# Best Website Provider



## lafnirvana (Mar 11, 2009)

Techguy has never let me down with other questions in other forums. So I'm coming to you again for some help.

I'm looking to set up a website. But when I went online to see which web companies were rated the best, I got vastly different opinions from one review site to another.
Thus my request for opinions from you techies.

My site would allow the customer to purchase access to text, pictures, and maybe audio. An initial free limited access would let the customer decide if they want to purchase more information from the site. The product purchased is ideas, not actual items.

I would be described as a beginner for this area of expertise. But I learn quickly and tend to find my way as long as the information isn't too technical. 

So I open it up to all of you now.


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## Grob needs help (Mar 3, 2009)

i would recommend http://www.justhost.com/ as it comes with a domain name (you will need this) it is also relativly cheap, with unlimited space and bandwidth. it would be able to cope with anything you need and from what you say you want there seems to be nothing that this host does not offer that you would need for your site.


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## Eriksrocks (Aug 7, 2005)

HostGator. I would recommend Bluehost as well but they're quality has been lacking lately so I've moved to HostGator. (Ignore my signature.)


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## colinsp (Sep 5, 2007)

I use webhostingpad.com and 3ix.org both of which work well for me.


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## lafnirvana (Mar 11, 2009)

Looks like everyone has their own individual favorites. Since they are all different, I think I'll check them out at BBB.com to see what their customers experiences have been. Thanks for your opinions.


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## colinsp (Sep 5, 2007)

Lafnirvana, The thing to remember about any of the review sites is that happy customers seldom post praise but annoyed customers always post negatives. IMHO you need to weigh the number of negatives with the numbers of customers that they have. 3IX which I use gets hammered in these reviews but I have been very happy with them and their service.


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## namenotfound (Apr 30, 2005)

I use kwikhosting, they're a bit expensive but the customer support is excellent.


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## Gigacore (Jul 19, 2007)

Try FatCow or LunarPages


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## LauraMJ (Mar 18, 2004)

I highly recommend RadioTower which is owned by the same company that has created and run this website, Tech Support Guy. Mike Cermak owns both.  I host several websites with his company and the tech support and uptime is unbeatable, IMO. 

Tech support is all USA based, no outsourcing, and all techs are highly knowledgeable.


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## lordsmurf (Apr 23, 2009)

Go look at webhostingtalk.com for unbiased reviews and information. Most of those "review sites" are shams aimed at doing nothing more than recommending hosts that give huge payouts for being recommended.

My short list would be EuroVPS, Futurehosting and a few others. 

But that's just hosting ... not a "website provider". You still need a well-made site, especially if it's for a business.

Not really sure what you're after.


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## dvk01 (Dec 14, 2002)

definitely Hostgator. I use them for a dedicated server that is mission critical & have no problems & excellent customer service & support


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## lafnirvana (Mar 11, 2009)

Lordsmurf commented that he/she was not sure exactly what kind of site I'm looking for. In case I was too vague for any of you let me try again.

I want to set up a website I will run as a business. I need the web provider site I choose to offer ready made webpages that I can fine tune for my needs. I am not a programmer. Thus ease of web business set up MUST be as non technical as possible. 

My site will offer access to web content, mostly text, for purchase. No actual physical item will be bought or sold. Think something like online traffic school or Meyers-Briggs tests. With those type of sites the customer pays for access to the online content. Although you do get a certificate with a traffic school, or a personality report with the Meyers-Briggs test, I will not offer anything like that. What I will offer is ideas and possible strategies for life. I'll also provide links to sites that a customer can check out for further ideas.

I'm assuming, maybe incorrectly, that the sites you all suggested offer access to servers as well as ready made web pages. If I am wrong please let me know. 

Thanks!


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## lordsmurf (Apr 23, 2009)

Then most everything mentioned here so far won't help you. (It was all vague hosting suggestions, some of which were terrible anyway.)

You need to hire a professional designer/developer, who can also host you, and uses an easy-to-use CMS that you can login to and change/add/remove content as needed. And from the sound of it, you need an e-commerce solution.

You could pay a service like Clickbank or e-junkie, but understand that it'll cost quite a bit to do it (more than most people will admit), and may require profit sharing, too. I suggest a hosted e-comm solution.

Ideally, you're looking at several thousand for a quality solution. Maybe $2-3k for a decent solution, which is a good price for a business e-comm site. (Send me a private message for some more suggestions on who to use. Won't discuss in public because I'll need to know more about the business, and you probably want to keep some privacy.)

You'll find people/services that promise something for just a few hundred, but it's going to be unprofessional limited crap. Just be warned.


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## lafnirvana (Mar 11, 2009)

I do appreciate your info lordsmurf. But I am definitly not financially able to go into the thousands to set up and run my site.

I did go and check out some reviews of e commerce products.

I found ratings by CNET-http://reviews.cnet.com/Ecommerce_hosting/7026-6543_7-0.html?tag=centerColumnArea1.0

and toptenreveiws-http://ecommerce-software-review.toptenreviews.com/

The pricing of the products from those two lists is financially do able. Of course I'd have to do a lot of research to find exactly what would be best for my needs. I knew attempting this would not be easy. There are so many things to take into consideration.

Can any of you recommend a good web site or a good book I could use as a source to determine what to look for and how to choose the appropriate products for my e commerce needs?

As always, thanks!


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## lordsmurf (Apr 23, 2009)

TopTenReviews only "reviews" things that pay commissions -- a worthless read.
The other CNET link is monthly hosting costs.


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## lafnirvana (Mar 11, 2009)

That info is very helpful lordsmurf. I have a few other questions I'm hoping you or others can answer.

1) Can you take a pre made website (tweeking it to your needs) from a site that offers ready made websites, and use it with the hosting options in the CNET list. (I'm assuming you pay for the use of the pre made website you choose to use)

2) Or are ready made websites usually tied to using that company's hosting services?

3) And would it even make sense to use one of the web hosting companies on the CNET list? Or is that list more for people who create their own websites and then need to choose a hosting site?

I know that's quite a few questions. But like I said way back at the beginning of this post I'm all new to this.


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## lordsmurf (Apr 23, 2009)

1. No. E-comm is harder than that. Most e-comm CMS must be installed. There is database work, plus server scripting needs to consider.

2. No. You really have two options: (1) Use a service, canned website, pay monthly fees, maybe profit share. (2) Have a site made for you (make your own if good with server/CMS/etc), pay for hosting. Third "option" (not a real option) is some hokey 1-page-at-a-time low-quality site, using some program. You'll hate it after a short while, customers won't much care for it either. Only good if you sell like 5 things or less. It's very manual, too -- no automation here (meaning you'll have to email downloads, there's no automatic instant download).

3. No. For hosting, you're best off researching at webhostingtalk.com, by interacting with hosts + users. Seek out some quality suggestions on hosts, don't refer to a list of links of companies that simply pay big bucks to CNET. That so-called "review" list didn't even review anything. These days, it's all about quantity of "content" (any old POS typed junk by any random person online) rather than well-researched authoritative articles overseen by journalism-educated editors.


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## Eriksrocks (Aug 7, 2005)

Hire a web developer that specializes in e-commerce. E-commerce is not simple simply due to the security concerns involved with transferring money over the internet. You have to have an SSL certificate, appropriate e-commerce product, be PCI compliant, etc. (this is assuming you host your own solution).

You could go with a completely hosted e-commerce solution that deals with all of the backend for you, but you'll probably still need help.

Unfortunately you're way in over your head here.  If you want to do this by yourself you're going to have to sit down and learn a lot of stuff.


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## Archanfelx3 (May 23, 2010)

I like http://www.hostgator.com.


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## AOGD (May 25, 2010)

I love godaddy and hostgator, but I'm technically savvy enough to give you the recommendation, but I feel its important to at least pass along the information that I got from my web marketing guy. He likes it....so I guess I do to, lol.


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## wwe9112 (May 4, 2008)

Wrzhost.com you can use nulled software on it... its fast, great support, great staff, i have used them for several years no problem.


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## dvk01 (Dec 14, 2002)

wwe9112 said:


> Wrzhost.com you can use nulled software on it... its fast, great support, great staff, i have used them for several years no problem.


What do you mean by "nulled" software

generally that refers to hacked software to remove limitations or copyright notices and can introduce major security problems

Recommending a site that allows or condones illegal acts or piracy isn't a good idea

please confirm what you mean


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## wwe9112 (May 4, 2008)

They don't condone it; just where their servers are you wont get into trouble. I for one don't support that part of them nor do I follow that of them.. I was just saying like if he wanted to try out like a vbulletin before he bought it(and not going live) then he wouldn't get into trouble. I didn't mean for that to sound like I support that. I support that the fact they are cheap and have fast servers and great support but their severs are in like hong kong and neverlands and that sort of thing. I should have just said that the servers are located there instead of saying nulled. I apologize.


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