Building a Website that won't cost the earth...best programme to go with?

Hi Guys!
Wonder if you can help at all...I want to set up my own website for business purposes but have to admit I'm not web-build savvy & haven't got loads of dosh either so can't afford to go with a company that will do it all for me.
Do you know of any good programmes that would be the best for me at the moment plus going about getting an affordable web hosting server.
I design & produce my own range of pet beds & would really like to have my own site in which to trade from rather than just going through ebay.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated..Thanks very much.

Okay, there is a LOT to consider when building a website for a business online. It's not as easy as jsut creating the website.

Some things to consider:

1) Where you are going to host your website.
This can be a variety of costs, keeping it to the low end for you anywhere from $20/yr to $75/yr

2) You want to sell your product online through your website then you'll need to setup credit card processing.
a) This will mean security hosting may do this for you as little as $120/year - or you can buy a license from Verisign for $400/year
b) This also means a database on the server - to track sales / progress / credit card transactions (usually one is available for free - but you may have to expand)
c) Search Engine Optimization - you want people to find your site, you want to know if they came into your site and purchased something. Advertising costs - how much do you want to spend?
d) You will want to be able to adjust your database if you make a change to your product and reflect current stock automatically as items are sold.
e) Email via your web address: owner@mysite.com


Yes, there are ways around the database and dynamic driven content (which means you'd need to know how to program) - but that means more work on you just to keep your website up and running.

I honestly think you are going to find out that maintaining a website for a business is a lot more work than you thought. Having a content management system integrated into your website is also a plus.

This is a lot of work to take on yourself, when you are already trying to run your business.

Front Page

Hire a webprogrammer. You website will look lame if you do it yourself. You obviouly don't have the technology skills necessary to do it well.

Dont listen to those other posts... Thats not right. You can get a subdomain from http://www.freewebservices.net

as far as an editor i recomend www.chami.com there you will find a 100% free x-html editor that is awosome. I have the older version that works well and you can do it your self. Also use www.w3schools.com as a resource, you can self teach your self. ITs really easy once you practice. Also, if you need help there are some companies that will do it for you and not cost very much. * cough *

If you have any questions feel free to e-mail me on the e-mail address on my site. Let me know how it goes!
Jon Ellender Sr. Tech.
Texas Tech Services
visit us on the web @
http://texastech.mycv.bz

Here is a free hosting and web domain name. It comes with 500Mb of space and the tools to put together a basic web page.

http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/office...

If you can afford $40\mo I would recommend an eBay or Yahoo store.

Well, you could try one of the hosts that offer eShops.

Here's one -
http://www.homestead.com/storefront/pack...

They operate on a sort of "point and click" customization thing; you build your site from a template.

I'm sure you could find more companies that offer the same sort of deal with a quick google search.

If you are looking to start a website I would highly encourage you to hire a programmer. However if you insist on building your own I would recommend using Microsoft front page. if you dont already have this you can buy it at microsoft for about $200. a bit much but trust me it is alot cheaper to buy this then to hire a programmer. however you can create webpages completly free using HTML and any text editor. Anyone can learn HTML in little time at all. I would recommend taking a class (if you have the time) at a local community college. When I make webpages I use a free program called "textpad" it's entirely text based when creating webpages. There are also a number of websites that offer HTML templates where you can buy one and easily edit information to fit your purpose. it is VERY important that the website is appealing. it is a major turn off to a customer if they have a poor website.

Once you have a website and its up and running whats next? if you really want to draw in as many customers as possible, its important to be in the top searches for selected searches such as "pet beds" so you need to market the page. this is where things can get complicated, and it's best to hire someone or pay for an online service.

blah! so starting a website can be expensive at first but it can pay off in the long run

Use Dreamweaver for building your site and you may download free trial from Adobe site.


Visit Following webhosting which is quite good.

Hostmonster http://snipurl.com/1512d

They offer hosting of "unlimited domains" and you will get massive webspace of 200000 MB (200 GB ). They only charge $4.95/month and they offer "a free Domain Name" and installing service called "Fantastico". By using Fantastico, you could create own forum, photo gallery, shopping cart (e-commerce),your own auction site and your own blogs within few seconds. They also offer "Free Website Builder" as well.

Visit the site to check details.
Hostmonster http://snipurl.com/1512d

Domains
Following site is quite good to register domains as price is reasonable with free privacy. Some charge about $5/ year just for free privacy.

IPOWER http http://tinyurl.com/yk9h23

Look up http://www.excelyourbiz.com
to learn how to build a professional
website on your own without the high cost of paying for a
webmaster for free or for a low cost. They show you everything
you need to know to build your own web site.

They offer advice and guide you through the steps to
build your very own web site. Basic computer skills are needed
and you don't need to be a computer whiz to build your own website.