Free website builder and domain names

[lissy00]

Hi everyone.

Quite some time ago I was given some brilliant advice on here about my website and I used weebly to build it and it's been great. I had my own domain name already and was able to redirect it to weebly whilst still being on their free website plan.

Now my cousin has asked me to build him a website so I thought I would buy a domain name somewhere fairly cheaply and build the website on weebly. However it seems the only way to do that now is to pay a monthly fee which I didn't want. So I had a look at buying a domain name through weebly but they only do .com and he wants .co.uk and the prices were a lot more than other places I had looked.

So is there a website builder out that's as easy and good as weebly, free hosting, and free to transfer your own domain to it?

On a secondary point, if you can recommend the best place to get a domain name too, that would be great. He wanted a free email with it too but I can't seem to find any that offers that as well.

It was much easier than this when I was making my website. I have agreed to it now, but didn't realise I would be opening a can of worms. Thanks in advance for any advice and help you can give.

xx

 

[Grace_Hair]

You can buy domain names from 123 reg and only do a one off payment?

I would assume you can use that with weebly?

Or my current web designer used go daddy.

 

[BannerPenguin]

I recommend 123reg.co.uk.
You won't find a free web builder that will then let you use your own domain name - these companies have to pay there operating costs. Running servers isn't cheap.

 

[lissy00]

I recommend 123reg.co.uk.
You won't find a free web builder that will then let you use your own domain name - these companies have to pay there operating costs. Running servers isn't cheap.

Well when I did my weebly website a few years ago you could use your own domain name for free because I did and there has never been any costs associated with it, so I assumed I could do the same for my cousin only they have changed it. I wouldn't even mind a one off cost, but I don't want him to have a monthly cost for the rest of his business life.

 

[lissy00]

Right... been doing some googling and I have found moonfruit. It seems you can build a free site and have the option to purchase a .co.uk domain name for about £6 for 2 years. And it looks like that comes with email addresses too. So hoping this works and it does everything I need. Anybody used Moonfruit? Any tips?x

 

[daydreams01]

Hi my site is moonfruit and I bought a .com domain name. Currently still using the free version. I am not at all techy but managed to do it myself from scratch. I know it could be a lot better but I don't have the funds to pay someone but to be honest loads of clients have come from it and tell me they like it so it can't be that bad! Since I upgraded it to a v5 mobile optimised (don't ask me I have no clue!) it lost a few functions such as client feedback and the slideshow, I think if I upgrade to a paid version I can get them back or when I Asked they said I can get a widget on that does it but I didn't really understand their instructions! For now it does the job . It's www.divas-n-dudes.com if you want to have a nose!

 

[lissy00]

Thanks very much daydreams01, that is really good to know. I'm finding it a little hard to get used to compared to weebly (which is SOOO easy) but I am getting there just about. I believe he will have to sign in every 6 months to keep it free, (which I may just have to do for him) but hopefully I can do a decent site for him.

 

[daydreams01]

I need to do one for my hubby's building company too as he is so useless, he hasn't got a fb page or anything! The thought of doing it all again though, was so time consuming but I was proud of myself after I did it as I really did not have a cuckoo!

 

[lissy00]

Hi,
Also I may be wrong here but I'm sure if you buy your domain name from the web builder then if you want to move to another host you have to buy the domain name off them at a really high cost.

I am pretty sure you own the domain name when you buy it but there are usually costs involved taking it to a new host. He just wants a very simple website though so people can find him online. I don't think he will need to move it.
The one thing I prefer about weebly is that their advert for them being your website host is very discreet. These others seem to have it right at the top of the website, but think its going to be the cheapest way at the moment. Thank you x

 

[Lou slatts]

Thank you for posting this. I am also looking to set up my own nail business and this info has helped a lot thanks [emoji1]