So I learned web design in high school and can make a basic website now but our teacher told us something about after designing your website you have to find a host or something and then pay fees to have them host your website. He never told us the specifics or anything so I have no idea what to do. Currently, my dad wants to create a website for his business and would like me to help him do so. He wants a basic website that looks appealing and informs viewers of what he does. I can do most of these things, but I don’t really know which website host is most suitable for me. I’ve seen a lot of people on NU use wordpress for their translations, but I don’t like how wordpress is in their site name. If you guys understand these kinds of these, please recommend me website hosts for a small business in the United States.
I use https://webhost.pro (for my own purposes). Years ago when I was more into experimenting with building websites, I got a reseller's account so I could have multiple domains. My enthusiasm has since waned, but I'm still paying for it since it's not that much. As for a basic account for a single domain, I've never tried it, but the cost seems neglible (to me).
If it's just static content {html, css, js}, then use github-pages free hosting. Then buy a domain. If you've got some dynamic elements like a database, web application, e-commerce with payments. You should compare some of the trusted vps or cloud hosting providers like AWS, digital ocean, cloud flare...etc.
When you're looking for a web host, you need to consider your future. There are quite a few "free" hosting providers, but they all come with some kind of catch. Over the years, I've found that a decent "shared" plan on a host that uses a cloud computing model provides the best uptime and performance for private and even small business needs. From that, you need to look at pricing as well as future growth. For me, I found Webfaction to provide all of that with minimal sacrifices. They have quite a decent knowledgebase for common questions, as well as a pretty nifty way they offer their services to cater to different programing languages. That's for more advanced users, though. For most, their pre-install scripts for common Wordpress installations will cover most people's needs for getting a website up quickly.
I use HostGator, but you need to watch the deals carefully as some of them are amazing for 3 years of hosting. That said, what you'll get is going to be way above your skill level. It's not just creating a site here, you also need to know/learn how to manage the back end too.
Digital Ocean. Or, you can try something like Microsoft Azure. Both are cheap, and their lowest paid offering should still be enough for a small family business.
Do you have a domain name? Go with a hosting that provides wordpress, will save you the hassle of your dad needing to call you to just change 1 word or the like. Wordpress has generally been the go to for small businesses who don't need anything advanced.
Try Pair Networks www.pair.com It isn't the cheapest, but there are a lot of options and great customer support, making it one of the best values for your money.
Ai-chan shall explain the basics for you, giving examples in architecture and construction. When you learn web design in high school, you are basically learning architecture. As an architect, you need to have a customer (your dad). Once you've got a customer, you have to design the building (website). However, this is only designing, you don't have the site (webhost) nor the contractors (web programmers) yet. So you find and buy a site (webhosting), then you hire the contractors (programmers) to build the building (website and webpage). Buy you still can't use the site, because you don't have an address (domain). Sometimes, when you buy a webhosting space, they also give you an address (such as wordpress.com/business), but most often you have to purchase your own address. If the webhost doesn't give you an address for free, you will usually have to buy the address first before you can buy the webhost. Your address (domain) is something like www.business.com . You need to have this before you can purchase webhosting. The sites that you see has wordpress in their name use the free wordpress. Since you want to buy a webhost, this is not going to be your problem. What you want to look for are compilers such as Softaculous that provides easy installation of wordpress without you having to also build the backend stuff such as database and whatnots. If the webhost has Softaculous, they will say it because it's a important service that differentiates between easy to setup and impossible to setup for newbies. Another thing, when faced with the question of Windows Server or Linux Server and you don't know anything about either, take the Linux Server. You probably think that since you've been using Windows OS your whole life Windows Server would be easier to manage, but that's completely wrong. Windows OS and Windows Server is nothing alike. Your experience with Windows OS gives you no advantage with Windows Server.
@SerialBeggar @sh1457 @Alvastar @justmehere @TamaSaga @Truerror @lnv @psyque @Ai chan Thank you everyone for your help. I finally got my website up and running! I would like to invite you guys to take a look at my hard work but as it has a lot of private information about my dad’s business and will give away too much info about my identity, I will not be able to do so. But thank you all for the help!
Hello, You can try out Web Werks Web hosting. They offer best and affordable hosting services in India and the USA.
If it is really a small business then did you try Google Sites? Covers the basics, is user friendly, mobile version is built-in, works along Drive and most importantly is 100% FREE. There's also the option to upgrade your service but that comes with subscriptions.
It’s not me that’s starting a business. It’s a small business that my dad has been running for years even before I was born. However, he’s the type to be behind the times in terms of technology and has always used the newspaper and magainzes to advertise his website. But seeing how many of his local competitors, he decided to get me to design him a website as well. Of course I couldn’t make one as good as the professionals the other businesses hired that looks all fancy and stuff, but I still think I did pretty good for my first time. As for more details, I’m not going to include any since I don’t want too much private info to be spread.