Help starting a website

monkeybackfarm · #1 09/14/11, 11:00 AM

We are wanting to start a small family farm website ,but the more we research the more confusing it gets. We understand the free sites are slow and not dependable, but how would we find the right site for us for the amount of money some are asking? Seems they are from free to expensive. All we are interested in right now is a reference source for customers to see what we have. The quality of our animals and to see how we raise them and how we live as a homestead family..Asking folks on here for suggestions and information. Bear in mind we know more about livestock than computers....

AngieM2 · #2 09/14/11, 11:03 AM

You may get some good reponses in the computer forum down the HT site index.

Betho · #3 09/14/11, 11:15 AM

Shouldn't cost too much for the site, it's the hosting that's expensive. What kind of site are you wanting to start? An online store, just a regular info "about us" website, a blog, etc?

nadja · #4 09/14/11, 11:29 AM

Well, to start with, I have two web sites / stores. I have both of them hosted by yahoo, which is one of the cheapest aprox. $15.00 per month each. Their site building tool is free and works very very well. Fairly easy site to work with and learn. You may pm me and I will try and walk you through the process.

Betho · #5 09/14/11, 12:07 PM

I just re-read your post and sorry you already said what you were looking for!

So, you need a domain name and hosting, basically. Domain name is your monkeybackfarm.com or whatever you choose. Hosting is where the files and whatnot for the website sit.

Domains cost $2.99 for a year where I get mine, and hosting is the more expensive part. My webhost is actually having a 20% off sale, so you can pay 7.16/month or 66.72 for a year of hosting. If you buy three years it's even cheaper, 142.56 which is under $4/month (you do pay all at once though). So, if you want to get started on a minimal basis, you are looking at about $10.15 to get started and then $7.16/month. I would recommend though at the minimum to pay for a year in advance of the hosting so you would be looking at an annual cost of about $70 to pay for the site for the entire year.

PM me if you want more info, I operate about 5 websites, two of which are in my signature so you can check them out. Beyond the domain name and hosting, you should be able to do everything else for free. And the nice thing is if you want to have more websites you can upgrade your hosting plan for a very small upgrade cost and host unlimited websites.

beewench · #6 09/14/11, 01:21 PM

Vista Print also does hosting and domains. I pay just $9.95 a month for both. You can check out my site at www.beewenchfarm.com

It's super easy to set up and use!

hiddensprings · #7 09/14/11, 02:24 PM

I use Small Farm Central for my site and LOVE, LOVE, LOVE them. You can pay monthly or annually. They have fabulous stuff set up and you just personalize it for your farm. Simon and the gang at Small Farm Central was so easy to work with. I am totally a non-technie and if I run into something I can't figure out, they are a short email away. I've used them for about 5 years now. You can take a look at my site to see: www.hiddenspringsfarms.com And go to their site for more info. They do give you a trial I believe: www.smallfarmcentral.com

adamtheha · #8 09/15/11, 12:30 AM

Hostgator has some quite reasonable plans, but the CP panels is a bit harder to use for newbies. I use weebly.com for my site www.sunset-meadows.org, and you can just type things into boxes, and put up pictures where you want them. Easy, and fast.
Why would the free sites be less reliable?

Faithful · #9 09/15/11, 03:34 AM

I have been with webs.com for years its free.
www.livestockguardianangels.com

bluemoonluck · #10 09/15/11, 08:31 AM

If you're not too computer savvy (I know I'm not) you'll want to go with one of the pre-packaged website companies.

I've used Homestead for years. I pay $23/month but I get 1 domain name and up to 10 additional websites (at .homestead.com) too.

This gives me the ability to have my main website, then several other websites that I can link to for more specifics. I have also helped friends by letting them borrow one of my 10 freebies (I have to do all the work so they don't get my password) for things, and if they decide they like having the website they can always go purchase a domain name somewhere and close down the freebie from me.

Limon · #11 09/15/11, 11:23 AM

GoDaddy.com has an economy hosting package for $5.99/month on a month-to-month basis. It's cheaper if you pre-pay for a year or more at a time, as low as $3.99.

Batt · #12 09/15/11, 02:26 PM

I get my hosting and up to 100 email addresses (both pop3 & smtp) for just a little over $47.00/ year. 99%+ uptime

Nevada · #13 09/15/11, 02:52 PM

I offer $1/month hosting to HT members, with free phone support. PM if you are interested.

I always suggest that people who are new to web page building start with a template, preferably a free template. Just Google for free templates to find them. A template is a web site that has been designed with easy customization in mind. As an example, I bought this template for $2.95 for use as a country folk singer's website.

http://www.countrymanordesigns.com/w...somecowboy.htm

That template was intended to be used as a western gear store, but seemed to fit his theme well. After I customized the template it looked like this (it's hosted on one of the servers I administrate).

http://desertbreezenv.com/

To customize the template you will need a graphic HTML editor, an image editor, and an FTP application. There are free ones available.

HTML Editor: http://www.kompozer.net/
Image Editor: http://www.gimpshop.com/
Basic FTP Application: http://download.cnet.com/FTP-Commander/3000-2160_4-10025993.html
There are lots of others, but those are popular. So this will be what you need to do.

Register a domain.
Open an account with a web host.
Find a template that meets your needs.
Customize the template to your liking with Kompozer and Gimpshop.
Upload your customized template to your FTP site with FTP Commander.

Step 4 will take most of the time.

Aseries · #14 09/15/11, 03:24 PM

I use olm.net unlimited everything for $5.95 a month, just set your name servers and you good, I have about 10 websites, and more domain names. Been with them for over 10 years, and never had a problem, just make sure you get a server with 24hr tech support... It helps.

any questions feel free...

Its easy to set up, get your domain name, get your host, and then set up your name servers on your domain registrars site, and then build the site. It sounds complicated but once you do it, a 5 year old can do it, building the site is the worse part lol..

HILLTOPPER · #15 09/15/11, 03:56 PM

Monkey,
If you want a reasonible priced wesite that does almost everything look into Yahoo site builder . once you get into it its easy I am pming you one of mine & click on all the sub pages
D

Mel- · #16 09/16/11, 12:27 AM

if you're just wanting to tell people about your farm at the moment and not sell online then I would suggest one of the free blog sites or even just facebook (all free). no reason to pay until you are wanting to sell an extensive inventory. if you have just a few items down the road you can just use paypals shopping cart buttons to sell them. you don't need a website until you've got a ton of items to sell (I've been selling online since 95 if you are wondering my experience level).

monkeybackfarm · #17 09/16/11, 08:11 AM

Thank you everyone for all the info. We have been investigating your suggestions and have a better understanding now of how everything works.