DIY Website Creation - Self Build Options
Reviews and ratings of quality, hand-picked, UK websites
Looking for a website?
Here is a list of companies providing "do-it-yourself" website packages such as where, for a monthly subscription, all the hosting is taken care of and you use one of their templates to create and maintain the website yourself, online. All the tools you need are provided. Packages can start from less than £5 per month. If you want your website to be updated quickly by either yourself or your staff and to have full control, then this is probably a good route for you to take. Ecommerce solutions are available with many of these packages.
On the other hand, if you prefer to put the whole business into the hands of a web design expert, have a look at the companies listed on our Web Design Companies page.
Ashop Commerce 
•
www.ashopcommerce.co.uk
Headers: Shopping Cart Software
Customisable shopping cart software by Ashop. This is a web based product with no installation needed and includes secure credit card processing, real time shipping, unlimited product uploads, free tech support, free user manual and more. Full administration rights to design, manage and make changes in minutes. 15 Day money back guarantee. Prices from £39 per month.
DoYourOwnSite!
• www.doyourownsite.co.uk
DoYourOwnSite! allows both businesses and individuals a relatively inexpensive way to design and maintain their own website online, including ecommerce websites. You don't need any prior experience or technical knowledge and you can make changes to your site, whenever you like, online. Large range of design templates available. Sign up for an account and they will give you 30 days to evaluate the service free of charge. There are no obligations if you then decide not to continue. If you do choose to subscribe after the trial they will register a .co.uk domain name of your choice at no extra cost. Subscriptions start from around £6 per month.
Fasthosts 
• www.fasthosts.co.uk
Headers: Domains, Email, Hosting, Ecommerce, Servers, Broadband, Resellers
Fasthosts offers a wide range of computing services including web hosting for Windows and Linux, ecommerce, business email and dedicated servers. Domain names from £2.95 + VAT per year. Braodband packages from 512Kb to 2Mb include free web web address, monthly contracts, free migration, 15 email accounts and 100 MB of webspace.
Shop Maker
• www.shopmaker.co.uk
Headers: Ecommerce
Shop Builder is a shopping cart solution aimed at anyone who wants to sell online. Whatever your situation and whether you are experienced or a beginner to ecommerce, they have an option that will suit you. The 3 options are: Option 1 - Self Build: Scripts, sql and installation instructions supplied to the buyer by either email or CD Rom. Option 2 - Shop Setup: Shop Builder installed on the buyers existing web space. Option 3 - Setup & Hosted: Shop Builder setup and hosted for 1 year. Renewable after this period.
Yahoo! Small Business
• http://smallbusiness.yahoo.com
Headers: Web Hosting, E-Commerce, Domains, Business Email, Marketing, Internet Access
Design and build your own web site, easy access for site management, 24-hour customer support, free domain name, scripting and database tools, security and more. Plans start from around $8 per month. Suitable for beginners and professionals.
Other websites of interest to site owners and webmasters:
Click 4 Assistance
• www.click4assistance.co.uk
Headers: Live Website Assistance
If you would like to offer live assistance directly on your website, click4assistance allows you to do just that. It can even be added to other electronic documentation such as Word or Excel documents. Customers communicate with you via an interface similar to Windows Messenger. The service can be up and running almost immediately. There is an excellent demo explaining how it all works or you can download a pdf document to read at your leisure. The cost is approximately £1 per day, but there is a 30 day free trial for you to evaluate the service for your company before you decide to buy.
I-Eyes
• www.i-eyes.com
Headers: Web Site Monitoring Serivce
I-Eyes can monitor your web site anything between every 10 minutes and every 24 hours to make sure that it is up and running. Other features of the service are: You select the method of monitoring - Ping, HTTP, POP3 or SMTP; site checked for modifications, scripting engines are checked, SMTP mail relay is checked and POP3 mail server is checked. No software to install and if I-Eyes finds a problem you can be alerted via email or SMS text message. Subscription packages vary depending on the number of sites to be monitored. I-Eyes has monitoring computers located throughout the world is operated by Medifusion Ltd, based in Brampton, Cumbria.
Site-Report 
• www.site-report.com
Headers: web site usability analysis, web site testing, web site design services, review services.
If you think your web site needs improvement, then Site-Report.com offers a range of visitor-centric web site analysis and review services. The reviews can be purchased individually or in bundles (Site-Reports). Site-Report.com offers an effective way of improving your site and making your business more profitable by finding out what real people actually think of your site.
Web and Email Forwarding
• www.webandemailforwarding.com
Headers: Web and Email Forwarding
With web and email forwarding you can forward web and email traffic to any domain name. For just £12.50 per year you get web forwarding, email forwarding and a control panel to update changes; you can edit page title and meta tags content plus there are no adverts on your forwarding.
Website Availability
• www.websiteavailability.com
Headers: Website Monitoring
If you are worried about your website going down, Website Availability checks your site every 5 minutes from the US and the UK. If the site doesn't respond you are noified straight away. You can be alerted via email or SMS to most worldwide networks. Monthly fee from £10.50 allows checking of up to 3 websites (secure or non-secure), extra monitoring available. If you are not sure, use the free 14 day no obligation trial.
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