Webhost recommendations (Domain, Site and Email wanted)

valve90210 · 20 Sep 2024 at 18:10

I'm in the process of setting up a private practice and want to sort myself out a domain, email service and a small basically static webpage...ideally for as little cost as possible.

I currently have one domain, which I use for personal stuff, registered through 123reg, so I was considering using them for the domain name. They also do web hosting and email but I've no experience of what they are like for that.

Anyone got any recommendations of good hosts? I remember back in the day TSOHost and Vidahost were normally the ones people recommended but I'm guessing this might be very out of date now.

Oh and I should probably add that I'd quite like something that makes it reasonably simple to build a nice looking website but have sort of ruled out Squarespace and Wix as they don't include email and they are a touch pricy...

Mr Jack · 20 Sep 2024 at 18:16

I like Maxer. TSOHost have gone to the absolute dogs, avoid.

Poolybit · 20 Sep 2024 at 18:26

I split out my website hosting (namecheap) and my hosting to Zume (formally GNUHost) after TSOHost went absolutely terrible, no problems so far after a couple of years. No idea on the website templating stuff but they do have a load of CPanel plugin stuff to aid in the administration.

Cromulent · 20 Sep 2024 at 18:30

Domain names: Porkbun or Cloudflare
Hosting: Linode or Digital Ocean (assuming you want standard hosting features such as Wordpress support for instance) - Cloudflare if you use a static site generator - Cloudflare is free for static sites.

On Holiday · 27 Sep 2024 at 12:03

Poolybit said:
I split out my website hosting (namecheap) and my hosting to Zume (formally GNUHost) after TSOHost went absolutely terrible, no problems so far after a couple of years. No idea on the website templating stuff but they do have a load of CPanel plugin stuff to aid in the administration.

+1 for Zume, very solid provider.

radderfire · 27 Sep 2024 at 12:27

Clook is a good host for linux hosting.

Catalyst2 is a good host for Windows hosting.

I'm not sure if either have a web builder product though.

visibleman · 27 Sep 2024 at 16:12

valve90210 said:
Oh and I should probably add that I'd quite like something that makes it reasonably simple to build a nice looking website but have sort of ruled out Squarespace and Wix as they don't include email and they are a touch pricy...

They're about you're only real options for WYSIWYG type editors where the results can look fairly impressive. Otherwise it's going to be a learning curve using a CMS like Wordpress/Drupal or a static site 'generator' and trying to get something that looks fairly decent (and arguably secure).

And if it's for business use, then i would strongly recommend stumping up for Microsoft 365 (~£4.70p/m for 'Business Basic' plan) or Google Workspace for your emails. 'Pop' mailboxes for business is a pain, especially from storage (typically it's shared with your hosting package ) and security POV and you lack a lot of features proper business email services offer.

Second Porkbun (best to use a currency fee free card to pay in USD) or Cloudflare (can work out the cheapest for a lot of TLD's) for domain names; use both and have zero problems with either of them.

Zaphan58 · 1 Oct 2024 at 16:40

I used TSO years ago, they were good at one time but presumably got bought out and went down the pan. I've used Krystal before who were good and I think UK based, but like everywhere prices have increased.

visibleman · 1 Oct 2024 at 17:56

Zaphan58 said:
I used TSO years ago, they were good at one time but presumably got bought out and went down the pan.

Now owned by GoDaddy although it all seems to be getting shoved under the 123-Reg brand and killing off the TSOHost brand.

andy_mk3 · 1 Oct 2024 at 17:58

Been with Krystal for many years, absolutely faultless service.

Zaphan58 · 1 Oct 2024 at 18:33

visibleman said:
Now owned by GoDaddy although it all seems to be getting shoved under the 123-Reg brand and killing off the TSOHost brand.

Oh that explains that then. Go daddy did the same to Heart internet. They too were once good and now, well terrible.

chippie · 1 Oct 2024 at 18:41

andy_mk3 said:
Been with Krystal for many years, absolutely faultless service.

I've used Krystal for ages too, no issues at all, prices have gone up a bit though. Also used stablepoint, and speedypage with no issues either.

valve90210 · 2 Oct 2024 at 14:07

That's for all the thought's, I think for now I'm going to focus on getting the domain and office365 so I can have email and use Teams for remote client meetings.

For a website, I'm trying to decide if the simplicity of wix or such will be worth the extra cost compared to a wordpress site on a host like zume for example? How feasible is it to create your own reasonably simple website; basically a home page with a few sections of content, a couple of additional pages with session fees, services offered, a couple of downloadable files (privacy policy etc) and a simple contact form?

I've had a bit of a tinker with a wordpress playground thing which seemed like it would be fairly easy to build something in, but I'm pretty clueless with regards to making sure it's all secure and gdpr compliant etc.

radderfire · 2 Oct 2024 at 14:36

valve90210 said:
For a website, I'm trying to decide if the simplicity of wix or such will be worth the extra cost compared to a wordpress site on a host like zume for example? How feasible is it to create your own reasonably simple website; basically a home page with a few sections of content, a couple of additional pages with session fees, services offered, a couple of downloadable files (privacy policy etc) and a simple contact form?

It's not simple at all if you are just starting out. Expect to spend many many hours working things out. As a beginner you'll be able to create some basic pages (after many hours), but it won't necessarily look that good.

valve90210 · 2 Oct 2024 at 14:43

radderfire said:
It's not simple at all if you are just starting out. Expect to spend many many hours working things out. As a beginner you'll be able to create some basic pages (after many hours), but it won't necessarily look that good.

From a design point of view I'm pretty confident I can work with templates and get something looking nice, as I do design work as my day job. It's more the technical side with things like the functioning contact form, policy downloads and keeping the site secure that I'm wary about.

visibleman · 2 Oct 2024 at 15:02

valve90210 said:
From a design point of view I'm pretty confident I can work with templates and get something looking nice, as I do design work as my day job. It's more the technical side with things like the functioning contact form, policy downloads and keeping the site secure that I'm wary about.

With Squarespace, it's pretty much click/drag-drop to add one. With a CMS like Wordpress you typically use a third-party plugin for contact forms (like 'Contact Form 7'), set it up for emailing (ideally you use a third-party SMTP relay, like Brevo/Sendgrid, to help with email deliverability) and captchas, and then stick it in the page where you wanting the form.
It's similar with security on a CMS as it typically involves plugins and general securing of pages/'areas' and keeping everything up-to-date. But there are plenty of guides and tutorials around.

Main advantage between Squarespace/WIX and hosting a CMS, is that Squarespace/WIX takes a lot of the faff out of it all and you can simply concentrate on design and functionality whereas opting for a DIY approaching requires you to get in there with the technicals.
Biggest disadvantage with Squarespace/WIX is that you're stuck using the platform and you can't shift it to your own host in the future.