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.
The web hosts take advantage of the desires of small businesses wanting no cost websites to make money by utilizing the traffic from those sites. The free websites often display popup advertising, banners, or other sidebar advertisings placed there by the hosts which the client has no control over. There are even some hosts that offer these services with the provisions that the clients themselves that may appear in the control panels or other management areas of the website, or put those advertisements there hoping the clients will click them.
The free web hosts have dominated the personal web site and small business web site arena for a long time but are being replaced at a quick rate by low cost, or cheap web hosts. The cheap, or low cost hosts give all of the above advantages while not placing any ads on the client's site. They also offer dedicated domain names which is a big draw for many, and the prices are very reasonable-usually paid monthly. They offer many more services and set up features for blogs, forums, and more along with more storage and data space and bandwidth for sharing. Many free hosting companies also offer cheap services with no ads.
How reliable are free web hosts?
While they make money off of the advertisements on the client's sites which gives them incentive to stay in business, many free web hosts have stability issues. It occasionally turns out that someone or another company will declare their web host service complaining of spam, or hacking. That can occur if the host company automatically installs utilities like CGI, or PHP. These things reduce the performance of the server drastically. Professional web hosts are rarely affected by such things. However, it would be a good idea to beware of the startup web host as they are more apt to be subjected to downtime and crashes on account of these things.
The upside of free web hosts:
1. These free websites are terrific for students, or homemakers looking to make money online in their spare time. It gives users with a very limited budget a platform for their views, as well as products and services. These sites can be used to store data or other information thereby making it a great learning resource for students. Some people use the free websites for testing purposes. When doing that a user can test the website concept to see if it will work on a larger scale for their purposes before investing large amounts of money. As an example boinc.ch gives free space to users in order to test its UNIX applications. Most free websites are aimed at students along with developers, and people interested in creating a personal website.
2. Another very valuable use for free hosting services is for voluntary services or organizations and not-for-profit institutions who need to display their message without high costs. This way these organizations can reach millions across the globe without spending money from their tight budget. These volunteer organizations usually have no money but a great need for communications and the free website gives them the ultimate platform for expression and the benefits of acceting donations from all around the world with no hosting costs incurred. By using the free web host services these organizations can create websites that range from a single page to as many as ten pages and broadcast their activities and methods to the public.
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. Free hosting services are ideal for family websites as they can use it personally for sharing photographs, important family events and other unforgettable moments. Though this kind of use is limited, there are websites devoted to such information. As these are personal information, it is always advisable that one goes for an authentic free web hosts only.
The downside to free web hosts
Though webs hosting services are best from monetary aspect, there are several disadvantages which compel the users to think twice before going for such a service.
1. The free host does not provide domain, or even second-level domain names. You will be allocated a subdomain which can be less impressive to viewers.
2. Bandwidth on free services is extremely low and subject to downtimes unlike the paid services.
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 generally no, or very little technical support for customers of the free web hosts since it is not their priority. At most they may offer a month or two of support.
The web hosts take advantage of the desires of small businesses wanting no cost websites to make money by utilizing the traffic from those sites. The free websites often display popup advertising, banners, or other sidebar advertisings placed there by the hosts which the client has no control over. There are even some hosts that offer these services with the provisions that the clients themselves that may appear in the control panels or other management areas of the website, or put those advertisements there hoping the clients will click them.
The free web hosts have dominated the personal web site and small business web site arena for a long time but are being replaced at a quick rate by low cost, or cheap web hosts. The cheap, or low cost hosts give all of the above advantages while not placing any ads on the client's site. They also offer dedicated domain names which is a big draw for many, and the prices are very reasonable-usually paid monthly. They offer many more services and set up features for blogs, forums, and more along with more storage and data space and bandwidth for sharing. Many free hosting companies also offer cheap services with no ads.
How reliable are free web hosts?
While they make money off of the advertisements on the client's sites which gives them incentive to stay in business, many free web hosts have stability issues. It occasionally turns out that someone or another company will declare their web host service complaining of spam, or hacking. That can occur if the host company automatically installs utilities like CGI, or PHP. These things reduce the performance of the server drastically. Professional web hosts are rarely affected by such things. However, it would be a good idea to beware of the startup web host as they are more apt to be subjected to downtime and crashes on account of these things.
The upside of free web hosts:
1. These free websites are terrific for students, or homemakers looking to make money online in their spare time. It gives users with a very limited budget a platform for their views, as well as products and services. These sites can be used to store data or other information thereby making it a great learning resource for students. Some people use the free websites for testing purposes. When doing that a user can test the website concept to see if it will work on a larger scale for their purposes before investing large amounts of money. As an example boinc.ch gives free space to users in order to test its UNIX applications. Most free websites are aimed at students along with developers, and people interested in creating a personal website.
2. Another very valuable use for free hosting services is for voluntary services or organizations and not-for-profit institutions who need to display their message without high costs. This way these organizations can reach millions across the globe without spending money from their tight budget. These volunteer organizations usually have no money but a great need for communications and the free website gives them the ultimate platform for expression and the benefits of acceting donations from all around the world with no hosting costs incurred. By using the free web host services these organizations can create websites that range from a single page to as many as ten pages and broadcast their activities and methods to the public.
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. Free hosting services are ideal for family websites as they can use it personally for sharing photographs, important family events and other unforgettable moments. Though this kind of use is limited, there are websites devoted to such information. As these are personal information, it is always advisable that one goes for an authentic free web hosts only.
The downside to free web hosts
Though webs hosting services are best from monetary aspect, there are several disadvantages which compel the users to think twice before going for such a service.
1. The free host does not provide domain, or even second-level domain names. You will be allocated a subdomain which can be less impressive to viewers.
2. Bandwidth on free services is extremely low and subject to downtimes unlike the paid services.
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 generally no, or very little technical support for customers of the free web hosts since it is not their priority. At most they may offer a month or two of support.
About the Author:
This article is published with permission from http://www.webhostingmadness.com, a provider of hosting company ratings, comparisons and detailed articles about the web hosting industry.
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