Help with Website

[Dekstar]

Ok here's the low down:
A couple of friends just approached me as the techie around these parts, and asked me to make and maintain a website for them. This would include domain registration, hosting, website creation, etc.

My first question: Does anyone have any tips about the subject? I've had a look around and the site www.ukreg.co.uk seems to have a pretty good deal, but that only includes domain name registration, whereas a company called 1&1 seems to have a good setup that includes domain registration and some 'handy' tools:
www.1and1.co.uk

I asked them what kind of site it was, and they said a business, so I looked at the business options and they seemed pretty cheap (well within the boy's price plans):
http://order.1and1.co.uk/xml/order/...547EEBED00D0D8.TC32a?__frame=_top&__lf=Static

So my second question: Are there better companies? I haven't yet asked them what kind of traffic they're looking at, but I can't imagine it beginning with an inordinately high amount. They do however want a flashy website, so I'd need to learn flash for that kinda thing too (I have a basic understanding).



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If any of you have opinions on hosts then I'd be happy to know about them, or if you have a complaint I'd like to know too.
I'd also like any tips you have on running a business like this. I have never done it before so it'd be good to know.
Oh and we're looking for a .co.uk domain at the moment.

 

[Rapstah]

www.freewebs.com

Enjoy.

 

[Munro]

I always buy from http://www.hostingmatters.com/. It's an American host but as long as you have a credit card you won't have a problem buying from them. You get a lot more with this american host and tons of bandwidth for a cheaper price. The support is also second to none.

I also recommend ukreg.co.uk for domain purchases. You just need to change the name servers in the control panel for your webhost.

 

[Dekstar]

Thanks Munro I'll look into it. But could you explain a bit about the webhost thing? Or direct me somewhere that'd tell me. Unless it just means I change the thing to point to 'hosting matters inc' as my webhost.

EDIT: do they support ftp access to upload sites?

 

[Link]

Setting domains up is fairly straightforward
Go to the hosts control panel and look for the "nameservers"

Go to the domain sellers control panel and find the form that lets you enter the nameservers. Their will usually be space for 4 nameservers, but most hosts only provide 2. Don't worry, just fill in however many fields in the form and leave any spare ones blank

Then go back to your hosts control panel, and in the domains section, tell it what domain(s) you are pointing to it.

Wait 24-48 hours and your domains(s) should now be pointing at your webspace.

And I doubt there is any paid for hosting out there that dosen't support FTP. Some of the free ones don't mind you.

 

[Dekstar]

Thanks Link that's a lot of help, I think I get it now.

 

[Ennui]

Godaddy.com isn't bad either.

 

[Vegeta897]

I use 1&1 and it's great.

 

[Dekstar]

Veggy what are their inbuilt facilities like? Would they be good for someone who, say, wanted to make a website look nifty for a while until he sorts out a proper design?
Also what's that google sitemaps thing about?