Monday, February 19, 2007

The Best Webhost and The Best Website Building Software

NOTE: Update to this article. The developer of the website building software I write about here has a new version which is out now!

As I've mentioned in other posts, the people who buy it now will get the upgrade for free. So please do yourself a favor and check this software out soon. The links are in my blog post here and in my other posts about the best website building software ( check the labels). I have completely fallen in love with this software because of its ease of use, support, and professional product.



UPDATE 2: I've had a chance to play with Xsitepro version2 and have made a couple videos showing an actual website being built. You can actually watch a website being built on my youtube videos.

WARNING: this was also my very first time using camtasia and youtube. So please forgive the low sound. Actually, working with xsitepro2 was easier than uploading the video. This is Demo 1. I have this video demo of xsitepro version2 at my other website where I help people build great elegant websites. www.WebsiteBuildingforBeginners.com . After you see the first video, you can subscribe for further tutorials as we build this website together. Just hit the subscribe button at Youtube. The quality gets better, I promise you.

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Those of you who know me, know that I like to do things as cheap as possible. I also insist on the highest quality possible. This leads to quite a bit of tension. And when you add technology in the mix you get handfuls of hair being pulled out!

I recently decided to exercise my brain and build a website or two. Oh my.....

I also decided to use as much free software, or open source software as possible.
(Big Mistake!)

Let me save you a lot of aggravation. I could go on for hours about the frustration I went through. But instead ( since I think you have all been there with technology) let me focus on the positive.

I have found a fantastic Website hosting company. They focus on service, and do so on a very reasonable price. I spent a day or so comparing Web hosts. I looked at free web hosting and at the best performing web hosting companies. Then I went through the discussion boards and the search engines looking for reviews. Hostgator kept coming up with great customer satisfaction comments. They were reasonable and had flexible packages. But the real draw for me was the customer service. They challenged us to test them out. Oh they didn't know who they were dealing with.

If you have read my secret in the Ethical Income Blog , you will know that it takes me several days to accomplish the same thing that a normal person can do in an hour or so. Also, I have spells where nothing in front of me makes sense. A page just looks like a bunch of grey and white ( boy has this cost me in restaurants!).

SO I signed up with Hostgator
with the noble intention of only using open source software to build my website! Watch out Hostgator Helpdesk!

AS you can imagine, everything was a hassle.
The software was always in a state of development, with bugs and projects galore. I spent time waiting for answers in forums. I tried workarounds. I tried finding software to fill in the gaps that other software had. Everything had a different name for the same things. Sound familiar?


Hostgator's help desk worked with me all through this struggle. They were patient. They did not tell me to get a life and pay some website designer to build a site for me. They didn't tell me not to be so cheap, and to go out and buy Dreamweaver and Photoshop etc etc.

I used every type of help they had. I used the online help, and the ticket email help. And called in once when I was extremely desperate. I spent days with these people. ( you're feeling sorry for them now aren't you?). Everyone treated me like they had all the time in the world for me and that my problem was important.


So If you are looking for a Webhost, I would recommend Hostgator (just click on this link).

You will run into problems, and you will want them corrected as fast as possible. That is the advantage. Oh yes, and did I mention that they do all this for under $10 a month for an unlimited amount of websites? Not bad eh?



BUT I LEARNED MY LESSON !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


No more cheaping out on the software.

I began looking for website building software that was inexpensive but actually was built to work together.

I finally found a software package that has almost everything a person needs. This is a beautiful program that is amazingly inexpensive.

XsitePro is a suite of software which allows you to build a website and have everything integrate. It is all run off of one main board, much like the adobe products, but without all the complexity.

I want something where I can build a banner for the top of my website and put pictures on it and make it look professional. XsitePro makes that easy. I want something where I can change colours or elements on the fly without worrying about what I've wrecked doing so. Again XsitePro does that. I wanted something where I could build a site and try it out on my computer before publishing it on the web ( oooooh boy did I need THAT feature).

XsitePro lets me build a site and tinker with it before exposing it to humiliating exposure to the world. It links things together and builds a sitemap for the search engines. It gives you hints on how to make things a bit better for the readers and search spiders; and on and on and on.

XsitePro also helps me not look like such a moron when dealing with Hostgator's helpdesk. You can watch a video of all the great features at this link: "7 Reasons" Video.

It isn't idiot proof, it just lets us idiots look a bit brighter.

I'll post a link to the website I'm working on in a while. I am busy trying to undo the damage all the free stuff did.

Oh well, live and learn. I'm still breathing, so I guess I'm still learning.

Colin

P.S. I reread this post and realized that I forgot to update you on the website.
Check out the site I built for a friend,Dr. J Gallant who is an amazing young naturopath.
He is now getting athletes and clients from around the world because of his dedication to
results. I'm trying to make things easier for him by building a website for patients
to use as a resource. Here is his website www.doctorgallant.com .




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