Portfolio website advice for a beginner - Freelance UK Forums

Creative Mischief · 07-01-2008, 04:22 PM

Hello,

I am a freelance Graphic Designer who desperately needs to get my portfolio up onto a website. I'm am able to design it and make it look pretty etc but the thing is I don't really know where to start with the technical side of things.

I bought my domain name last year with UKreg/Fasthosts but I have no idea who I should buy my hosting with. I've read so many bad reviews on Fasthosts and I don't seem to be able to find a company who has good reviews and cheap hosting. I've been recommended Daily.co.uk and 1&1 by friends but they seem to have bad reviews too. I'm so confused and just don't know who to go with or what I need.

Any advice would be much appreciated!

Thank you,

Creative Mischief

DawnDesigns · 07-18-2008, 05:58 PM

I am with hostingzoom.com - they are based in America, but don't let that put you off, they are a very good hosting company, they charge very little for a sizable amount of space and bandwith. They are quick to respond to email enquiries, in the time I have been with them (2 years) they have had downtime just once, and it was only for 20 minutes.

The same company also runs resellerzoom.com - which is the package I use, as I host other websites. Ideal if you want to host your clients websites.

Hope that's helfpul

SurreyWeb · 07-23-2008, 08:52 PM

Hi

You might want to avoid hosting overseas, if you have any interest in your website featuring well in UK search engine indexes. A non specific domain, such as .com, hosted overseas is regarded as relevant to that country. Even an alternative such as .co.uk will not fare as well as if on a UK server. Google do offer a geographical location option through Webmaster Tools but once again, this is not as effective as the best approach. Saving a few pounds on overseas hosting is not worthwhile.

As to which host to use, most offering shared hosting are not wonderful and I agree that Fasthosts are not a great choice. You might try Heart Internet, fairly reliable, although like all shared hosts, not perfect. Their help desk does at least reply quite quickly, although if the question is fairly technical, don't expect the right answer.

A final point, whichever host you choose, avoid their WYSIWYG web builders. Take the time to learn how to build a standards compliant website, preferably in XHTML and CSS. This may look daunting but isn't too bad, you only need to know as much as your site requires at first. Then you will have a website of real use to you, your visitors and search engines. Taking the easier options eventually leads to too many brick walls and you end up having to use a better approach anyway.

Knigh7 · 07-26-2008, 12:48 PM

i would go with hostgator they are pretty good, and i have heard some good reviews about them.

if you needs some pointers, let me know and i'll be more than happy to point you to the right direction.

ahmad AT odada.com

Faizan · 08-01-2008, 07:08 PM

I'm a very happy customer of Site5.com

freshinkdesign · 08-07-2008, 01:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Creative Mischief

Hello,

I am a freelance Graphic Designer who desperately needs to get my portfolio up onto a website. I'm am able to design it and make it look pretty etc but the thing is I don't really know where to start with the technical side of things.

I bought my domain name last year with UKreg/Fasthosts but I have no idea who I should buy my hosting with. I've read so many bad reviews on Fasthosts and I don't seem to be able to find a company who has good reviews and cheap hosting. I've been recommended Daily.co.uk and 1&1 by friends but they seem to have bad reviews too. I'm so confused and just don't know who to go with or what I need.

Any advice would be much appreciated!

Thank you,

Creative Mischief

im just starting out myself and registered with 123.reg. mistake number 1. having problems with f.t.p. uploading my own site instead of one of their templates

Opus · 08-07-2008, 10:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by freshinkdesign

im just starting out myself and registered with 123.reg. mistake number 1. having problems with f.t.p. uploading my own site instead of one of their templates

Although my own site is still not up and running I've had involvement in other sites with 123.reg and know two or three other designers/web developers who have used them for their own and clients' sites - never heard of any other problems like this and have only heard good things about the company. Not saying you haven't had problems but think it's wrong to say this is by any means typical

07-01-2008, 04:22 PM	#1 (permalink)
Creative Mischief New Poster Join Date: Jul 2008 Posts: 1	Portfolio website advice for a beginner Hello, I am a freelance Graphic Designer who desperately needs to get my portfolio up onto a website. I'm am able to design it and make it look pretty etc but the thing is I don't really know where to start with the technical side of things. I bought my domain name last year with UKreg/Fasthosts but I have no idea who I should buy my hosting with. I've read so many bad reviews on Fasthosts and I don't seem to be able to find a company who has good reviews and cheap hosting. I've been recommended Daily.co.uk and 1&1 by friends but they seem to have bad reviews too. I'm so confused and just don't know who to go with or what I need. Any advice would be much appreciated! Thank you, Creative Mischief

07-18-2008, 05:58 PM	#2 (permalink)
DawnDesigns New Poster Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Leeds Posts: 3	I am with hostingzoom.com - they are based in America, but don't let that put you off, they are a very good hosting company, they charge very little for a sizable amount of space and bandwith. They are quick to respond to email enquiries, in the time I have been with them (2 years) they have had downtime just once, and it was only for 20 minutes. The same company also runs resellerzoom.com - which is the package I use, as I host other websites. Ideal if you want to host your clients websites. Hope that's helfpul __________________ Dawn Casserly \| Freelance Graphic Designer \| Leeds, West Yorkshire

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07-23-2008, 08:52 PM	#3 (permalink)
SurreyWeb Regular Poster Join Date: Jul 2008 Posts: 26	Hi You might want to avoid hosting overseas, if you have any interest in your website featuring well in UK search engine indexes. A non specific domain, such as .com, hosted overseas is regarded as relevant to that country. Even an alternative such as .co.uk will not fare as well as if on a UK server. Google do offer a geographical location option through Webmaster Tools but once again, this is not as effective as the best approach. Saving a few pounds on overseas hosting is not worthwhile. As to which host to use, most offering shared hosting are not wonderful and I agree that Fasthosts are not a great choice. You might try Heart Internet, fairly reliable, although like all shared hosts, not perfect. Their help desk does at least reply quite quickly, although if the question is fairly technical, don't expect the right answer. A final point, whichever host you choose, avoid their WYSIWYG web builders. Take the time to learn how to build a standards compliant website, preferably in XHTML and CSS. This may look daunting but isn't too bad, you only need to know as much as your site requires at first. Then you will have a website of real use to you, your visitors and search engines. Taking the easier options eventually leads to too many brick walls and you end up having to use a better approach anyway.

07-26-2008, 12:48 PM	#4 (permalink)
Knigh7 Regular Poster Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: London Posts: 18	i would go with hostgator they are pretty good, and i have heard some good reviews about them. if you needs some pointers, let me know and i'll be more than happy to point you to the right direction. ahmad AT odada.com

08-01-2008, 07:08 PM	#5 (permalink)
Faizan Regular Poster Join Date: May 2007 Posts: 28	I'm a very happy customer of Site5.com