I know very little about designing or building websites (or obtaining a domain name). When trying to research all the options through a google search I was a bit overwhelmed. Plus, when I find sites that have reviews it is difficult to tell if they are “sponsored” reviews or reviews from regular users. What are some recommendations?
A site that I’ve been looking at is HostMonster.com for about .95/mo. That price appears all-inclusive with unlimited “web hosting space”. I’m not clear on whether that means monthly bandwidth or if that means storage space.
I need something something fairly easy to set up and manager, meaning I don’t need to know a lot of “techy” language. The main purpose will be set up a small photography site where I can post my portfolio of pictures for viewing and my background.
Chosen Answer:
HostMonster is a shared host. It is good for the price, they do offer unlimited everything (like most shared hosts) but if you really get a lot of traffic (like if some top blog links to you), your website will go down. But for a small photography portfolio site any well established (Hostmonster is one of them) shared host will be good enough, and it’s the cheapest way to get hosting. Most of them also include a free domain name.
The easiest way to build your website with shared hosting is to install WordPress (almost all shared hosts offer one click install of WordPress and other software) choose some portfolio theme (free or paid) and add your content.
If you’re willing to spend a bit more money (like /month) I recommend Squarespace. They are not a standard host, and for what you need they have a lot of advantages. They’re a lot easier to set up, and customize your website and they offer beautiful themes. They have different bandwidth setup so basically even if some top blog links to you, or you get a lot of visitors, your website will not go down. Some examples http://www.squarespace.com/examples/category/featured They also have a trial (and not that kind that asks for your credit card) so check them out even if you get some shared host.
P.S. It’s hard to search for objective reviews of web hosts for a couple of reasons. First, they’re pretty much all affiliate links, so they’re sponsored in a way, but not necessarily that some web host paid them to rank them in front of the competitors (although that does happen) but that pretty much all web hosts have affiliate programs, so even if someone does an objective review, or picks just a couple of recommended hosts from hundreds available, they will, of course, include affiliate links.
Second even if there were completely non-commercial review sites and you could read negative reviews from users, most of the problems users have, is because their lack of knowledge, not some objective problem with their host, and to understand what problems are caused by the users, and what are the web hosts fault, you’d have to have a lot of knowledge about hosting up front, and in that case you would already know what type of hosting would be the best for the type of website you’re planning to build.
P.P.S. So, for building the photography portfolio website, without having to go to technical I recommend Squarespace http://www.squarespace.com (direct, non-affiliate link). They are very easy to build, drastically easier than any shared host (everything is drag and drop, and drag to change) and have beautiful themes.
If you still want to get something cheaper I recommend one of these http://www.webhostingdiscounts.org (has affiliate links) probably FatCow or iPage would be the best choice (FatCow will probably have a /year offer starting Friday afternoon). Although I also have affiliate links to Hostmonster or Bluehost (owned by the same company) I haven’t included them here because those that are included are currently the better choice.
Hope this helps!
by:
on: 7th December 11
