also, just check out the New To Web Development library [webmasterworld.com] for other gems. There is a library for each of the forums which will help you get up to speed.
Going back to your original question, you definitely need to go with proper hosting from the outset - any decent web project requires it and it doesn't cost much for what you get.
In addition, which one would you be more likely remember ot to click on in a search engine:
www.users.freesitenamehere.com/appleave/widgetholders/index.html
or
www.widgetholders.com
If you don't believe in your site/business enough to spend a few bucks a month on it, customers/surfers will have a hard time believing in it enough to buy from it. Just my two cents anyway.
Since I want to do my first web sites the right way I am afraid if I use the free service this will hurt in the long run.
Free hosting services are free for a reason and it certainly has nothing to do with being altruistic. :)
If you want to be in this business, spend a few bucks. You can get good to great hosting for less than $15/month.
Quite often first-timers overlook the maintenance and support issues associated with the hardware and physical maintenance of the site. It's too easy to get caught up in the glitzy stuff like bandwidth and number of email accounts. Try not to look at stuff you may not use but comes with that $15 bucks. Look for a host that has a good smattering of those services and then focus on their support. I sleep better knowing my host is backing up my data; monitoring, maintaining and securing their servers, and that I'll get someone's help if there's ever a problem or question.
And anyone who's spent days tracking down what they thought was a glitch in their code only to realize the host had an older version of the script engine that didn't support the function they called can tell you - having a current, secure, and reliable hosting space is THE most important thing to consider. Because, if it isn't there or doesn't work - all the SEO and traffic in the world isn't going to do you any good.
I'd rather have the basic account with a good company that's capable of the $15 a month account but doesn't insist on it straight away, allowing seamless upgrades.
I spent about a month hunting for my host for my existing (PR5) site, a few years ago. Even today it costs me $55 a year, ($4.50 a month), they have use a dedicated support company that gives me answers within 2 hours, I have had one downage in 5 years, for about 3 hours. Then it was up again and I only knew of it because of a free service I have running that told me. The server is pretty speedy too.
Only my minisicule budget has made me look elsewhere, my next one is 99c a month and includes everything I've ever heard a hosting company provide at the shared level, including live support during business hours.
Domains and hosting is the cheap and easy bit..
:o)
P.
Can't agree with that. 15 dollars a month to start a business? That is beyond inexpensive. If you were in the brick and mortar world and wanted to start a business, 15 bucks might get you a cab ride to the building you need to rent.
Doing business on the net certainly can be way less expensive than starting a brick and mortar business, but it still will cost money.
To say that 15 dollars a month or 180 a year is a "high" cost for someone just starting an Internet business is not an accurate statement in my head. But, to each his own.
However he doesn't, as the thread title suggests, he's 'new to web development' and will almost certainly make many hideous errors along the way. One thing he is not likely to do is earn $15 a month right away, nor is he likely to need massive amounts of space, transfer capacity and so on.
Maybe I'm wrong, maybe he represents a large, heavily-financed start-up that knows just what it wants, has a team of SEO specialists and designers, copy-writers and so on all standing by, waiting for the off. In the meantime everyone is waiting while he checks out of he should go with a freebie host or not..
I've already stickied him with the address of a company offering
12 Month Price US$0.99/mo
14 Day Money Back
Web Space 50mb
Bandwidth 2gb/month
Sub-Domain 2
Control Panel cPanel v9
E-Mail Account 5
Web-Based E-Mail
FTP Account 2
PHP
CGI/Perl
SSI
Shared SSL
mySQL 2
Frontpage Extensions
Fantastico
Site Backup
Customized Error Pages
HotLink Protection
Password Protected Directory
For one dollar a month.
Why does someone just dipping their toe, need to spend more than a years hosting money every month?
They even offer a 6 month option.
If this guy's level is at the point where he's seriously considering a freebie host, $15 a month is scary as a scary thing that jumped out behind a bush. On the other hand, $6 to try out a fully-featured host is the kind of encouragement he needs.
Sure, if his online business is successful he's gonna need a higher package. As someone only one step away from his position, I think being too successful for a 50Mb/2Gb account with an established company and having to upgrade in the future is a problem he'd love to have.
I would.
Basically he's learning and I don't think you need to spend $15 a month to learn what works for you and what doesn't - not just on the hosting service. If the rest of his plans don't work, what use a rock-solid host sitting idle and eating money?
Perhaps you forgot what thread this is? :o)
Spare a thought for us newbies.
P.
Certainly not, LOL. My statement wasn't that he couldn't find hosting for cheaper than 15 dollars per month that was still good and reliable.
My statement was directed at your comment that spending 15 bucks was "way to high" for a newbie. I stand by my comment. 15 dollars is nothing to put towards your online business.
If you didn't believe it could eventually be making enough to pay you back the initial investment of time and money, then why bother.
I have many hosting accounts on five dollar per month hosting - teeny sites with no needs. My comment was not that everyone should be paying 15 dollars for hosting. It was that if someone considers 15 dollars a month too much money to invest in a business, they may want to rethink being a business owner.
To a newby though, the world is out to get us. It's true, you are. We're like little baby predators, learning how to eat instead of being eaten. every click, every site, has shadowy danger lurking, all sorts of fancy tricks to slash our wallets open and run.
By stating "$15 a month" you just trod on him. Notice he hasn't posted? He's curled up in a corner somewhere, bleeding..
:o(
His first little steps too.
P.
The thing some seem to forget is that we were all newbies at some point - we've all been there, done that. We got thick skin, learned and moved forward.
"you just trod on him"
Not sure what you mean by that, but no trodding intended here. I only answered an asked question - should I use a free host. My answer is no. None of my posts ever stated how much that paid host "should" cost. Again, the 15 dollar figure came from a response to your post, not his.
Let's hope he bounces back.
Perhaps some of my staunch defense of cheap hosts is self-defence? you see, I AM a newby hoping to make it big with a dirt cheap hosting plan and a shoestring budget.
$15 scared me, and I've already gone past the stage of hoping for free hosting.
Look, see, I'm still shaking.
*tremble*
My 99c a month hosting is kindda like a comfort blanket, ya know?
P.
For less than $15 a month you can go into the web hosting business with a reseller account. ;)
You can get decent hosting for as little as $6 a year with CGI, PHP, mySQL, stats, ready to install scripts - the works.
#1 Amount of space
#2 Email
#3 Bandwidth
#4 All the other extras (mysql, cgi, etc.)
#5 Terms and Conditions
Terms and conditions are recently becoming more important. Go Daddy now charges $200 when someone submits a complaint against you (regardless if it is a legitmate complaint).
While I am new to web page development, my profession earns a good bit. $15/month would not be a problem, however I really dont feel I need to spend that much until I am sure of what I am doing. I do not look at it as $15/month to start a business, starting a business and starting a webpage as part of that business are not really the same thing.
***
To show you how stupid I am at this I went to test the web page I had created. It said to name the file "whatever.html" and "load the file into the browser."
So I go to internet explorer and type in whatever.html and it says "Cannot be found. DOesnt exist...."
Okay I must be doing something stupid. So I look for the document I created in wordpad and I cant find it.
So I decide to do a google search for "testing a web page" and "loading + browser". This returns some interesting stuff but nothing of value.
I create a another html file in notepad since I cant find the first one. This one too doesnt come up when I open the browser.
Then I finally find the first notepad file; except it doesnt have a word icon or a notepad icon but a little "e" icon.
"Aha!" I got it! I click on the internet icon and "Voila!" Out comes my web page.
Whew. all that just to figure out how to fire the test page on the browser.
I guess there is a way to load the test page into the browswer and view it when I start the browser?
****
***
My new DSL provider does provide a fair bit of web hosting space (10 megs, IIRC). and I do get a fixed address. What's the advantage of that? Is it that I could use my computer to host the website, assuming I have enuf download/upload speeds?
Obviously, this aspect is still down the road for me, but I just want to ask.
7 am sheesh. Maybe it's time to go back to bed?
BTW ..Never dispair ...We've all been where you are ..at the beginning :)
don't be afraid to ask what might seem like dumb questions ..only dumb folks ask no questions ..!
One thing to think of .when you begin working out your stats can be a nightmare ..try to get your host to implement awstats ..it's probably the easiest to understand ..if they have control panel installed it's a switch on for them via their WHM ...
I agree with Marcia ..you can get good hosting for way less than 15$ per month ....I know plenty of companies who charge that or more and are only reselling someone elses deal ...
"On the other hand if you just mean changing host rather than moving the contents of domain A to domain B then that's down to your DNS rather than your server...."
Hmmm. What I was thinking about was this. My buddy started a blog, and ran it first on a free host. But it wasnt that nice, the features, etc. So he moved to a different blog host. He probably didnt transfer html files since it was one of those things where you just enter information into a form to set up a blog.
So now when you do a google search for thisguy'sblog.com it comes up with the older site that's non functional.
Even if you dont search for the domain name, but you simply put in "this guy" + blog" you get the older site.
He cant remove the older site because he cannot add code to the site, he doesnt control it.
In my case, I was thinking what if I set up a web site on a host, then I dont like whatever, the transfer rate or whatever and then I want to move my domain name to a different host. I dont want people to search and find the old domain.
So it comes down to DNS? That means I have to work it out with the domain name registrar? Not sure I get this.
Also by the way, I have done legal work in domain name disputes (I'm lawyer). I actually won my only domain name dispute! So I know more about the legal side of things.
But I'm thinking I want to be the named administrator for the domain name registrar, yes? So I can transfer the domain name?
P.
But I'm thinking I want to be the named administrator for the domain name registrar, yes? So I can transfer the domain name?
ns1.whatevernameserver.net
ns2.whatevernameserver.net
Whatever it is, your host will tell you what to make it in the welcome email - easy peasy, and it takes about 48 hours or so to resolve. By the way, cpanel is just about idiot proof.
