Alternative to BluDomain.com at DVinfo.net

Michael Clark · August 5th, 2010, 10:25 AM

For a year or two, I've been looking for a company who does a nice-looking, easy to edit, google-search-able website template for $1000 or less. Something along the lines of BluDomain, but I've read certain things that make me nervous about using them. Our church bought a template last year through a company called cloversites.com. As webmaster for the church site, I've been very pleased with them so far - superb customer service. Today, they've announced an expansion for other types of businesses, including artists. I'm not at all affiliated with Clover, other than being a user. But I thought I'd recommend it to others to check out. The cost is $1,000 up front, then $20/month for hosting (100GBs of storage). They've got a nice video player, reservation calendar, and all the other fixin's. Just thought some of you might be interested. I'm definitely considering updating my own.

Joel Peregrine · August 5th, 2010, 11:20 AM

Do the recent controversies over the future of flash worry any people? I started feeding my youtube channel more when it became clear that my flash samples weren't visible on iphones and now the ipad. Youtube had just started their html5 beta and at the same time the discussions started to circulate that flash would be pushed out of the marketplace in favor of an open source standard. I love the way flash websites come across, but I've kept my aging html design mostly because of the SEO benefits. I've been working on and off on a wordpress website update but I'm still waiting to see how flash will adapt to mobile browsing...

Bill Vincent · August 5th, 2010, 11:27 AM

Wix.com is a really inexpensive solution - you can design your own site from templates and it has a lot of good functionality, including vimeo and youtube support. It's not the most sophisticated out there, but really inexpensive and easy to build a site with.

The Flash controversy doesn't bother me too much - everyone is using it right now, and until that tide changes I'm not too worried. I've never had one person complain about our site being Flash based. You can also build a blog with HTML5 using any of a number of blog creation sites, so you'd have the best of both worlds.

Showitfast.com is another site builder/host solution but they are much more expensive than wix.com. Their interface is also a more steep learning curve - so much so that I determined that I'd need a designer to use showit. They do have lots of nice features that are geared toward photographers (and modifiable for videographer use).

Good luck - and if you find something else please post about it!

August 5th, 2010, 10:25 AM	#1
Michael Clark Major Player Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Chattanooga, TN Posts: 244	Alternative to BluDomain.com For a year or two, I've been looking for a company who does a nice-looking, easy to edit, google-search-able website template for $1000 or less. Something along the lines of BluDomain, but I've read certain things that make me nervous about using them. Our church bought a template last year through a company called cloversites.com. As webmaster for the church site, I've been very pleased with them so far - superb customer service. Today, they've announced an expansion for other types of businesses, including artists. I'm not at all affiliated with Clover, other than being a user. But I thought I'd recommend it to others to check out. The cost is $1,000 up front, then $20/month for hosting (100GBs of storage). They've got a nice video player, reservation calendar, and all the other fixin's. Just thought some of you might be interested. I'm definitely considering updating my own. __________________ www.clarkvideoproductions.com

August 5th, 2010, 11:20 AM	#2
Joel Peregrine Major Player Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Wisconsin Posts: 689	Do the recent controversies over the future of flash worry any people? I started feeding my youtube channel more when it became clear that my flash samples weren't visible on iphones and now the ipad. Youtube had just started their html5 beta and at the same time the discussions started to circulate that flash would be pushed out of the marketplace in favor of an open source standard. I love the way flash websites come across, but I've kept my aging html design mostly because of the SEO benefits. I've been working on and off on a wordpress website update but I'm still waiting to see how flash will adapt to mobile browsing... __________________ WeddingFilms.com>>

August 5th, 2010, 11:27 AM	#3
Bill Vincent Major Player Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Nashville, TN Posts: 253	Wix.com is a really inexpensive solution - you can design your own site from templates and it has a lot of good functionality, including vimeo and youtube support. It's not the most sophisticated out there, but really inexpensive and easy to build a site with. The Flash controversy doesn't bother me too much - everyone is using it right now, and until that tide changes I'm not too worried. I've never had one person complain about our site being Flash based. You can also build a blog with HTML5 using any of a number of blog creation sites, so you'd have the best of both worlds. Showitfast.com is another site builder/host solution but they are much more expensive than wix.com. Their interface is also a more steep learning curve - so much so that I determined that I'd need a designer to use showit. They do have lots of nice features that are geared toward photographers (and modifiable for videographer use). Good luck - and if you find something else please post about it!