Hello! I am completely new to the web designing business, and I need help. I am trying to create a business plan so I know what all I need to pay for when it comes to web hosting services and software to use. The main thing that I need assistance with is determining what hosting service and what software i.e. Wordpress, Dreamweaver, etc. to use. Also should I use Konductor, and if so, when? I am the literal definition of a newbie, and I am open to any helpful advise and criticism. Thank you for your time and consideration.

Whats your experience level with coding html css javascript php and WordPress? I ask because you mentioned that youre new to business and you also mentioned Dreamweaver - you dont find many orofessional developers using that piece of software.

 

Back to your question - you can start with almost nothing. You need a graphic and text editor. Both can be had as free open source software. You will need to pay for hosting and domain for your own site. Clients can pay for thier own hosting costs. As your business grows reinvest your capital for software like PhotoShop. And perhaps some marketing, business cards etc.

^ what he said

 

Don't go wasting money on expensive software like Dreamweaver, there are many better free and low cost alternatives - when you're starting up you need to watch every penny.

If you have no web designing experience, I think your number 1 concern must be how are you going to attract customers. It's one thing to slowly build a portfolio and gain experience while you still have a job to pay the bills, another thing entirely to throw yourself into something you depend on for income. You will be competing in a crowded market, full of highly skilled people and a growing number of free website builders that take a lot of the low end projects.

 

Don't give up the day job until you have a revenue stream.

 

To answer your question, to get up to speed quickly, choose an easy to learn CMS such as Wordpress and take a crash course in HTML, CSS, JavaScript and PHP at somewhere like Codeacademy.

Thanks everybody I appreciate it. This is going to only a way to pay for living expenses while I'm at college. And so far the only coding experience I have is completely robotic related i.e. c++, python, etc. So far I have several clients. A friend is giving me the entire adobe suit thing for free, so I wanted to learn as much as I can before I received it. The most graphic experience I have is using gimp to make logos and blender for 3D animation. So, should I just focus on html, java, css, and php and if so, what web hosting service should I use. I've been looking at ipage because of the low cost. If there are any more recommendations, please let me know

Thanks everybody I appreciate it. This is going to only a way to pay for living expenses while I'm at college. And so far the only coding experience I have is completely robotic related i.e. c++, python, etc. So far I have several clients. A friend is giving me the entire adobe suit thing for free, so I wanted to learn as much as I can before I received it. The most graphic experience I have is using gimp to make logos and blender for 3D animation. So, should I just focus on html, java, css, and php and if so, what web hosting service should I use. I've been looking at ipage because of the low cost. If there are any more recommendations, please let me know

 

Without having the software to play around with all you can do is watch tutorial videos on YouTube etc. but the best way to learn is to get into the software and play around with it.

 

HTML and CSS are a must for any site so definitely get working on these languages. If you are looking into using WordPress then PHP will be handy to learn too.

 

As for Hosting it may depend on what you need as some may be good now but as you expand it may not be.

I wouldn't bother with Dreamweaver, just take Photoshop and Illustrator. If you learn how to code you will have little use for Dreamweaver when there are better text editors about, sublime, Vim etc.

 

It's probably a typo but don't get java mixed up with JavaScript, the two are very different, JavaScript is the one you want to be learning for general web development, Java on the other hand can be used for some server side trickery but it's certainly not what you want to be using as a beginner.

 

Not to put a downer on you, but it takes many months to get good enough to be able to attract the kind of clients where you can make a decent income, but stick at it and learn everything you can because it's a great industry to work in -- like any skill it takes time and effort to perfect it so don't try to rush in too quickly.

 

A good idea might be to focus purely on front end and then source out the back end, or vice versa depending on where you find your skillset lies. To learn both is a mammoth task especially with the rate of new things being released.

Thank you everyone. I appreciate the advice. I've been taking virtual classes? on codeacademy and I'm coming along nicely. My next question is what webhosting service should I use? I've been looking at ipage.com ' s 1.68/mo for the first year promotional. Do you think this is a good deal/good hosting service? and if not do you have any personal recommendations? I'm going to use this to design my own website so I can test my skills out before I start soliciting services.

Here's the website in case you wanted to check it out http://www.ipage.com/ipage/index.html

It looks a bit spammy but I guess it could be ok just for testing purposes - although you should set up a local server for that. If it's for learning how to deploy sites via FTP then there isn't a whole lot of point in learning that, most developers are using a combination of GIT and SSH for deployment which is many times more efficient. -- I highly doubt that host will give you SSH access.

 

For something going live I've heard very good things about Media Temple. The're not the cheapest but like anything you get what you pay for, the one you linked to doesn't inspire me with confidence.

 

 

The courses on CodeAcademy are great for a free resource, but you shouldn't rely on those alone as they only really scratch the surface, there more like an introduction. Check out Code School, it's not free (apart from the intro sections) but the material is of a much higher standard and goes into more advanced topics - advanced but essential if you are to do this professionally.

Edited July 23, 201412 yr by rbrtsmith

@@rbrtsmith The only thing however, is that I've seen a lot of mixed review about media temple. I admit the items sound great, but I looked up some reviews. are the things you've heard personal referrals?

Also how about namecheap? https://www.namecheap.com/

I retract my comment, I will most likely be going with media temple because it is cheaper for right now and their customer service is a lot more useful than ipage's besides their uptime reviews are nice

+1 for Media Temple, I've used them for years and not had a single problem - the customer and tech support is the best I've experienced from a web host

I use one.com for my hosting and domains. I know they get somewhat mixed reviews online, but I've never had a problem and their online chat support is brilliant! All their packages come with a free SSL certificate and unlimited mailboxes.

For your billing, I'd suggest TradeShift. It's free!

 

For your software, I'd recommend Sublime Text 3. Dreamweaver isn't even an option if you're a professional. Since you're getting the Adobe Suite free I'd recommend Photoshop and Illustrator too.

Chris Coyier, owner of CSS-Tricks, one of the best free resources on the web is hosted on MT and he sings their praises so that's my reference. All the stuff we produce we host ourselves so I have no personal experience with MT but I'd certainly look into using it if I required an external host.

For your software, I'd recommend Sublime Text 3. Dreamweaver isn't even an option if you're a professional. Since you're getting the Adobe Suite free I'd recommend Photoshop and Illustrator too.

 

^^ This. Although I'd like to learn VIM, at the moment I just use if working directly on the server through ssh, but once you learn all the commands there is nothing better, a highly experieced systems developer in our officer uses it and its quite firghtening how fast he can get things done with it. http://csswizardry.com/2014/06/vim-for-people-who-think-things-like-vim-are-weird-and-hard/

Not recommending VIM to the OP though, Sublime text 3 will be a great step up from Dreamweaver, VIM has a somewhat steep learning curve as far as text editors go.

I'm using Media Temple and honestly I love it. The best feature so far is the support. They're friendly and useful and always available. And thank you all for your help, I greatly appreciate your guidance! God bless you all!@BlueDreamer@rbrtsmith@mikekaperys@Bobby Anderson@junior@NickC4555

@@BlueDreamer @@rbrtsmith @@mikekaperys @@Bobby Anderson @@junior @@NickC4555

In your post you said you are new comer. Well, that does not matter. You should choose free software first but for a better future you need those software said.

 

 

 

Link: http://www.v-xplore.com/

I Like NameCheap, have been using them for a few years already.

Greetings!

I had ix web hosting (http://www.ixwebhosting.com/) in my shortlist for a while because I was not sure if I wanted to spend almost twice the amount I was spending on my old host. But when I finally experienced their service, I thought I should have made the switch sooner because they are very reliable and they have exceptional support.

 

They offer a pay-for-what-you-actually-use pricing model.

 

Give them a try!