February 9th, 2012 
HostPapa I am trying to research how to create a website – I just want to know what hosting site I should use – from what I hear, HostMonster, BlueHost, and JustHost have good reviews, but I’m not sure if they are legitimate reviews or paid reviews by the sites. I heard about HostGator through Y!Answers, and looked at that…I tried their demo “sitebuilder” but it just makes a plain looking site and I wasn’t able to make the site look the way I wanted it to. Anyway the purpose of my site would be for a small business – I’m a piano teacher, so I would want a site with several pages (about me page, about the lessons/rates/policies, a page of references to other sites, etc.) – I also would like to have a page with documents that my students can download and print off (worksheets), also a calendar of events or calendar of my availability, and a page for media (audio and video…probably Youtube videos, and somehow have an audio player). A contact page (where they can fill in a contact form that will be forwarded to my email) would be great.
I don’t think I can do all of this with HostGator, since I want audio/videos, and able to upload/download documents (PDF’s). What hosting site works well for what I want? Also, is the hosting site able to give me a tool to make the website…I’m confused on whether the hosting site is JUST a place for my site to “live on” or if they provide templates and an application for you to make your site (or do you have to download that separately?)?
I hope I asked my question in a clear way – basically what hosting site works well for me, and what are the steps to creating a site? Do I have to learn codes and all that or can I get a decent free program to create a site (and not a plain site – a nice one with links to other pages and audio/video)? Also, I see that some of these hosting sites give you ad credits for google or other sites…how important is that…how does that help me (will it provide ad banners of my website to those sites, or does that mean my webpage will appear first when someone looks up music lessons in my area on google.com?). My domain name will just be my full name – how will people find my site if they search “piano lessons in -blahblah, USA”? Do I write “tags” for my website that will make it appear during those websearchs since no one will know my full name?
THANKS for reading all that!
Chosen Answer:
Good question, well written. A rarity here.
There are thousands of Hosts and I’m sure many are very good, but any Host that’s been around for a while will work for you.
I use GoDAddy and A Plus Net, and they have never failed me. Their prices are competitive.
Your requirements are very simple.
Easy parts: Use a shared Google calendar. You can link to it from your site or share it directly.
Get a YouTube account and upload your videos. Again, link or share.
For downloading docs, just upload them and give a description with a link.
You could probably use a template for your site, and there are thousands of free ones. Just change the text and colors and add a few images and links.
Look through here for examples:
http://www.freewebsitetemplates.com/
If you’re serious about wanting to learn how, see here:
http://www.w3schools.com/
You’ll find that an HTML editor makes the process easier.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_HTML_editors (I use HTML-Kit)
Feel free to email me if you want more info or help.
Good luck. This can be a fun and rewarding process.
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on: 15th October 11
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In a nutshell, the hosting is just a place where your site lives. From your requirement, I’d suggest you to use Google Sites, which comes with Google Apps. Its free and you get a lot of tools there, including document attachment and so forth. If you’re looking for a more professional custom solution you just might involve a contractor (web desinger / developer). Don’t think that its a big job. You can PM me, I might give you a hand.
You will not be able to use a site builder to build all of this. The moment you get into allowing users to log on you have to understand databases and scripting languages. Also you will need to study these carefully, one wrong script or data table can let the whole world onto the site. It can then end up serving child porn or bank phishing scams for a hacker, who could easily also lock you out of the site.
Good question, well written. A rarity here.
There are thousands of Hosts and I’m sure many are very good, but any Host that’s been around for a while will work for you.
I use GoDAddy and A Plus Net, and they have never failed me. Their prices are competitive.
Your requirements are very simple.
Easy parts: Use a shared Google calendar. You can link to it from your site or share it directly.
Get a YouTube account and upload your videos. Again, link or share.
For downloading docs, just upload them and give a description with a link.
You could probably use a template for your site, and there are thousands of free ones. Just change the text and colors and add a few images and links.
Look through here for examples:
http://www.freewebsitetemplates.com/
If you’re serious about wanting to learn how, see here:
http://www.w3schools.com/
You’ll find that an HTML editor makes the process easier.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_HTML_editors (I use HTML-Kit)
Feel free to email me if you want more info or help.
Good luck. This can be a fun and rewarding process.
My suggest try to learn html first if you want make web.
If you want web with page audio/videos, and able to upload/download documents I think is nothing problem with hosting the problem is you must learn how to make web if you want web you can make with Content management system (CMS), in hosting you can install CMS for you web.
there is lot software CMS in hosting like wordpress, joomla, drupal, and many moore.
If you choose wordpress you can join forum2 about wordpres, ask in there how do you want for your web.
And if you not want to use CMS you can make web with software Microsoft office Front Page and Macromedia Dreamweaver.
You can use joomla platforms in building your website. Joomla has lots of themes, templates and exntesions/plugins you can choose from. Including download/upload file and audio player extensions. You can search lots of specific joomla extensions and install it on your website. Joomla can be easily installed using auto-installer like Fantastico so that you won’t have any problems regarding the installation. I also used Hostgator for my websites and they host them well-both my joomla and wordpress sites. They also have fantastico installer and thousand of website templates to choose from.
The first website I ever created was hosted through Fatcow.com and I built the content (what shows up on the actual website) with their free website template builder. I had very little web design experience and the site worked just fine for a very entry level website. If you really want all the features you mentioned, a basic template website like this will not cut it. You can add photo’s, texts, videos, and even a contact form without too much trouble, but having things like a live calendar and downloadable sheet music is probably more than you’re willing to learn how to do yourself. Then there is also the issue of getting found online (SEO) which is an even bigger project.
I would recommend that you decide what functionality is essential to you and also what it is worth to have those extra features so that you can price out the work to website developers. If one of your main goals is to get found online, I highly recommend you talk to a local internet marketer about your website BEFORE you design it, because you can save time and money by incorporating SEO with your website’s development and they often will offer a discounted package to do both.
http://hostends.com is pretty good and cheap
I recommend Squarespace http://www.squarespace.com/
They’re not a standard web host. They have a lot nicer web builder than standard web hosts, which lets you easily (just by drag and drop) design much prettier websites.
They are more expensive than standard web hosts (prices start from $12/month) but it’s worth it.
They have a free trial so you can check them out.
The ad credits you mention will let you place some paid advertising on google. Honestly, it’s just like at the casino: Your free advertising budget will be burnt before you know how to do it properly. It’s not worth the trouble.
TIP: Get a domain like piano-lessons-washington.com – This is much better than one with your full name. Place a few links to it after you created your website and people will find you.
Personally, I would recommend you check out E2 web hosting. They offer great hosting for a very affordable price. They have experienced support staff and I’m sure they will hold your hand if you need help getting your website online.
You get a site builder and you can install most of the popular website scripts with one single click. Install for example Concrete5 and you will create a nice looking website in only a few minutes.
Here’s a link to check them out: http://www.unlimband.com/webhost/e2.php
I host most of my sites with them and I’m very satisfied with their service.
Hope this helps.
check out my website http://www.howawebsite.co.uk, its a basic guide to creating a website. I use Godaddy and I’ve found them to be excellent, their customer service and support has been superb! You will find some tips on promoting and monetizing your website here too.