These days there are many affordable web hosting services available to meet every need. With these cheap hosting tools you can create everything from the simplest of sites to multi faceted, complex sites that can manage files, be controlled through remote commands, and allow downloads. But what about free web hosting? Some web hosting service providers offer plans with no monthly charge. These plans can be great for people just starting out. Maybe you’d like to start a blog, or host an online discussion through the use of forums? This is a very cost effective way to do simple things on the internet. The downside might already be obvious. In web hosting (as in many things in life) you get what you pay for, and free, while helpful for some things, is very basic. If you want to launch a large business on the web or host any type of content heavy site, free hosting may not be powerful enough to meet your needs.
Listed below are some things that might not be included or limited with some free web hosting programs:
- For example, most free hosting sites offer only one gig or less of bandwidth. As mentioned in previous articles, bandwidth is what determines the amount of data that can be transferred within a given period of time. In other words, it affects whether a visitor to your page sees your content. Often bandwidth for paid plans is unlimited.
- Access to cert scripts might be limited. If you intend to use PERL, CGI, or any other type of programming language, free web hosting probably won’t support it. CGI allows you to do things like create online shopping carts like those seen on amazon.com and other commercial websites. You can create user log ins for your website, create search functions and much more. PERL is a multipurpose coding language that can be quite versatile for the knowledgeable user.
- Less customer service options available. A paid for plan may include more customer service options, unlimited email accounts, script support, secure shell functions, and always offer significantly more memory than free plans.
- And the biggest reason: Advertising is placed on your site. Sometimes free hosting services will make up for the fact that they aren’t charging you by forcing you to have ads on your websites. Most free web hosting services won’t give you any control over the content of these ads, so be aware of this. Sometimes the way the content is assigned to your site is done by looking at keywords. Unfortunately this can work against you. No one wants to go to a lovingly crafted nature site about tiger endangerment just to be bombarded by ads about Tiger Woods. If you attend to go for the ultimate in affordable webhosting and sign up with a free service, try and find one that offers ad free hosting. Be careful, though. The companies that offer free web hosting have to make money somehow, so they may require you to participate in a number of different things to facilitate that, such as posting in forums, clicking on ads on other web pages, and so on.
The upside of free web hosting is that it is a great way to learn the ins and outs of creating web pages before deciding if you would truly like to devote time and money towards improving your sites. It allows you to get a feel for what is possible with web hosting. It will teach you necessary terms like bandwidth and then show you how it applies directly to you and your needs. Trying out a free hosting service is also a great way to assess what you want out of an cheap web host. Maybe you find that you really enjoy the service, but you’re growing beyond the tools offered with the free plan. Maybe, as your popularity, sales, or interest grow, you find you need more email addresses, the ability to run scripts, and more space. Most of these free plans offer upgrades that give you all these things and more at budget rates.
Free web hosting can be a great way to decide if paid but affordable plans are a service that will improve your business, message, or blog. As you and your site grow, so will your needs, and there are many web host providers who can take you all the way from free to the highest level of service you end up needing. Check out some of these free offers today! Be wary about ads, sites that are hard to navigate, and be sure to choose the features that are the most helpful to you. If you follow this advice, the world of webhosting might be yours to do with what you will! Make your mark on the World Wide Web today.
