5 Things to Consider When Thinking About Free Web Hosting

	Contents Overview Purpose of the Site Available Space Bandwidth Customization Customer Service Conclusion About the Author

Ads for free web hosting are everywhere on the internet. It may seem like a great deal at first glance because paying monthly or annual web hosting fees can get expensive. Choosing a free web host is the best decision in some cases, but not always. There are several things to consider before making a commitment.

If you plan to build a personal or family site to share information, free web hosting is an excellent choice. Free web hosting may not be the best choice, however, for a business or direct sell site because visitors are often bombarded with unwanted ads. These ads allow the web host to offer you the free service, but don’t do much in the way of making your site appear reputable.

Another factor to consider is how much information you plan to upload to the site. Most free web hosts offer plenty of space for blogs or hobby pages, but if you plan to expand your site significantly it may be best to go with a paid web host that offers enough space to add information as your website expands.

Bandwidth determines how much information can be provided to visitors in a set amount of time. For websites with few visitors this won’t be a concern, but if you’re hoping for large amounts of traffic this is an important factor to consider. If your site receives more visitors than the server allows, readers will receive an error message and will be denied access.

Free web hosts are great for having fun and learning to build a site, but for those with experience in site building they may prove too restrictive. Paid web hosts offer different programming options that allow you to customize the site to fit your needs.

Customer service doesn’t seem like a big deal until something goes wrong. Free web hosts have no obligation to offer extensive support because you aren’t paying for a service. Good customer service is necessary for monetized and business sites because you can’t afford for the site to be down while you try to repair technical glitches.

Editor’s comment: The two larger free services, Blogger.com and WordPress.com allow users a lot of hosting space and provide a lot of facilities, but are more restrictive than having your control of your own domain.

Free web hosting is a great deal for those who want to have fun building their own site. If your site is intended to sell items, provide a service or bring in revenue through ad clicks, paid hosting offers necessary advantages to keep the money and traffic coming in.

About the Author

This article was written by Phill from WhoIsHostingThis.