CApeach93 answered Monday August 15 2005, 12:22 pm: here is what you can do. go to www.freewebsites.com. that is a website you could go to to make your own free website for free with no cost! thanks for listening! rate me high if i did good! [ CApeach93's advice column | Ask CApeach93 A Question ]
TheOldOne answered Monday August 15 2005, 10:11 am: I hate to tell you this, but for a real business website you need to spend a little money. You can do it for under $100 per year, although you'll probably get better service at the $200 level.
Free sites don't have top-level domain names. That makes a difference in how your site is ultimately ranked by Google, and other search engines. Which, in turn, makes a difference how much traffic you get.
I ALWAYS recommend getting your own domain for any site that you're even half-way serious about. It costs very little, and gives you a HUGE advantage in terms of name recognition. For example, which URL is easier for people to remember:
It's pretty obvious, I think. The name-only URL is easier to remember, and MUCH easier to take seriously.
You can select and register a domain name from GoDaddy, for example, for $8.95 per year.
Why do I recommend getting your own domain? Simple: if the site is going to be a success, you'll end up needing your own domain before too long. But changing your site URL is a NIGHTMARE. You lose all of your standing in the search engines, and break any external links to your site. I moved my site from a sort-of free URL to a top-level domain, and went from #1 in the search engines to something like #48. It took me *years* to get back to #1. And there are STILL sites out there which are linked to my old, invalid URL.
A domain of your own is definitely worth the money.
As for setting up the site, many professional hosting companies offer cPanel with various options. Those allow you to select the site elements that you want to install, such as an electronic shopping cart and credit card processing. That sort of hosting is available for $80 - $200 per year.
Now, if your father's website starts doing hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of transactions, you'd probably need to bump up the site to a full-service commercial host. But with that sort of business going on, you'd have no problem affording that.
By the way, when or if you search for a professional web host for the site, I recommend researching them VERY CAREFULLY - there are some really bad web-hosts out there. Personally I've been able to get a lot of useful information by looking up hosts on [Link](Mouse over link to see full location).
Okay, I've probably gone on too long about this. And I could write three times as much, easily. If you absolutely don't have $100 to spend on the site (which is understandable), then you have no choice but to go with one of the free sites that the other people here have mentioned. If the site is successful, though, and makes some money, you'll probably want to upgrade to your own domain and hosting - in which case, I hope this information turns out to be useful.
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