Free Web Hosting: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly
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Small businesses that wish to feature their services in internet often seek free and low priced web hosting services. This statement is generally true for companies who want to feature new websites. Free web hosting services offered by several hosting companies match the requirements of such businesses. The concept of free web hosting is based on a simple idea: a web host would provide free server space for hosting a small or medium business website. In return of this service the hosting companies would display advertisements on the client’s site and consequently earn from it. The free web hosting service is completely supported by advertisements but has its own limitations.
Clients of these services are easily lured by the no-cost features. Many of the hosts of free web space offer wonderful software and management capabilities for a free site. They then display pop up, pop under, or banner ads on the client’s website. Some also place these ads inside the client’s work space such as on their control panel with the provision they must click on them, or at least in the hopes they will. They may display these ads in other areas of the work space as well like on the file manager, etc.
The search for free hosting services has lessened over time with the development of many companies providing low cost web hosting with greater flexibility and no ads. Since these services offer great savings over most high cost web hosting plans with much more options and capabilities than free space business are now choosing these over free plans. The newest marketing and social crazy, blogging began to give free services a boon. As those blogs became easier to set up and use, however, that too is taking a backseat to the ability to blog on a cheap site without the additional technical help that used to be required.
How reliable are free web hosts?
Since the free hosts make money from the banner advertisements or resources related to it, they have more possibility of staying in the business. But it often happens that someone or some other company complains against their web hosting server declaring it as spam, hacker, etc, Complaints also crawl up if any free web hosting company utilizes an automated instant activation to offer other features like that of PHP or CGI. This is because free server consumes lot of downtime or the performance reduces considerably. This however, happens with the new web hosts but those who are professional generally don’t go for such offers.
The upside of free web hosts:
1. The free web hosting environments are great for students practicing web design, and their own hosting along with development. It allows them to store their projects, test them, and create them for free with no stress. They can expand their knowledge bank, and even share the information between each other. It is a valuable testing tool so they can see if their concepts are applicable and functional. It is a wonderful environment for creativity. Some web hosts cater specifically to that crowd such as boinc.ch who allows free accounts on their server for developers and students. People interested in creating a personal homepage can make great use of the features from these sites as well as it gives them the ability and freedom to share their personal life for free.
2. Another valuable use for free web hosting services is to volunteer organizations, and those companies that are not-for-profit. These institutions need to share their messages with the world but often have a very limited budget. The internet is the best way to reach masses of people quickly and free web hosting allows these organizations to do that, and also get donations and other important business on a large scale from many people at once. The same services that are beneficial to students, and personal web site builders are perfect for the volunteer and service organizations as it allows them to get online quickly at no cost. Larger web hosts may provide free service to these organizations for emotional reasons, but the most likely way to obtain free space is with a free host.
3. There are a large number of groups or communities who are eager to share their ideas and feeling on various big and small issues. Free websites can be helpful for such groups who don’t have enough money to invest on a shared or dedicated server. They can utilize the free service by posting useful information and also providing mutual links to their respective websites. This increases their search engine visibility and improves their rankings. Therefore both from SEO and financial perspective they are enjoying the benefit of free web hosting services.
4. Family websites can make great use of the free web hosting services too. They allow families to share information between each other and also with the world. Pictures, and other vital data can be shared in an almost diary form online where others can read and enjoy the experiences. Be sure to check for a web hosts authenticity before embarking on any program that shares your information online.
Cons of free web hosting
Even though the above organizations and individuals can save a great deal of money on free web hosting there are some things to consider before opting for those services.
1. Regardless of what they claim free hosts offer subdomain services not second-level domain.
2. Bandwidth to share pictures and data is very low on a free service provider. You will get much more with a paid service.
3. Since the free space provided is generally low, any file size cannot be uploaded freely in the website.
4. Your site will have many banners, pop ups, pop unders, and other distractions to visitors placed on it. This can look very unprofessional for an organization and diminish the value of the website. It also creates a negative impression to the visitor when they see all the ads and the subdomain name.
5. There is usually no guarantee of uptime.
6. Media and other big files types are not allowed as a rule. Most free sites restrict such files as MP3, MPEG, and ZIP to cut down on space used.
7. There is little to no support. Your ability to operate the site is a low priority to them. If it is offered it is usually short-term just to get you up online so they can make money.
July 29, 2008 by Matt Hedges
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