Free website hosting is an option that many people can take advantage of. However, it is hardly the best option for most websites. If you want to just have a simple website put up, perhaps for your personal messages to friends, free website hosting is fine. Keep in mind, though, that shared hosting is another option and it is highly affordable, too. If you want to upgrade, do so. However, if you are planning to use free hosting services instead, there are a few things you should know about them.
The Advertising
One of the biggest drawbacks for those who are looking for free web hosting is the advertising that is done on these sites. Since the companies offering it are unable to charge you money (hence, they are free) they do place numerous ads on your web pages. Those ads can be one of the biggest problems for website owners, especially when they create pop up windows. Be sure that you are comfortable with the types and the content of the ads the company offers.
Space
Another problem with free web hosts is that they limit space. Most of the time, free hosting gives you about 5 MB of space. This may be okay for those who have very small websites, however it is unlikely to be enough for a business or even a professional's website. If you want to put photos, sound files or video clips up, it may take up all of your space.
Files
Another problem is that some free hosts do put in maximum size limitations on the files that you upload. Some of the lowest are 200 KB, which really is not enough for most people. On other web hosts, you may be limited to the types of files that you can upload, such as you may only be able to upload in HTML or JPEG files. These limitations differ from one host to another, though.
Reliability
Yet another concern when it comes to free website hosting is the reliability. Reliability is a term used to describe how well the website works, especially when it is faced with a large influx of traffic or when it is battling against other websites that have a large amount of traffic. If a website host is not reliable, this means that it will frequently crash or not load properly for visitors. The speed of accessing the site is also affected here. Visitors are more likely to close the website than to wait more than a few seconds for it to load. Again, you have to take into consideration how important it is to you to have your website up and functional all the time.
Is free website hosting worth it? It may be, if you do not mind having an unreliable website that has ads on it. This is not the best environment, however, for a business website. Keep in mind that it does not cost much to host a small website on a paid shared website host anyway. |
