Starting a website options?

[megaphone]

Asked in the Buisness section, no replies so will try here...

I need to set up a website. It is for a social club, needs info and history of the club, latest news and events and possibly a 'members area' where they can sign in and get more detailed info.

We have no domain name yet, we have checked out some available options, will need to register one as part of the package. Would also like to set up some emails, info@, support@ and maybe a few names@ for staff email.

Which is the best way to go about this? Online website companies like 1and1, Godady, etc? In which case who is the best? Or a more dedicated company?

I will look after this on a voluntary basis so it needs to be a painless process. The admin lady for the club will also update the info on a weekly/as needed basis.

[andy-xr]

I think if it's a fairly low traffic and fairly low importance (ie is the world going to end if it's offline for a day) then any cheap shared hosting service would do. You probably wont need a dedicated support service if you can do regular backups and snapshots, which would mean you can take it somewhere else quickly and easily if things go tits. A standard email helpdesk support system would work fine

Server location - to some it's a big deal, to others they dont care. Some people like having their info stored in the EU and go for hosts that dont have a US presence.

Recommendations from me, I'm biased as I know these companies

Uk2
TSO Host / Vidahost (same company)
eHosting
Blacknight
Dreamhost
Bluehost

All of these can register the domain, provide the hosting and give you email accounts for a price per month or year

Avoid GoDaddy and to some extent Hostgator for what you're looking to do, they're so cheap there's no money left for the provider to really be able to give a st, and they do seem to be the target of a few attacks.

Edited by andy-xr on Thursday 28th May 08:46