Designing new website
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Currently I’m using Squarespace for my website, but I plan to migrate to WordPress as I’m working through the roadmap. Ideally I want to keep the squarespace one running whilst I design a new one from scratch – I’ve got a few months left on the subscription anyway.
I’ve signed up with Siteground, and from what I can tell they offer a “Staging” service where I can draft a new website whilst keeping the Squarespace one live, then switch over when I’m done. However, I need to upgrade from their “Startup” to “GrowBig” plan, which is an extra £8/month for 12 months, so about £100 for the year
However, I also own two domains – one with the UK spelling of my company, and one with the US. For an extra £16/year, it seemed worthwhile at the time (though now I’m not sure – does anyone actually type my domain name direct into the address bar?). Currently one just redirects to the other. But could I use the one that’s redirecting to build a new site, whilst keeping the main one online via squarespace?
Sorry if this is a stupid question, I’m just way out of my depth when it comes to web design!
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Hey Chris. 🙂
First off, you don’t need to use the staging site option on Siteground in order to remain live on Squarespace. That’s because it is the domain which matters. As long as your domain is still pointing to Squarespace, nobody will see what you’re doing on Siteground. Even if you’re working on the “live” site on Siteground, nobody can see it until you switch the domain over.
So, you could definitely point one of your domains to Siteground just so you can work on the site there. Keeo the domain the public uses over on Squarespace.
Then, when you’re ready to make the move, you just point your domain to Siteground and you’ll be live.
Another thing…
I’m about to post some stuff on this on the main site – and here in the LAB – but I have just switched my own hosting over to Cloudways. And I really think Cloudways is a STRONG contender to replace Siteground as my main recommendation.
The GrowBig plan on Siteground is going to run you $24.99/month (US) after your initial intro period. For about half that amount, you can get a virtual private server with Cloudways, with more power, more disk space, and all the goodies.
I’m going to be recording some videos on how to go about getting around with Cloudways, because a VPS is a different kind of hosting. But, it is way more bang for your buck. And Cloudways is just as easy to use on the backend. You don’t have to deal with all the nerd stuff typical of a “raw” VPS.
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David, I’d love more information on Cloudways. I’m with Siteground and it keeps getting more expensive. I’ve been with them for a little less than 4 years, and in that time the annual cost has gone from $107 up to around $360. Now I do have 3 websites with them (as that is allowed with the Grow Big plan). I’m not sure if changing is worth it, but one of my pet peeves is price increases without warning. The way I find out the price has gone up is when the amount on my credit card is higher than anticipated. . . This just happened to me, and so I’m feeling a bit annoyed at the moment, lol.
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Cloudways is a VPS host, so it is a pretty fast setup. Now, it isn’t an all-in-one package like Siteground, though. Cloudways wont handle your email, your domains, etc. I’ve got a new post in the works that goes over more of this about Cloudways and VPS.
FYI, I am looking into the possibility of including hosting here in THE LAB. Lifetime members would need to pay something for it, though, because I can’t possibly bundle hosting for life. 🙂 But, one of the companies I’m looking at to partner with is indeed Siteground. And then you’d have us as a support layer there to help with things.
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David, I’m looking forward to your new post. And you offering hosting is an interesting thought!
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We’ll see how it comes together. The thing I like about Siteground as a partner would be that while people are a member here in the LAB, we can act as a concierge and not just host the site, but help specifically on some of the tech things related to the online business. We’d be able to collaborate on the site, and each member would be more like a client. But, if the member wants to leave the LAB, they can just take their site with them easily and take over the billing. Last thing I want is to hold anybody hostage. So, we’ll see what happens. 🙂 Noodling things around here.
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Thanks Dave, that helps. I’ve just signed up to a year with Siteground… but TBH if it’s even slightly less complex I don’t mind paying a bit more for the moment – I’m learning all this as I go!
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I am using https://www.amscomputer.com and have for years (2000?) I have three sites and pay $6.99 a month. It went up a dollar this year and they apologized!! I pay extra for the annual security https but it’s under $20. My emails are there too. I’m not a techie but my corner web designer set me up with them and I’ve never had a problem.
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Marylee, thanks for the heads up. How are they with customer service? One thing I will say about Siteground is that they do a great job with service. I’d have to go into my support tickets to recall exactly what, but if I’ve had an issue with something they go in and do the work for me. I feel like they are my tech people, and that is worth a lot to me.
I pay for 3 months of Siteground at a time, so I’m good for the next few months, but will keep note of the info you shared.
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