Many times small businesses wishing to gain exposure online have a limited budget. They seek out services that offer free hosting services to ease their expenses. This is usually true for companies wanting to try an online business for the first time. This type of web hosting is offered by various companies to help small business get started. The whole idea behind free web host services is simple: the web host allows for free service for a small business in order to put a website online. In order to do this the host company puts ads on the client's website so that they can get some return for the space given. This type of free service is supported entirely by the web host's advertisements and comes with some 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.
With the advent of several cheap hosting services the requirements for free web hosting is diminishing at a faster rate. People are now able to access shared and dedicated web hosting services at a much lesser rate that is also hosting their sites faster. However, the emergence of blog has boosted the growth of free hosting services. Since blogs are easy to set up and manage, people often feel that they can opt for such an easy going service rather that hiring and spending on companies for website hosting. With Free web hosting services companies are trying to impart the benefits of individual websites that has several other advantages over blogs.
Free web host reliability
Since the prime objective of a web host is to make money, and a free host makes money off the ads on your website it is in their best interest to keep you up and running. There are some occasions that will cause a problem with service. Some clients report the free company for spam, or hacking and also complain about the free hosting company utilizing automatic installation of features like PHP or CGI that can cause slowdowns. All of the extra add-ons can create instability and down time. Those problems do not usually happen to large established companies, but more often with small start up web hosts.
Pros of free web hosting
1. Free hosting websites are beneficial for students of web designing, hosting and development. They can use the free hosting services to store information about web designing, development and website maintenance in their knowledge bank. Basically a free web hosting service can be used for learning purposes. It can also be used as a testing procedure. Using these techniques, students can practically clarify their concept of websites without investing anything. For example boinc.ch offers free accounts in their server especially for those interested in UNIX environment. This free hosting service is targeted to students coupled with developers. People interested in personal homepage can also make the maximum utilization of such a free service.
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. Another great use of the free web host service is for groups and communities who need to share their information between each other. They can share their ideals, and feelings on many issues great and small for free. The free web hosts are great for groups with limited financial resources but a lot to share with the world, and other like-minded communities. They can share data and mutual links to their websites and allow more people to find them through these services. From a purely SEO standpoint these free services offer great benefits to this type of organization.
4. Free web hosts are a great idea for family websites too. Members of a family can share the special moments with the world in the form of pictures and diaries. Free web hosts have limitations on how much space is allowed to host such things but most can be done in a small amount.
The cons of 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 to share pictures and data is very low on a free service provider. You will get much more with a paid service.
3. Free space is also very low meaning you have very limited disk space on the server for holding your files and data.
4. The greatest disadvantage most people find with free websites are the banners and other ad like pop ups and pop unders that are placed all over their websites. It takes away perceived value when visitors click on their site and gives off a negative feeling on the usefulness of the company. Some of the ads can be compulsory in nature.
5. The clients are generally not provided any type of uptime guarantee
6. Not all types of files can be uploaded in the websites. Free websites have restrictions to files like MP3, MPEG, ZIP etc.
7. Most of the free hosts do not provide any customer support as they consider it as of low priority. Even if, some provide such services, it is often limited to a month or so.
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.
With the advent of several cheap hosting services the requirements for free web hosting is diminishing at a faster rate. People are now able to access shared and dedicated web hosting services at a much lesser rate that is also hosting their sites faster. However, the emergence of blog has boosted the growth of free hosting services. Since blogs are easy to set up and manage, people often feel that they can opt for such an easy going service rather that hiring and spending on companies for website hosting. With Free web hosting services companies are trying to impart the benefits of individual websites that has several other advantages over blogs.
Free web host reliability
Since the prime objective of a web host is to make money, and a free host makes money off the ads on your website it is in their best interest to keep you up and running. There are some occasions that will cause a problem with service. Some clients report the free company for spam, or hacking and also complain about the free hosting company utilizing automatic installation of features like PHP or CGI that can cause slowdowns. All of the extra add-ons can create instability and down time. Those problems do not usually happen to large established companies, but more often with small start up web hosts.
Pros of free web hosting
1. Free hosting websites are beneficial for students of web designing, hosting and development. They can use the free hosting services to store information about web designing, development and website maintenance in their knowledge bank. Basically a free web hosting service can be used for learning purposes. It can also be used as a testing procedure. Using these techniques, students can practically clarify their concept of websites without investing anything. For example boinc.ch offers free accounts in their server especially for those interested in UNIX environment. This free hosting service is targeted to students coupled with developers. People interested in personal homepage can also make the maximum utilization of such a free service.
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. Another great use of the free web host service is for groups and communities who need to share their information between each other. They can share their ideals, and feelings on many issues great and small for free. The free web hosts are great for groups with limited financial resources but a lot to share with the world, and other like-minded communities. They can share data and mutual links to their websites and allow more people to find them through these services. From a purely SEO standpoint these free services offer great benefits to this type of organization.
4. Free web hosts are a great idea for family websites too. Members of a family can share the special moments with the world in the form of pictures and diaries. Free web hosts have limitations on how much space is allowed to host such things but most can be done in a small amount.
The cons of 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 to share pictures and data is very low on a free service provider. You will get much more with a paid service.
3. Free space is also very low meaning you have very limited disk space on the server for holding your files and data.
4. The greatest disadvantage most people find with free websites are the banners and other ad like pop ups and pop unders that are placed all over their websites. It takes away perceived value when visitors click on their site and gives off a negative feeling on the usefulness of the company. Some of the ads can be compulsory in nature.
5. The clients are generally not provided any type of uptime guarantee
6. Not all types of files can be uploaded in the websites. Free websites have restrictions to files like MP3, MPEG, ZIP etc.
7. Most of the free hosts do not provide any customer support as they consider it as of low priority. Even if, some provide such services, it is often limited to a month or so.
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About the author: Looking to find the cheapest web hosting available, then visit www.webhostingmadness.com to compare prices and ratings for the top hosting companies.
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