Gonna set up a web site. Recommendations?
 

I've had a couple of domains registered with Network Solutions in the past, but never followed thru with establishing a site. This time I'm gonna do it. Might even do a second for 911 stuff, like my welding projects. Can't mix the two.

The site I have in mind is for window sales. Doesn't need to be interactive right now, Just info and email. But I want the capability to expand if the need arises.

Who should I choose to host this? I don't want to get into a situation where the site goes down because of some problems beyond my control, I need this for the long run.

I'll do some research and reading on my own, but I know there are quite a few IT guys here, so I thought I might ask. I'm really not all that good at the computer world, but I need to have a presence on the Net to disseminate information, some validity and a way people can contact me.
I plan of doing a LOT of guerilla marketing, so a xxxxxxxx.com and an 800 number broadcast all over will provide a channel for customers to reach me to get the skinny. The actual sale will be handled in person.

Milt, we use Hostasaurus and have never had a problem in over 2 years of hosting including a Miva Merchant online store.

http://www.hostasaurus.com/

I highly recommend them.

Thanks. I should have mentioned that a host with some decent templates to start with would be the best for me as I set up a budget to develop a nice site. I have "Front Page," but I found it to be rather un-user friendly. Not even like Publisher (which it appears to be based on) which I and my wife have both used successfully for a variety of projects over the years. I couldn't get PF to give me a background color. Now that's lame, or I am. (You probably know the answer to that one.)

I use netfirms. Cheap and very good at the same time. $9.00 a month.

if you're doing e-commerce , i can help you with some things i've learned over the past couple of years. it's not easy, but it can be done, esp. if you're doing it alone.

Milt, What are you calling it? Maybe I missed it.

I'll probably contact some here on the side as this develops. I have to emphasize that online sales is not the target here. I have my distributor's site to link to if that's the way the deal is going to go.

Some of you IT guys might like this site. There are some features on it that have recently earned a patent. I don't know what they are, but there's a LOT of money invested in this, so I don't need to duplicate it in any way whatsoever.

However, in order to protect my leads that go into the distributor's site, I can give them a code that will produce some unseen incentives to keep them identified as my customers.

Frankly, buying something as complex as a window from an Internet site is a tough proposition. We still have to hand walk the first time buyers though the process. Measuring for retrofits is amazingly intimidating when that kind of money is being spent.

It all comes down to the same ol', same ol', which is a personal sale. I might get lucky and find a couple of property maintenance people or small contractors who will buy repeatedly unassisted, but the likelihood of that is slim. I've been doing this since '85, I have an idea which way the wind blows.

I'm just running a parallel site to pick off the few that don't land on the mother site. And, we're all regional, not national, but i can get some brands to other parts of the country. However, it's rare that someone in the Midwest would deal with a west coast business for building materials. Check it out. http://forums.pelicanparts.com/1stwindows.com

Dan, can't give too much away here yet. ;)

Idoit is developing a business site for me as I type. I hope to show it off after the holidays.

Then I want him to help me with a personal one for picture and video storage.

We use Westhost and are very happy with it. I know of 8-10 people running business's off of their site with no problems.

Live tech support 24/7 (real people answer the phone, day and night, what a novel idea) and excellent prices. have used them for over 5 years and they cannot be beat. They provide loads of software and bulletin board (like this one) for free for their customers as well.

Milt - I can do basic hosting dirt cheap - web space, DNS, a few email accounts, etc. I'm not acutally hosting Jim's stuff, just doing the server setup (for streaming vids) and programming (search for listings, etc). Although I can do basic design, I'm much better off in the programming and server management side.

Sorry Milt, but *********s.org is already taken :)

Milt,

Your wife has a Mac, right?

If it has iWeb use that instead of frontpage.

Makes nice CSS based sites very simply and has some great templates already built in.

Milt, my company designs and builds websites. I typically just use GoDaddy.com for the hosting. Its reliable, and very very cheap comparatively speaking. They have sort of a maze-like interface that you have to figure out to go though, ie its not super user friendly but once you figure out what clutter to disregard, its pretty good. They have live tech support people and reaching someone on the phone is pretty easy to do.

Milt, I use Frontpage on the amateur level. If I can assist in anyway, give me a shout.