Hi,

If anyone is feeling particulary bored would they mind having a look at my new site (link in sig) and make any suggestions. If you want to try the signup script put something in the description field so I know it isn't a real one!

I aren't sure about the design myself and want a second opinion!

i only got onto the main page but i like the design , very modern , gets to the point , simple , easy to read , and the leaf picture works v well . looking good ! :thumbsup:

I was going for as simple as possible, not sure if it is too simple at the minute though!!

Very succinct and straight to the point, which is a plus in my book, no beating about the bush. :thumbsup: and plenty of detailed info re: your services. :thumbsup:

whilst being simple, as people like it, it does also give the impression you're a new starter, that's it's kind of home-made, and so your customers might wonder what experience there is behind the scenes. ie might the server crash, what is the expertise of and how professional are, these hosts? and so on.
PM me if you require further information.

Like the leaf motif - altho' it does look slightly out of focus in one or two areas (could be my eyes!).

A couple of constructive criticism points:

- is there any way you could move the "ads by google" section to the bottom of the page? The eye is immediately drawn to them, and it's almost as if you're putting the competition ahead of you. One click, and your customer is off your site and with a competitor.

- 'readme' seems an odd title. Maybe "who we are" or something would better encourage people to read on?

- might be worth including a couple of links to sites which you are hosting - you make a big deal about "Unlike most free hosting companies we only require you to display one small text ad...." (which is a good thing in my book!), but I'd want to see this with my own eyes. Particularly as your site has three areas of ads.

Cheers, Carrie

Thanks for the comments and contructive criticism. The reason I have the ads so prominent is they are mainly for pay hosts, so if that is what people are looking for they wont sign up for mine anyway. I can probably make about 20-30p per click on most the ads too, whereas I might never make anything from people who sign-up!!

I will look to add links to customers web sites but at the minute the truth is there aren't any!! I set up that website as I just bought a reseller package off a fairly decent host and there is way to much space and bandwidth for my needs at the minute.

Think I may look at renaming the left section, I thought at the time it was a silly name, but I couldn't think of anything better and I wanted it to be fairly "to the point".

I also agree with the point regarding giving the impression of been a new starter. Without spending loads of time on content it is hard to avoid. If the site shows any sign of been sucessful I might spend some more time on content. While looking at other free hosts I found most sites look really amateur so I am hoping it wont take much for mine to stand out. I might be wrong though.

Thanks again for all the comments.

Originally posted by march
I set up that website as I just bought a reseller package off a fairly decent host and there is way to much space and bandwidth for my needs at the minute.

I'd check your hosts terms & conditions as most reseller packages have exclusions for giving away services such as this.

If you're going to offer "free" web hosting, I'd also advise watching (intently) just what people are putting up. As word will quickly get around of a new free host (especially within the hacker fraternity)!

I'd also advise you to not allow anyone to sign up with auto account creation from a web form.

We provided a simular service 2-3 years ago and had a lot of problems with users content:( to the extent where I have let the domain expire:o


If you truly want to give away web hosting, you'd be better advised to get a dedicated box. That way you can fully control just what a user is doing, plus you can also lock down various aspects of the server.

Thanks for that tip. The script sends me an email and the account isn't active until I authorise it. Also users have to use a non-free email ie their ISP one which I will check if not sure. If it looks dodgy I wont allow it. I realise if I start getting hundreds of signups it might get hard but I'll see how it goes.

Originally posted by march
If it looks dodgy I wont allow it.

I'd also not allow CGI or PHP scripting on free accs either - these scripts have the potential to totally &^£% with a server if not locked down (which is difficult, if not impossible, on a reseller account).


Originally posted by march
I realise if I start getting hundreds of signups it might get hard but I'll see how it goes.

Don't forget to allow time for the support requests;) which you'll inevitably end up spending most of your time on (free).

Thanks for the good advice, I have spent weeks reading forums on free hosting so hopefully have a decent idea about what to expect.

The server I am on has pretty strict limits on what people can do and how much resources people can use. The T&Cs on my site are also pretty strict so anyone doing anthing wrong can be kicked. Plus by only accepting emails which in theory are traceable (ie ISP emails) anyone doing anything REALLY bad should be able to be tracked down (in theory!!).

I realise a lot of naive people go in to this but I have got some idea about what I am getting in to! :D

Originally posted by march
Thanks for the good advice, I have spent weeks reading forums on free hosting so hopefully have a decent idea about what to expect.

The server I am on has pretty strict limits on what people can do and how much resources people can use. The T&Cs on my site are also pretty strict so anyone doing anthing wrong can be kicked. Plus by only accepting emails which in theory are traceable (ie ISP emails) anyone doing anything REALLY bad should be able to be tracked down (in theory!!).

I realise a lot of naive people go in to this but I have got some idea about what I am getting in to! :D

I signed up for free hosting, mainly for the forums for my web site which is currently hosted at Geocities.com, and sent you a support request regarding a slight snag I ran into while installing phpBB.

Looking good, simple and clean just how i like it ;)
Good job :thumbsup:

Rich,

I tried emailing you after the initial few but the mails are bouncing it seems. Have you had any trouble with your email. I tried to PM you to but you inbox is full. Maybe email me from another account when you get this.