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With our online office facilities, we're going to drop our curretn Medem website. But I want Dr. C to have her own website where she is less limited in what she can do (if she wants to). I've picked out a couple of domain names that I'll be registering VERY soon. But I need someone to host the site.

Can anyone provide recommendations for a webhosting company? I'm not looking for anything too fancy and expensive. Something modest, maybe template-driven, where we can have a nice layout and upload a few things like interactive pdf forms (for registration), policies, and maybe so health articles that we may write. Maybe photo or two. If she was an FP I'd tell her to keep her membership in AAFP (is that it?) and get a free Medfusion website. But she's IM. ACP and Med. Soc. of NY haven't thought of this yet apparently.

This is a cost-cutting issue. The online office costs about $300/year. The current webhost (Medem) is another $350 I think, but the only thing I really get extra there is that I can post pdf forms. I'd like to replace it for something much less expensive to post my forms and documents. And since she would own the domain name, when she wanted a bigger, better website she could get one and keep her domain name.

'Morning Wayne,

It really depends on how you want to do this. I have several website, so I do have a little knowledge on the subject

I use hostgator for all my hosting (for the past 3+ years now I think) and can't remember having any problems.

Secondly, for ease, if you really want to do your own sites, I highly recommend XSitePro. this is what I use on my practice site. Updating the site is sooooo easy. Every time I use the program, I have an even greater appreciation for it. The price is not bloated like Dreamweaver is (and it's far easier to learn).

On the other hand, you can use wordpress. It is a blogging platform, but you can have static pages, you can still have downloads, etc.

In either case, you can have a professional template designed if you wish.

My only cost for these sites is my hosting and the little time that I have to update or add something.

Hope this is helpful.

Hi Wayne,

We do our own in house. Our internet access has a fixed IP address, and we have a small server that handles our tiny web site. If you want I could help you bring it in house, or can refer you to a friend who does web hosting out of the Chicago area who is reliable and inexpensive.

Still, think about it - are you REALLY saving all that much? So far your total is $650 / year. That's $12.50 per week! Geeze, if it's that important, you should spend more on it than I spend on COFFEE in a freakin' week.

Now if the problem is that for your $12.50 you're not conveying the image that you want to convey, then by all means change providers, and think about what you want to use for CONTENT. If you're just hosting forms, you could try for something like GeoCities with tons of ads people can ignore but which is cheap. If you want a PROFESSIONAL looking website (Which I will admit mine is NOT - I can't afford the time to produce content for it) it's going to cost you more than $12.50 per week to do right.

That being said, we have a single fixed IP address we reserve for this, and parked a $65 e-bay server on it running Redhat Linux, and it hosts my email server and our web site, and since the internet address is paid for in another accounting column in the ledger, our website and e-mail become "free" except for the domain registration fee we pay every year - about $9.00 if I remember correctly.

Regards,

V.

We have a dynamic IP address. The main thing I'm trying to do (right now) is to post content and have an easy-to-remember domain name that she gets to keep (for $10-$20 a year or whatever). I'd like to post some things as .pdf forms. I already have them made (mostly). I'm not trying to bring this in-house with alot of work that I don't want to take the time to do. Quick and Easy. In fact, I was looking at the Microsoft Basic one. Really low price (the "F-word" price. Ends in "E" if you didn't catch on.) I need to throw something up quickly by Jan., and maybe have the ability to make it fancier if I feel like it later. Without a huge increase in price like the Microsoft one does. MS likes to suck you in with simple stuff and then sock it to you for other things like windsheild wipers (if they made cars that is). I've seen Hostgator rated high for beginners w/ low price. Havent checked it out yet. My hunch is that these low-cost guys with templates for 5-10 buck a month will probably do what I need for now.

I pay $8 a month for webhosting with Geocities. You can register your domain elswhere for $8 a year and forward it to Geocities, or register it with Geocities (they use Melbourne register), which would cost your about $15 a year. If you know how to work with Photoshop, you would be able to build your own website from Photoshop-created templates uploaded to the webhosting site.

Geocities? Hadn't considered them. I don't have Photoshop (yet). But I think the biggest issue there isn't using Photoshop itself--it's taking decent pictures.

Well, you could always look at GoDaddy.com. Even if you don't like them, they have great commercials.

Coincidentally, here's what my computer geek buddy had to say:

"Hosting is cheap and competition has driven the prices down to almost nothing.

F'rinstance, look at godaddy.com, one of the major players. You'll notice that they top out at $10.49 a month, and that's for some insane corporate amount of storage space, bandwidth and email accounts.

You're looking more at the $2.80 to $3.99 a month range, with domain reg."

I eventually settled on Hostgator. And yes, the prices are cheap. I'll have our new template-derived website up in another week if not sooner.

Hey guys! Thanks for the advice. I finally got it up and running yesterday. www.doctorcoghill.com finally has its version 1.0 completed.

Wayne,
Very nice work there. I think Nancy and I are going to be bothering you for some advice as I try and mover forward with something similar. Any basic advice on what you used and how would be very apperciated. So how much is all of that costing you? What have you done about getting your practice to show up faster, more often on searches?

And I gather that good looking lady really is your sister? She has a nice smile. I gather her patients must really like her. You and I have "Hondas" to promote. They almost sell themselves, right? So where is the pic of the "staff"??? Anyway great work and now I'm gonna be bugging you for advice.
Paul

Looks great, Wayne! Congratulations.

I would also like to thank Paul for saying the politically incorrect thing that everybody else is thinking: Dr. Coghill looks very attractive and professional. Did you take the pictures, Wayne?

No, that's not her and the MA is not Aneka (though she looks a little like our MA Aneka). These are all licensed pictures. See the credits page at the end for where I licensed them for 1 buck each.

Hostgator is my host. I used a template from Fantastico (most web hosting service have Fantastico) but most services will have some type of template driven system to help make a quick website. I didnt use theirs. I downloaded a FREE one named Nvu. Once I completed modifying the templates i just uploaded it to our site on Hostgator.

This website is costing us a whopping $7 a month as opposed to teh other one for >$300/year. Now we do subscribe to RelayHealth for the online office. Thats $22/month.

Oh, and I can't put my mug on the website since it would scare people away.


Thank

Wayne,
Ya know I was going to say that the backgrounds looked way to clean (empty white walls and stuff) to be a real PCP's office in a probably cramped NYC practice. But I figured you guys might of had the shots taken at a studio or something. Next time I go with my gut... You syc'ed my out, good work there.

So could you have posted pictures of your own and you just went with "canned" ones anyway? We have some nice "cute" pictures of us and the kids, even one where we are all dressed up in old wild west like costumes. We've been running that one for a while when we take out ads. Still looks good, but with real pics people kind of know what to expect. I can't tell you how many folks walk in here and if I come out and say hello and greet them "oh your the man in the pictures, nice to meet you." I swear.

Well, I could post my own pictures. Just need a jpeg or bmt file. But I would have to take the pictures. Several issues there.

I'm not good at taking pictures, though once in a blue moon I get lucky. Almost exactly like my social life.

I don't have a digital camera. So I'd have to buy one, or use my regular camera and get it developed onto CD. But I'd need to take up the whole roll. Well, I guess I wouldn't HAVE to, but, well, you know....

So I went with canned. Perhaps during Xmas I'll get Vicky to take a white coat to DC and we can use my other sister's camera to take a head shot of her anyway.

Oh, and you can get a clean shot of a cramped nyc office. Check out nyobgyn.com (Dr. Meimaris) or midtowngyn.com (McDaniel). I've been to McDaniels office since its around the block and I know her. Haven't met Meimaris.

There are cheep digital cameras that have resolutions low enough to be fine for a web page but high enough to not look TOO bad - priced now under $30!

V

That sounds like a good present for my 11-year-old. You got a particular one you would recommend?

Oh, I guess I could have used my cell phone camera.

I used the Yahoo Site Builder. It is only $12/month and really easy to set up. Certainly nothing fancy and can be edited ad lib. I use it mostly for providing vital information about our practice but also to show potential patients what kind office we run. I have to admit, it has brought in quite a bit of new business for me, mostly because I think a lot of people are looking for a small, caring, fun, laid back place to get naked and reveal their inner most secrets. I have not had any problems at all with it and it comes with email addresses with the domain name.

Leslie
www.lstrousemd.com

Leslie,
Very cute website. It does have a nice personal touch to it. And Again it is really nice to have a face to put with the person I know on the board.
Vinny,
We really need a way to post pictures and diagrams here. Can we do it, can it be done????

Well, the site certainly would not win any competition and likely would not fly in a major metropolitan area but it has helped us to attract the kinds of patients we like...down-to-earth, laid back and with senses of humor. People looking for stuffed shirts and stiff bed-side manners need not look here.

Leslie

oooo!, get naked and reveal innermost secrets! Sounds fun.

Sorry, I'm a former rogue and just couldn't resist.

Your site has a really personal touch, espeically with the pictures of you "having fun."

I also like your policy page. Do you mind if I plagerize a little?