Website

[Jim Hilburn]

So some may have noticed I don't post a lot of pictures of new instruments lately and thats because there aren't any new instruments to take pictures of. But Godaddy has written to let me know I need to pay $100 for the website to continue for another year.
I use it to show instruments because I don't have all those pictures in my phone. And there's also quite a few audio files that will go away if I close it down.
Is there a less expensive way to keep it active?

[MikeEdgerton]

Create a Facebook page. It's free. There are a few hold outs around that don't use Facebook but honestly it's a platform that almost everyone is using.

As far as hosting goes there are plenty of hosting companies around.

[foldedpath]

Create a Facebook page. It's free. There are a few hold outs around that don't use Facebook but honestly it's a platform that almost everyone is using.

(waves hand) Not me!

I can live without a "service" where I'm the product being sold. If the OP does use FB, make sure you've enabled public viewing for anything you want to share. Nothing more annoying than following a link and being blocked if your'e not a FB user.

For other "free" options, try imgur or Google Photos for images. Maybe Soundcloud for audio. Or look for cheaper web hosting. I know it's a pain to pay for web hosting, but I maintain a $15/month site mainly for hosting photos, the occasional audio clip, and maintaining a few email accounts for different purposes. It keeps everything I do free of advertising and under my control.

[Folkmusician.com]

If you don't care about using your .com domain name, there are plenty of free options for basic hosting.

The more popular ones that come to mind are Wix, Weebly, Wordpress...

Now the whole point of the free site is to attempt to upsell you on some feature you need, but no cost to you to give it a shot and see if it works out.

You can also get some great promo deals if you signup with a different host. Usually a few dollars a month and that includes your domain. If the budget allows to pay a few years in advance you won't have to worry about host shopping again for a few years.

For any of these... transferring entire websites does not always go smoothly (just depends). SO you may end up having to fix a few things during migration.

[MikeZito]

+1 on Weebly . . . I have used them on 2 or 3 occasions and have had zero problems.

[Baron Collins-Hill]

Another question to consider is whether saving $100 a year is worth rebuilding your website from the ground up on another platform you aren't as familiar with. If you have the ability, check out how many people are actually using your site.

Websites are not nearly as good at showing your instruments off to interested people, that is where social media excels these days. Facebook or Instagram could be free ways to get more eyes on your instruments (and the instruments certainly deserve it!).

Thanks,
Baron

[Charlieshafer]

Well, I'm of the opinion that if you want a business to be taken seriously, you need a website. Facebook is great for quick little posts of simple pics or the "here's what I'm doing now" sort of thing. But a nice looking (and simple, too, needn't be overwhelming) website with lots of photos goes a long way to making prospective customers take you seriously.

I use wordpress as it's easy to update, add photos, whatever (and you do want to add things relatively routinely to keep the page at the top of search engines) and while I pay to have local guy host the thing it's not necessary. I have him host because he can do some technical digging if I foul things up, and he'll come up with some good ideas that I may not think of. I pay him $150 a year for the service, and it's well worth it.

The important thing to remember is that no business is local these days. I have people come to concerts from as far away as Boston and New York, occasionally from Maine or Long Island. There's no way they would find out about it through my local papers or postings. I'd be curious to see if any builders can chime in about the distance their customers originate from. Even the "local" guitar store does a good percentage of it's business over the internet.

As much as a pain in the neck as they can be, a website is where it's at these days.

[Jim Hilburn]

I should point out I didn't build the site and I don't want to spend any time learning to do it myself. At this point it would only be a historical document.

[grassrootphilosopher]

(waves hand) Not me!

I can live without a "service" where I'm the product being sold. If the OP does use FB, make sure you've enabled public viewing for anything you want to share. Nothing more annoying than following a link and being blocked if your'e not a FB user.

For other "free" options, try imgur or Google Photos for images. Maybe Soundcloud for audio. Or look for cheaper web hosting. I know it's a pain to pay for web hosting, but I maintain a $15/month site mainly for hosting photos, the occasional audio clip, and maintaining a few email accounts for different purposes. It keeps everything I do free of advertising and under my control.

Spot on! "Nothing in the world is free." Facebook is okay if you are okay to let go of a lot of data. I´m not.

[Oliver A.]

Spot on! "Nothing in the world is free." Facebook is okay if you are okay to let go of a lot of data. I´m not.

I'm another one of these old ##### that won't sign up with Facebook or google or any other "service" were I am the product. I learned (with the help of my wife) to build my own website and have it hosted by a small independent server. I am just not comfortable with having some faceless, secretive entity collecting detailed information about myself and selling it to God knows who. (I've actually had some pretty spooky incidents when I was on Facebook for a brief time some years ago)
On my site, I collect no personal information from visitors at all. I know how many people visit my site, which pages are popular and that's about it. I do not even know, or care to know, from what part of the world they came from.
I don't know much about GoDaddy but $100.00 bucks a year seems very reasonable, although, I suspect that they are collecting information about the owner and visitors to the site. (I hope I'm wrong)
I'm a staunch believer and supporter of independent business and stay away from large corporations as much as possible even if it costs me a little more.

OK, there's my rant. I guess this topic touched a bit of a nerve with me.

[DougC]

Jim, did you mention who built your website and who does the work on upkeep?

My web host offers three websites and some e-mail addresses for about the same price. I often wonder why I'm not using a third website. The service obviously is set up for people who do websites for a lot of people but it makes me think, "I could host someone's website for a third of the cost". (Not saying that this is an "offer". But sharing is certainly an option with someone.)

[Jim Hilburn]

Doug, thanks for that. That possibility is currently being explored.