Web Hosting

[jabb]

My sister wants to build a website for her small business.

Need something that looks good and easy to use and provides templates as a way
to build the site . Any suggestions for providers.

Thank You

[stomachmonkey]

godaddy and WIX have plans around $10 per month tailored for the novice who needs a basic templated site.

As far as site templates go how they end up looking has everything to do with the content you add.

FWIW, no template can ever make crap photography, poor font, and color palette choices, look good.

[willtel]

https://www.squarespace.com

[red-beard]

I use Network Solutions which I think is now Web.com

They are good, but we had a lot of problems going Pro with them.

[rattlsnak]

What kind of site? how many pages? shopping cart involved? forms to submit? I can build it and host for you and either keep it updated or once its launched you will have a control panel to alter it yourself.

[jabb]

Originally Posted by rattlsnak

What kind of site? how many pages? shopping cart involved? forms to submit? I can build it and host for you and either keep it updated or once its launched you will have a control panel to alter it yourself.

For a landscaping business I would think maybe 10 pages max with maybe a gallery of previous work
No shopping cart but a contact form / email

[Oracle]

hold on.. Is that web site going to support any kind of social presence/static content/informational or online business eg. cart, inventory, sales, marketing campaigns, point of sale, etc.?
Two different animals..

For her small company she needs to think a a bit bigger... The website is just part of the business. How is she going to run her business?

I ask because I had the same dilemma and very happy to report that nowadays there are so many options! Some are free, some subscription based (but dirt cheap).

Tell her to check out https://www.odoo.com/ this will help build the website that supports her business and also all the computer automation to help run her business so she can focus on whats important (not in maintaining software or websites)

Good luck to her!

[wdfifteen]

We've been all over the map with web sites, from amateur sites done in house to some ridiculously overpriced stuff that sucked. Our sweet spot is hosted by bluehost and designed and maintained in-house using squarespace.
As the business owner I admit being happily ignorant of how it gets done, but that's what we do, what is most cost effective, and what works for us.

[Holger]

I am using one.com for a lot of smaller sites

[Bill Douglas]

Originally Posted by jabb

My sister wants to build a website for her small business.

Need something that looks good and easy to use and provides templates as a way
to build the site . Any suggestions for providers.

Thank You

A night class or book on HTML and she will know everything she needs to know for this sort of website.

[RKDinOKC]

I am betting all your landscaping business needs is what I call an internet billboard. Fairly static unless you update the example gallery, but mainly for contacts to see what you do and contact you.

Just about any cheap host will work and what you use to setup/design the site will depend on where you decide to host it how much work she wants to do. I would suggest a very easy content management system like Wordpress. But some of those places like Wix use their own thing.

THE most important thing is make sure you have your actual content all lined out. What you want to say and your examples. Saying you want it to be something and actually writing everything will make or break the web site.

Be careful with email forms, a lot of them break easily or do not work. Best to just make it a form for them to enter a number to have you call them back.

I would not think social media would not be a big deal, but I am an old fart. While the younger generation 20-35 uses social media a lot, I don't know that new customers will look for a landscaper there. However if you are building the kind of business that will get a lot of repeat business, spring planting, winterizing, fertilizing, mowing, trimming, then social media would help. IF you post things often like landscaping tips and seasonal suggestions. Even then it only needs to have a link to the web site for looking at the galleries and contact information, it does not need to be fully integrated with your web site.

I host web sites myself for several companies, but honestly you can get it hosted somewhere else cheaper even though I only charge $9 a month. The sites I host I do the design and updating for my customers for a lump sum to set up the site, then on an hourly fee basis for updates. They don't want to mess with it, just tell me what to put on it and if they like how it looks.