I can't recommend any particular package, though when I was in a similar position I used, and still use, one.com, as they were reasonably priced at the time.
My mistake was to choose one of their own domain suffixes, specifically ".one", so all my various email addresses are of the form qwerty@asdfgh.one
They work fine and are reliable, but not all website auto validation algorithms will accept "~.one" as a valid email address, which caused me some problems.
I'd now choose something more conventional as in "~.co.uk" or "~.com" etc
I was originally planning on a "~.eu" but it's a good job I decided against that one.

Bill

I've had my own domain for better than 20 years parked at EasyDNS. No problem at all till recently. Be aware that gmail is now rigorously enforcing security/authentication measures that may prevent you from sending to gmail addresses (those are the ubiquitous ones).

See here for details. Make sure that wherever you park your domain they will assist you.

(I should add that I was sending via my ISP address using my domain credentials – as I have done for 20 years – but only recently has gmail implemented bolshy authentication measures)

Edited By Peter Greene 🇨🇦 on 15/07/2022 01:42:27

Have you checked your ISP, some offer web hosting and email addresses. I am with Zen and can highly recommend them as an ISP and they offer what appears to be a good hosting package.

Have a look at Hostinger, they have good reviews.

But all this does all depend on your knowledge and needs.

I use Ionos (1&1) for both my domain name registrar and as a web host. Journeyman's Workshop has been running without any hosting problems for quite a few years now. I have a few domains registered through Ionos including 'journeymans-workshop.uk' they handle renewals automatically without any hassle.

You need to get through the advertising blurb to choose a suitable hosting package *** this page *** lists the available packages. Unless you need anything complicated the basic £5 per year package is probably OK, that will give you one domain name and an SSL certificate included in the price. The SSL certificate is pretty much a necessity these days to enable running an HTTPS site otherwise you wont get a good Google ranking.

The basic package includes plenty of storage space and gives you up to 10 databases if you want to run WordPress. The domain is only included for the first year and thereafter will need renewing separately, renewal cost will depend on type ie .com is pricey but .co.uk is cheaper.

Hope that helped a bit

John

Edit: Change link

Edited By Journeyman on 15/07/2022 09:00:09

I have my email and website with my ISP, but I now feel trapped with them because of the hassle of changing everything at the same time, just something to be aware of and not something I would do again unless they are not linked contracts.

Baldric.

Finding a good website builder for people with no coding skills is a minefield. Many have limitations, some such as Webeasy can't scale pages to fit phones and ipads so end up not getting indexed,

Undoubtedly the best free uncomplicated website builder is provided by Google. See mine here: My Google website you can connect your own domain to it but I haven't bothered to do that as it's just a hobby website.

I'm retired now but I have 2 domains and keep my old websites hosted with Tshost.com for 14 years, always reliable and a rapid response if you have a problem.

My .co.uk website hosting has remained at £14.99 a year since 2008 although newcomers won't get that price now as the cheapest is 100GB space @ £3.99 a month with free domain name Tshost

Godaddy and many others are aimed at tweenies for instant satisfaction using templates and their own software. This makes it very difficult and often impossible to do your own thing if you have any previous website creation experience for the past. Creating sensible file structures and lightweighe pages are out – massive javascript overheads are in. You are also locked to their software.
Wordpress adds cost and locks you to their software although in theory you can move to other wordpress supporting providers. It too is wrapped up in itself to make it impossible to maintain outside their package. eg all photos are numbered and filed in their structure, not a simple filing system.
Your current ISP probably gives you quite a few emails if you want them, as derivatives of you main one. Those provided with a web package will be locking you in. There are email only services to keep that separate for some portability.

Beware special offers. Our club used 1&1 now Ionos and they provided an unsolicited 'trial' of extra features we didn't want or use. At the end of the trial they sneakily almost doubled the price and changed the direct debit to 6 months so you wouldn't notice if not on the ball.

GoDaddy doubled the price in the second year. Moved the domain name to Weebly, no problems.

I'm fairly sure Robin would have found Ionos do offer what he needs had he persisted. Their offerings are typical, and I doubt other suppliers are any simpler. I fear setting up a website is a shade or two more complicated than Robin expects; the problem is understanding enough to get going. (Story of my life!)

The Ionos start page is very simple; it asks prospective customers to enter their chosen domain name and checks to see if it's already been allocated. If it is, alternatives are offered. For example 'robingraham.co.uk' is gone, but 'robingraham,org' is available.

This page shouldn't be enough to trigger a FFS reaction!

I don't want to knit anything

Knitting is just Ionos trying to be friendly. Websites don't appear by magic. The builder uses tools to organise structure and content as necessary to achieve a design. Can be very simple or very complicated. Knitting's not a bad analogy – needles and wool are used to implement a pattern resulting in a garment that fits the customer. I recommend Robin does a bit more planning: what's the data, if more than one page, how will pages be organised, deciding look and feel, and identifying the tools needed to build the site.

and realise that I 'own' the domain name for the duration of my my contract, that's the deal isn't it?

No, that's not the deal! Ionos don't issue domain names; they find one and register it on your behalf. It's allocated to you, usually for a year, and you can renew independently. Not part of the Ionos contract. It allows websites to move to another provider without changing the website's address, which upsets users. Also allows businesses to protect brand names by registering all the domain names that might conceivably point to them. It's a good thing. ISPs who provide web-hosting often issue domain names that belong to them, which makes it harder to move to another host.

Ionos offer several different packages, covering small and simple up to big and complicated.

• The simple range includes a web-development tool: probably the best option for a beginner because the tool provides standard patterns for the customer to follow. It knows what ordinary folk want; helps them populate their site by box filling; and hides most of the complexity behind the scenes. Going live is often a single button press. Volume of data and traffic, and the number of features available can be upgraded by buying the next package up. Downside, lack of flexibility, basic performance and availability, and proprietary lock-in. Some of the cheaper providers, not Ionos, fund your website by using it to publish their adverts! But well suited to anyone needing a straightforward low-value website that can be developed with the sort of skill levels needed to drive a word-processor. Based Robin using the word 'modicum', I guess the first and cheapest package in this group does more than he needs, apart from email – one.
• The hosting range doesn't include web-development tooling. Instead, the customer develops the website off-line, using whatever tools he wants, builds and tests in private, and only uploads when ready. Ionos don't support development. They provide 99.9% availability (by mirroring websites at two different locations), storage space (starting at 100Gb), RAM (starting at 6Gb) and 1 virtual CPU. There is no quota limit on network traffic, but the developer has to understand platform limitations – 6Gb RAM and 1CPU, will limit the number of concurrent users and the complexity of what they do. In short, this option is 'better' but the developer has to be more technically savvy. Quite a good option because it's usable by anyone with basic developer skills but supports more advanced stuff if needed later. Three email included.

Although Ionos web hosting services come with limited email capability, full volume email can be added. Ionos sell email as a standalone service, supporting anything from single users to large businesses – it just costs more.

I focus only on Ionos because Robin mentioned them. They're fairly typical. Other providers available, so compare prices. Beware – they're all fond of offering super-cheap start-up deals that get pricey after 'n' months!

Dave

In that case my advice to go for the Ionos simple option is wrong. With your background and experience, the Ionos standard hosting package is more suitable. Same with other providers – you want a flexible techy option rather than an easy to use editor that hides features useful to a power-user.

Maybe my suggestion of hosting at home is closer still? For experimental work a dynamic address might be good enough because they don't change very often these days (a generalisation!) Most ISPs will provide a static IP address if needed, in which case your work set-up could be replicated. One warning, running a web-site on a workplace Intranet is safe because Intranets are usually carefully insulated from the wild and woolly internet with separate Firewalls and more run by the IT Department. If you roll a website at home, pay close attention to security because you're on your own! A friend with an insignificant home website was amazed at the attention it got – constantly and aggressively probed from all round the world.

Dave

Consider 123 -reg, get a domain and get their website builder as an extra.