Hosting Website

[Straight]

Hello,

Me and my friend (Who is a coding god) were going to make a hosting website... But he pulled out at the last minuet. I thought this could be because he couldn't be bothered to code and design the website. So I made the website I am making now, hoping that he will join back in on our plan.

Here is the website so far :- http://asithappens.host22.com/Clean%20Design/index.htm

I would really like suggestions on the layout, on the design of the pricing section and the design of the 'Support' section as they have been my main focus so far.

I am still working on the other elements such as the menu, title and Members log in so please no complaints on those (Only things you would think would be good with them).

Also, please don't just comment 'I hate it' or 'I love it'. Please say why you have your opinion!

Please don't bash it down too hard either, as I have only just started making it.




My Review:-


I like the fact that when you hover over each plan on the pricing section, the plan glows blue around the edge
I like the use of blue and white, but the background should have some sort of colour or subtle gradient
I like the sleek, clean look
I think the menu area's gradient is too strong
I like the icons in the Support section, as they are simple but also look good


Thank you for any good pieces of critique!

[ackmedsgirl666]

looks good so far
nice technique

[IVIodern]

So,
(Just as a quick note, the website's title, "Untitled Document" needs to be fixed)
For a starter the logo's at the top of the website is broken. I presume your aware of this but in case your not, I just pointed it out.
Where it says "Link One" is next. In my opinion I wouldn't stretch it across the whole website, only use up the space the links need to take up. If you do decide to do that suggestion, I would move the Twitter, Facebook and Email links to where the bar is (if you understand me)
There is 2 support tabs, just to point out - Click here (http://speedcap.net/sharing/files/d2/8d/d28dcb9fb3a84d6fcecb24d0f65e1b3b.png)
At the bottom of your website always create a copyright notice and maybe even contact details.
(just as another little "thing", in the website source would it not be better to create a seperate CSS file for the CSS template? I would anyway)
If I come across more I will post
Sorry if I mentioned something you said not to mention, just wanted to go through it and point out all problems.
If you need any help, I do know HTML and CSS, drop me a message.

[Straight]

looks good so far
nice technique

Thanks, What do you like?

So,
(Just as a quick note, the website's title, "Untitled Document" needs to be fixed)
For a starter the logo's at the top of the website is broken. I presume your aware of this but in case your not, I just pointed it out.
Where it says "Link One" is next. In my opinion I wouldn't stretch it across the whole website, only use up the space the links need to take up. If you do decide to do that suggestion, I would move the Twitter, Facebook and Email links to where the bar is (if you understand me)
There is 2 support tabs, just to point out - Click here (http://speedcap.net/sharing/files/d2/8d/d28dcb9fb3a84d6fcecb24d0f65e1b3b.png)
At the bottom of your website always create a copyright notice and maybe even contact details.
(just as another little "thing", in the website source would it not be better to create a seperate CSS file for the CSS template? I would anyway)
If I come across more I will post
Sorry if I mentioned something you said not to mention, just wanted to go through it and point out all problems.
If you need any help, I do know HTML and CSS, drop me a message.

Changing the name wont be too hard
I havent added the logos yet because that top bar was from my old website and the images were of a bad quality
Where it says link one, I am going to have things on the right hand side such as 'Sign in' and 'Register'.
To get rid of the support tabs, I just have to remove the <th> line and just put a center align <p> on top of the table saying 'Support'
I'm going to add the footer soon, any suggestions?
The CSS is in the same file because I wanted to edit it easily and not have too constantly change between the two files... I'm going to make a Cascading Style Sheet when I've Finished the design

Do you have any suggestions/thoughts on the design of the Pricing table? I want them to look the nicest to draw attention to them

[IVIodern]

The pricing table is about as nice as it will look. It stands out and has a nice design.

For the footer I would try something along the lines of
<footer><center>
© 2012 HOSTING COMPANY NAME | CONTACT DETAILS HERE
</center></footer>

[TheMatrix]

Your friend might have pulled out because he saw that your idea is difficult to implement, practically. You probably don't have the financial resources to run a hosting company -- unless you've got a lot of money.

But fine, I'll go with it.
The design looks a bit too flashy and over-complicated. Start by drawing your design on paper. Then, do it with only basic HTML and simple CSS. After that, add flashiness like CSS3 and jQuery and whatnot.

[Straight]

1) I've worked out how much it cost's, and I've got enough....

2) I've done exactly what you have said, and from my point of view it isn't hard to make.

[TheMatrix]

1) I've worked out how much it cost's, and I've got enough....

2) I've done exactly what you have said, and from my point of view it isn't hard to make.
Really? I'd be interested to see what you came up with, since your average teen can't fund something like that out of their own pocket. I know I can't.
You can't do it on a shared hosting, the host will pull the plug on you there. You will need at least a VPS, and to afford that you need a job and/or a very high allowance from your parents, as well as the desire to spend all that money. And if you fail(I hate to be a downer, but it's true; more on that next), there went all that money.

There are already so many hosting companies, and most of those are a lot cheaper than you have(even if those are place-holder prices). As a customer, I look at things in terms of practicality. You are expensive and have no existing reputation. Another company has a price that is one-fourth that of yours, as well as more features and a large reputation. So of course you can guess what I go with. There is no way I would pay more to be able to get less. Nobody does that.
And that's the sad truth behind the failure of so many companies that start up with an idea but fail soon after. Good idea, poor execution. And I think your friend knows that(perhaps you should ask him).

Of course, don't let me, which when it comes down to things is just some random dude on the internet stop you, but don't be surprised when your net profits are in the negatives.

[ninja747]

It looks professional and i like the layout, however i would like to see your plans for providing this hosting. For 24/7 support you need staff. Also your promised (i presume you meant 5TBps) speeds are pretty unrealistic, unless you have billions of dollars, one of the cables connecting two countries together is going at 5 Tbit/s (there is a difference between TBps and Tbit/s). Also bandwidth and speed are different.

I would recommend looking at re seller hosting, its your site and you get a commission but its hosted in their data center.

Feel free to PM me if you need any help :)

[Blueeyes]

The overall design of the website isn't bad. I'd put the text more in the middle of the buttons in the 'Shop Now'. You have spelled recommended wrong under Super Fast Speeds.

Bandwidth - Umm... 5tb of it!? What do you mean by that... I know that most web hosting companies charge like $100 for just 1TB of bandwidth a month. I hope you have backup for all potential customers. You will need to setup something that will compress a website for backup and store it either a) cloud-based or b) on a complete separate drive. (then again, what about floods and fires?)

What do you mean by a 'custom panel'? Like a control panel? Will you be making your own or using something like cPanel?

Don't mean to bash your idea.

[Straight]

Really? I'd be interested to see what you came up with, since your average teen can't fund something like that out of their own pocket. I know I can't.
You can't do it on a shared hosting, the host will pull the plug on you there. You will need at least a VPS, and to afford that you need a job and/or a very high allowance from your parents, as well as the desire to spend all that money. And if you fail(I hate to be a downer, but it's true; more on that next), there went all that money.

There are already so many hosting companies, and most of those are a lot cheaper than you have(even if those are place-holder prices). As a customer, I look at things in terms of practicality. You are expensive and have no existing reputation. Another company has a price that is one-fourth that of yours, as well as more features and a large reputation. So of course you can guess what I go with. There is no way I would pay more to be able to get less. Nobody does that.
And that's the sad truth behind the failure of so many companies that start up with an idea but fail soon after. Good idea, poor execution. And I think your friend knows that(perhaps you should ask him).

Of course, don't let me, which when it comes down to things is just some random dude on the internet stop you, but don't be surprised when your net profits are in the negatives.

Sorry for my reply... I didn't realize how terrible my website looked and your right :( I'll try again with a better design

But I am doing re-seller hosting which only costs from around £20 a month

BTW those prices are just filler prices and I'm doing re seller hosting

Sorry for being on my man period

It looks professional and i like the layout, however i would like to see your plans for providing this hosting. For 24/7 support you need staff. Also your promised (i presume you meant 5TBps) speeds are pretty unrealistic, unless you have billions of dollars, one of the cables connecting two countries together is going at 5 Tbit/s (there is a difference between TBps and Tbit/s). Also bandwidth and speed are different.

I would recommend looking at re seller hosting, its your site and you get a commission but its hosted in their data center.

Feel free to PM me if you need any help :)

Thanks for the reply,

My plan is to buy a domain name called BlueLinkHost.com.. then for £20 a month I will buy re seller hosting which comes with 200 GB of space and 2000 GB of bandwidth. It will also come with other things like cPanel.

The 24/7 support was just filler text, But I will have support tickets which I would be able to reply to pretty fast.

I get the full profit, no commision... but I have to buy the server for £20 a month

Help wise, Just some tips on how to advetise my web hosting, I was thinking first going around hundreds of forums posting a link to my website because when you have loads of links to your site you get a higher result in search engines... But after that I'm not sure.

The overall design of the website isn't bad. I'd put the text more in the middle of the buttons in the 'Shop Now'. You have spelled recommended wrong under Super Fast Speeds.

Bandwidth - Umm... 5tb of it!? What do you mean by that... I know that most web hosting companies charge like $100 for just 1TB of bandwidth a month. I hope you have backup for all potential customers. You will need to setup something that will compress a website for backup and store it either a) cloud-based or b) on a complete separate drive. (then again, what about floods and fires?)

What do you mean by a 'custom panel'? Like a control panel? Will you be making your own or using something like cPanel?

Don't mean to bash your idea.

I don't like my design :( I'm doing another one with a much smaller header

The 5TB of bandwidth was just filler text :P

How much bandwidth do you think I should give to each account?

I am thinking about £0.60 for 1 GB of bandwidth, but maybe I should make it a smaller price for each better plan?


Is this a better design? (http://asithappens.host22.com/colordesign/color_design/index.html)

[Jess]

I like the design so far. And did you mean "Unlimited" Support? Misspelled "unlimited" :)

[Straight]

Yeah, my n was stuck when I typed that :P

[Blueeyes]

I don't like my design :( I'm doing another one with a much smaller header

The 5TB of bandwidth was just filler text :P

How much bandwidth do you think I should give to each account?

I am thinking about £0.60 for 1 GB of bandwidth, but maybe I should make it a smaller price for each better plan?


Is this a better design? (http://asithappens.host22.com/colordesign/color_design/index.html)

That looks a LOT better IMO. I'd separate the title (BlueLinkHosting) away from the pages more in the header.

Bump up the storage a bit. 1GB is nothing.

[Straight]

That looks a LOT better IMO. I'd separate the title (BlueLinkHosting) away from the pages more in the header.

Bump up the storage a bit. 1GB is nothing.

These are the rates I am thinking

http://i45.tinypic.com/2qkmo7t.png

The top blue bit is what it would cost the customer per month

The Red is how much it would cost me and how much I will make

Also, this is for one server (I may buy more/upgrade if I can actually start to make a profit)

[Straight]

Okay, Made another version of the website which you can view here :-

http://asithappens.host22.com/colordesign/color_design/index.html

I was going to make it so that the cPanel/WHMCS bit were closed tabs until you clicked on them and they expanded.. but it's late and I CBA right now because I made loads of improvements to my website, but edited it on my USB stick. When I went to save, it said 'Please insert removable disk'... Oh well, I prefer this version.... (But the USB stick had my computing work!!! AGH!)

Anyway... Improvements/What do you like?

[HunterSteele]

If this is reseller hosting, your little blurb about "your servers" being in a secure location is completely misleading misleading. Do you have your own server farm in your basement?

I was thinking first going around hundreds of forums posting a link to my website
Oh my fucking god no.

[Shilofax]

It's super plain and boring to look at.

Not sure if that's intended or not, or just unfinished.

[Mirage]

Really? I'd be interested to see what you came up with, since your average teen can't fund something like that out of their own pocket. I know I can't.
You can't do it on a shared hosting, the host will pull the plug on you there. You will need at least a VPS, and to afford that you need a job and/or a very high allowance from your parents, as well as the desire to spend all that money. And if you fail(I hate to be a downer, but it's true; more on that next), there went all that money.

There are already so many hosting companies, and most of those are a lot cheaper than you have(even if those are place-holder prices). As a customer, I look at things in terms of practicality. You are expensive and have no existing reputation. Another company has a price that is one-fourth that of yours, as well as more features and a large reputation. So of course you can guess what I go with. There is no way I would pay more to be able to get less. Nobody does that.
And that's the sad truth behind the failure of so many companies that start up with an idea but fail soon after. Good idea, poor execution. And I think your friend knows that(perhaps you should ask him).

Of course, don't let me, which when it comes down to things is just some random dude on the internet stop you, but don't be surprised when your net profits are in the negatives.

Exactly. You don't have the resources. You don't have the money. You don't have the staff. You haven't even purchased your own domain name, how can you sell your services while using someone else's hosting service? Another thing. Tell me how you can provide 5 TB bandwidth? That's impossible. Nowhere on your site do you go into detail with exactly what you're providing and proof that you are not just bluffing. Overall, it needs a ton of work and it really will never work out in the long run. I'm sorry, but I'm being honest with you.

Edit: okay, so I just read all the other posts and now I understand. You're doing reseller hosting. That's all fine an dandy but you're claiming on the site that they're your servers. They're not your servers. You also claim to provide 5TB bandwidth. That's not possible. You even said in one reply that it's 2000GB bandwidth. That's 2TB at most.