changing website help

[samigail]

I'm thinking of changing my website. The one I have is a free one and I don't think is really providing me with what I need now - an online shop. The site I have doesn't allow paypal buttons etc on there


so, i've been looking around and I was looking at doyourownsite.
I've been reading and reading their pages but can't work out if I need to pay extra for a domain name or is that included in the monthly price??
Are those of you that use this site happy with it?

Also, what to do with my current website - do i keep it and use it to refer to the new website?
or just get rid - I think i'm reluctant to do this as it does receive traffic and I've spent a year building up the traffic etc

sorry for loads of questions, I feel a bit lost!!:confused:

Thanks for any help,
Fiona

[greannancrafts]

Hi

is it possible to upgrade your current site?

Jane

[Kiamyka]

I'm not sure about paying extra for a domain but they are as cheap as chips - if you are getting hits then i would hold onto your existing site and just redirect it to the new domain - there is some nifty html code that does this let me know if you want to do it and I will dig out the code

[samigail]

I've looked into upgrading the current account but it just doesn't seem shopping cart friendly. there's absolutely no mention of it in the features list :(

[matt.chatterley]

I've looked into upgrading the current account but it just doesn't seem shopping cart friendly. there's absolutely no mention of it in the features list :(

If possible, keep your existing domain (it has some established links, traffic, etc and is also aged - domains age like good wine - or at least you can think of it that way). :)

You should be able to move it to a new host (and thus a new site)!

[hdflred]

I just moved to do your own site and although I have not gone live wth them yet, I have been soooooo impressed so far. I was (still am) with 1&1 before and DYOS have so many more features and UK help too.
I can't wait to launch my new site!

[Kiamyka]

I'm not sure about paying extra for a domain but they are as cheap as chips - if you are getting hits then i would hold onto your existing site and just redirect it to the new domain - there is some nifty html code that does this let me know if you want to do it and I will dig out the code
Add this code to in the Head section of your index.htm page - it redirects in 5 seconds In the body of the index.htm you can put a note along the lines of "Please wait while we redirect you to the new site"
<meta http-equiv="Refresh" content="5; url=http://www.yournewsite.com">

[samigail]

Add this code to in the Head section of your index.htm page - it redirects in 5 seconds In the body of the index.htm you can put a note along the lines of "Please wait while we redirect you to the new site"
<meta http-equiv="Refresh" content="5; url=http://www.yournewsite.com">

many thanks, that's really helpful :)

[rebecca]

Hi Fiona,

You would need to have a domain name to use with DoYourOwnSite. A .co.uk domain name is £5.88 for two years if purchased through our service, you don't have to purchase the domain name through us (just check beforehand that whoever you choose allow you to change the DNS A record so that you can point it to our servers).

I would recommend that you get a domain name as what you have at the moment is simply a sub-domain of the domain name owned by the company who host your free website.

If they (and I don't know them so this is purely hypothetical) ceased trading your "domain name" would be lost and you would not be able to move it to an alternative company, because it's just part of their name. It also looks a lot more professional if you have your own domain name and is probably easier for people to remember.

So instead of samigail-gifts.web44.net/ you would have samigailsgifts.co.uk (I've checked and this is available)

I would suggest once you were ready to move that you stick a big sign up on all the pages of your old site saying you've moved and to go to your new site with a big link for your visitors to click on. The search engines would also come to your new site through that link and the link would pass on some of the ranking from your old site to your new one.

If you have access to put HTML MetaTags in then the refresh tag would do the job the same, although I would still have the "we have moved message" as occasionally the refresh doesn't work.

Hope this is helpful.

Rebecca

[samigail]

Many thanks Rebecca, that is really helpful.
I've been really busy working with the free trial lately and am hoping to go live really soon!
I'll do what you suggested re my old website - putting a link on every page

[rebecca]

Hi Fiona,

Glad the site building is going well, just shout if you get stuck...

Rebecca

[samigail]

I think today's the day!
Wow, I'm really nervous about what people think of it!
One thing I can't work out - is it possible to order the links on the links page so the can go in a nice order or is that purely down to the order you put them on?

[rebecca]

Hi Fiona,

I believe they're in alphabetical order based on the title that you give them.. if you wanted them in a specific order then I would suggest creating a new static page and creating the links page by hand.

Good luck with the launch today!

Rebecca

[samigail]

ah ok, that makes sense!
thanks again

[samigail]

it's live now :)
www.samigailsgifts.co.uk (http://www.samigailsgifts.co.uk)

many thanks again for your help Rebecca!