123reg yay or nay?

[louisechrystal]

Hi,
Totally new to this world! I'm a freelance hairdresser who wants a Scotland wide presence but I don't have the budget. I don't see the point in registering with 100's of search engines (My hubby recieved this advice from 123reg) because I can't travel to Kazakhstan for a hair up! I (my husband!) used 123reg easy site maker to build my site, but he says there are loads of limitations in regards Google. Shoud I jump in and get a professional to do my site and market it, so it will be Googlable(?) or should I stick with these 123reg guys. (If you google them you get some v. scary advice from existing or former customers to "stay clear of them like your life depends on it" or "I am going to visit them at their head office with a baseball bat". Can an amateurish host really damage your business? (or what your business could become?)
Sorry for the 1000's of questions but it's all a bit overwhelming and I'm trying to get my head round it all

Louise :redface:

 

[Mat_D]

Hi Louise,

As one of the world's largest hosting companies, 123reg provide an OK service. They're unlikely to damage your business as such, but their servers aren't very quick, and their service isn't brilliant. Your 'easy site maker' website works, but is unlikely to take full advantage of the search engines, or present your business in its best light.

Personally, I would switch to a smaller (and UK-based) host, and approach a professional (such as myself, ahem) to build and market your website. That said, don't fall into the trap of thinking that a website will bring in any business on its own. Getting your website in front of the right people is the hard part.

Feel free to drop me a PM if I can answer any more questions you might have!

 

[hunny]

Hi Louise,

I first used 123.reg to host my site and in my experience I didn't find their technical support very good, being a complete non techy I found I needed more help than they could offer. After many recommendations I transferred to Carl - a member on here http://www.csnewmedia.co.uk/, 24/7 customer service, excellent support and brilliant value too.

 

[Mat_D]

I'm also a customer of Carl's. His servers are fast, and I've heard from several people that customer service is top notch (although not used it myself).

 

[Eagle]

Definitely get a web designer who knows what they're doing. 123 will be just about... 'ok'. Why risk your business on half-measures?

 

[innovengine]

Hi Louise,

123-reg is a great company for domain purchasing, but it doesn’t offer that much value by way of hosting your site, or in it’s design. As said above, their support isn’t what it should be – and for the non-techies out there, this can be a problem without the right type of advice.

Shopping around for good hosting is an important part of the project that is your site, so invest some of your time understanding what this entails and what is a good cost for the service and backend you want.

As far as the design is concerned, it is almost always advisable to get someone with experience to do it for you. There are a number of issues that you need to be aware of when putting a site together, not least those to do with search engines.


Darren

 

[dynabid]

I would go with trustahost they ll do you a great package there technical support is out of this world www.trustahost.co.uk
included with all plans
24/7 Online Customer Support!
99.9% Uptime Guaranteed!
Latest CPanel & Fantastico
Backups Carried Out Every 24 Hours!
Clear & Accurate Billing Always!
Prize Freeze Guaranteed!
Always Online Server Monitoring System
Apache 2.2 / MySQL 5 / PHP 5

 

[louisechrystal]

Thanks for all your advice. I think my site is ok for what i need, unless you think it looks really amateurish. My brother in law is new to all this too but he has just got his site on page 1 of google and it's staying there. He says he will help my hubby optimise the site.
Btw, dont email me in a sales pitch type way, I've no money to pay for your design services!!

 

[Dizzydiza]

Hi lousie
I think your website looks quite professional. Do you use a "what you see is what you get" programme?
As for hosting I used 123 Reg to start off with and it was ok until it let me down just before a press release. Thankfully Carl from CS New Media came to my rescue and had my website up and running on the internet in time for the press release.

 

[i234i]

Hey Louise!
Maybe get someone at Uni/College or something who is doing a course and needs work for a portfolio. There are so many around just now.

If you want help with any contacts (unreal pricing & great work) send me a pm

 

[Ben232]

I have had problems with tech support with 123 reg.

Ben

 

[thedesigntailor]

I absolutely loath 123-reg. They gave me the poorest service I have ever received.

This is what I said in a similar convo recently:

"I used to use 123-reg myself, but it kept failing. I decided to transfer to a friends company but the control panel wouldn't allow me to transfer the domain away from 123-reg. No answer on email and only a premium rate number meant I had to sit on hold for 2 and a half hours. That 3.99 domain ended up costing me £50 in phone calls and 2 weeks of down time.

Since then I have had about 15 clients who have used them only 3 of which didn't have a problem with 123.

I even spoke to Pipex who own 123-reg and the guy on the phone confided in me that 123-reg is the joke of the organisation but couldn't help."

Dan

 

[Ben232]

My brother in law is with one and one and swears by it. (not at it)

Ben

http://www.mobilediagnostics.info

 

[stumac]

i like you was looking for a web site that was just for local traffic and didnt cost the earth so i made a free web site on synhasite and then just bought the domain name from 123reg i dont have to deal with 123 reg but so far have a nice little site but still working on it and all ive paid s 6 quid
by the way iam totaly techno phobiac or however its spelt

http:www.mciservices.org.uk

 

[Deleted member 27344]

http://pointandstare.com/uk_host_top100

 

[stumac]

sorry louise ive just looked at your site and looks ok to me so as far as i can see not a waste of money

 

[Ben232]

i like you was looking for a web site that was just for local traffic and didnt cost the earth so i made a free web site on synhasite and then just bought the domain name from 123reg i dont have to deal with 123 reg but so far have a nice little site but still working on it and all ive paid s 6 quid
by the way iam totaly techno phobiac or however its spelt

http:www.mciservices.org.uk

like the site.

you could just replace the under construction text on the commercial page with something along the lines of "please contact us to discuss cleaning of commercial sites"

Ben

http://www.mobilediagnostics.info

 

[kerching]

Building my own site from one of these companies where you select a template of your choice is something I am considering,can anyone suggest a company that they use please.

 

[fed-up]

Try Facternet, guys name is Anthony,very helpfull and professional.


Mark

 

[Deleted member 27344]

99 Website Rental is a big step up from these.

 

[wood1e2]

Nah.... Anything to do with Webfusion/Pipex a big NAH....

 

[wnc1981]

Really good so far, no real problems with going offline. Must be ok to from an SEO point of view as they are Uk based. We have got to first page on google for a number of keywords which isn't just because of the UK based hosting but it does help.

I'm happy with them and now host 6 or 7 projects via them. Don't be too taken in by there bolt on products though! And the email situation isn't great, it would be good if they offered pop and smtp boxes!

 

[toon-andy]

I sometimes use 123-reg for registering domains, but not to host. Their domain registration / management control panel is very easy to use and user friendly though.