Im Confused

[vaudieuk]

Hi, im new to this site and am ok when it comes to the small things but I'm getting a bit out of my depth and need some help.

I want to set up my own small business site selling Wedding Invitations, but I don't know who to go with. I want to set it up myself, I don't want it designed for me, but I want them to do all the technical stuff. I also want paypal and to be on search engines like google and yahoo.

I have been looking at Homestead and have the prices but I want to know if I can get it for cheaper.

Dont even know if i'm posting on relevant bit but hope I am.

Thank you

Vaudie

 

[Audrey]

I don't really think you might need dedicated for your online store, shared account will do.

 

[tanka]

I also think that shared web hosting suits you well.

 

[Daeva]

Where you host your site and how you host, depends on what you want to do with your business. If you want to give users the ability to log in, and have shopping carts, etc... you will need hosting that gives you a server side language(php, asp, asp.net, Coldfusion, ruby, JSP, etc...)
If you just want to keep it simple(for the most part) and just have static pages with links to paypal(this will be by far the cheapest route), then you'll find that hosting prices are relatively the same. As long as it isn't too expensive for your budget, I would find all of the web hosting companies that satisfy your needs first, then look at price. After all, if you don't have a problem with $7.95/month, then why would you look for something cheaper?
As far as the search engines go, thats something that you have to do yourself(but I can help if you want). Getting listed with search engines happens 1 of 2 ways:
1.) You pay nothing, and you work hard to fight to the top of their list
2.) You pay them, and you still have to fight to get to the top of the list, but you don't have to fight as hard.
some hosting companies:
http://www.godaddy.com <-- very popular
http://www.doteasy.com <-- probably one of the cheapest
http://www.networksolutions.com <-- big hosting company
http://www.freeservers.com <-- very user friendly
http://www.crystaltech.com <-- my favorite
http://www.1and1.com <-- pc magazine pick
Hope that helps.
Also, if you were thinking of homestead because of their sales pitch about getting you listed on all these sites, keep in mind that it's not free, in fact it can be as little as 24.9 a month, and as much as 269.99 a month. Google has advertising programs that are far cheaper, and easier to implement.
P.M. me if you want help with search engine optimization or advertising with search engines.

 

[HQHost.net]

I guess that shared account will fully suit you.

 

[askold]

You may start from a shared hosting and then change it for a bigger one.

 

[go-go]

You've been given a valuable piece of advice by Daeva, but before thinking about se promotion, get a designer who will buid the site with seo in mind.

 

[i_olayy]

... get a designer who will buid the site with seo in mind.

How can a designer build a site with SEO? Can you explain it?

 

[tanka]

How can a designer build a site with SEO? Can you explain it?

If it's possible it would be great.

 

[go-go]

I'm afraid it's rather difficult to expain within one post, if you are really interested, I recommend you to read this http://www.computertrainingschools.com/design-training/info/web-design-seo.html.
Basically, web design with seo in mind is about making your site as user- and se-friendly as possible, it's about choosing the best keyword density, using or not using flash, working on your logo, site maps, improving your loading speed.