Some development advice needed....thanks

[gilescoley]

Hi all

I am new to the dev side of namepros. I am not a developer, but I am teaching myself the basics and its what I want to do in the long run, just build my own sites that will be my permanent projects and ideally I want to make a living from it. I run my own IT business here in Perth, Australia, but I really have a desire and passion for being creative and web design is something I have always been interested in my never got the chance to throw myself into properly. NowI have the time to do this.


I have come over to get some advice on what my best options would be.

I am planning on developing one of the names in my signature (UAE - United Arab Emirates..Dubai, Abu Dhabi etc) and I want to do it properly and eventually have a great looking site(s) up. I want a site that will ideally look good but will make me money as well, I understand it wont all happen at once and I am willing to put in the work and $$ to make it successful. I have the patience to be in it for the long haul.


Can I please have some ideas on the following

1) Web hosting, best place?? Value for money, what do you guys use??
2) Which name would be my best (I have a poll here for this as well - http://www.namepros.com/618959-which-is-the-best-domain-develop-2.html#post363
3) Should I give it a go myself or get someone who knows what they are doing
4) Any suggestions on developers to use?
5) What sort of budget would I need to get it done properly??
6) Using Banners?? Adsense??


Most of you here may see this type of thread all the time, but I am serious about it, so please just humor me with some advice and constructive criticism.

Any advice or online resources for a aspiring developer would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance everyone.

Giles

 

[gilescoley]

Any advice guys/gals, even if its just a one-worder, like telling me good affordable hosting or which name should be developed

Thanks

 

[gilescoley]

Just some good hosting options then??

What should I use??....Joomla...Wordpress.....??

Is there anyone out there??

 

[DaSerpent]

Well I use Magmahost.com . It is cheap and good . I am very satisfied with them .
If you are just starting out then You should consider using WordPress as it is pretty easy to handle .

I offer WordPress services . I build minisites for just $20/page . So , it is a great deal to get your dead domain a go and have a lot of traffic flowing in.

PM me for more details .

 

[mwzd]

1) Web hosting, best place?? Value for money, what do you guys use??

--> this would depend on the kind of hosting you're looking for but go with someone who has been around for a bit and not a 'new' unproven company.

Typically, a reseller account should suffice, with cpanel or plesk, depending on your comfort level w/ either.

We use our own solutions, hit me up if you need bulletproof hosting.

2) Which name would be my best (I have a poll here for this as well - http://www.namepros.com/618959-which...2.html#post363

--> The link redirects to a post made in 2003, might want to update it. From the domains in your sig, I'd recommend resorts followed by golf.

3) Should I give it a go myself or get someone who knows what they are doing

--> Pro developers aren't cheap, so if you're looking to save bucks, diy, but if you're looking for fast turnarounds, going w/ someone who knows what they're doing saves you money in places you wouldn't even know it would cost you till you get there.

Again, we can offer pro web solutions, including hosting, if thats the way you're planning to go.

4) Any suggestions on developers to use?

--> Very few companies have the complete package required for a professional website on offer. Work w/ someone who knows what they're doing is all I can say. And that includes yourself, if thats the way you're going.

5) What sort of budget would I need to get it done properly??

--> Websites cost between $200 and $20,000 - depending on what exactly it is you need and what you hope to earn / achieve with said sites. Most startup solutions should cost you $700-$1000 or thereabouts. Content, SEO and Traffic are the most expensive components after the website is developed.

6) Using Banners?? Adsense??

--> Adsense will probably take forever for you to break even, unless you can get viral word of mouth going and the site completely takes off. Its not a complete revenue solution in itself, just one of the many you should employ.

Building a website is like building a business, the web is just the preferred medium for communication and is just the means, not the end.

 

[gilescoley]

Thanks for all the great info Samit, I really appreciate it


I clicked the link in my original post and it went to the correct thread " Which is the best domain to develop??"

I tried your link further down and it didnt ...not sure why???

Anyway, I will have a good read of what you are saying and do some research and then see where I go from here

Rep added

 

[Lithium]

3) Should I give it a go myself or get someone who knows what they are doing

If you want to make money by pumping out a bunch of developed sites, it's worth the money for a developer who knows what he's doing. At the same time, make sure he knows what he's doing, and not just a smooth talker. Don't necessarily go with the cheapest quote or the quickest turn-around, find someone who has excellent communication skills and understands your visions.

If you decide to do it yourself, realize what this encompasses. Launching a website is a bigger deal than it seems, provided you're looking to make money off of it. I would recommend working in a team no smaller than 3 people to launch anything larger than a minisite. The reasoning? This way you can have one person who can code, one person to design a nice interface to make that code have appeal, and one person getting the site promoted and populated. Like Samit said, the worst part is actually getting your name out there after the website is birthed.

 

[gilescoley]

Thanks Lithium, it all sounds so hard lol

I will have to do a fair bit of research first to decide what to do??

 

[gilescoley]

Welcome to NP, maybe start your own thread if you need some advice lol

 

[Mr Spy]

Hey Giles.

If you're new to development I would definitely recommend paying others that are skilled to do the design work for your projects. *Looking good* is a feat that will take a long time to develop, years really. At the end of the day if you shop around a bit there's enough freelancers that desperate for work these days (I may happen to be one of them XD) you can get some pretty nice designs done for pretty cheap.

 

[gilescoley]

Thanks Mr Spy, have you got a portfolio of your work I can have a look at? I am interested in getting one done asap.

PM me if you want??

 

[christo]

hi well use Magmahost.com because it is awesome and very cheap too .plenty of features too .
If you are just starting out then You should consider using WordPress as it is pretty easy to handle them .

 

[gilescoley]

Thanks Christo

I will certainly try wordpress

 

[nucleotide]

How is magmahost rated in the UAE?

I would research the top web hosting companies operating in the UAE with the ebst speed and service.

Since that is your niche you'll probably want a hosting company with redundancy there.

 

[NetOctave]

I am new to the dev side of namepros. I am not a developer, but I am teaching myself the basics

>> Welcome to the development side.

1) Web hosting, best place?? Value for money, what do you guys use??
>> Since you are just starting, I recommend you go for something really cheap. Even the free hosting would do. NP hosting offer section sometimes have free hosting offers. Once you get a grip on the things, you can look for value for money and other best hosting places. Shared hosting should be good for a start.

3) Should I give it a go myself or get someone who knows what they are doing
>> Depends on what you want to learn. If you want to learn web development, then you should not be hiring anyone. If you only want to Earn and not learn, then hire someone. They do the work, you can sit and manage the show.

I started off just like you. Zero knowledge on web development or server management. I started with geocities. I didn't know even html then. Later did small edits to the html files, themes etc. Then moved to some free hosts that supported php and then learned php on the move. I then moved to paid shared hosting.... then to vps and now runs my dedicated server.

Now I run a dozen drupal sites on a dedicated server and 2 VPSs.

I would say, if you want to learn. Don't hire anyone.
:imho:

 

[gilescoley]

Hi nucleotide, I think magmahost is based in the


Thanks for the great advice nmridul, I think I will be teaching myself for the next few months and if its gets to a stage where I am not getting my head around it all and I really want the sites up, I will look at bringing someone on-board to run with it.

Thanks again

 

[copper]

If you are NOT a complete Noob, I recommend you try it yourself first even if you want to hire someone.
It will save you lots of time and money if you know what you are talking about even when hiring someone.

Content and SEO will cost you most eventually.
So, it make sense for you to study at least basics about it.

If you are planning to update the site constantly, you should look at CMS such as wordpress or joomla.
Mostly, I use joomla because I have more control.

I started working on one of my domain, SillyTimes.com about one week ago.
It took me about one week to get to what it is today.

I had it password protected until last night

As for hosting...
I am using Hostgator for some of my sites and have no problem so far.

It cost just $7.95/mth with...

UNLIMITED Domains
UNLIMITED Disk Space
UNLIMITED Bandwidth
Shared SSL Certificate