If you are just starting out on the Internet, you may not want to pay for web hosting just yet. There are many services that provide free hosting. Some are better than others, so it is worth your while to evaluate them closely. Read this article on what you should think about when you are shopping for a free web host.
Many web hosts offer subdomains for free. Basically, your URL would have one part of it customized by you, but with the host's name as the ".com." If you do not want your web host's name in any part of your URL, then you need to make sure that your free web host offers you the option to use your own domain name, which you have to pay for and register. Having your own domain name is preferable to a subdomain because if ever you change web hosts, your subdomain with your web host will not exist anymore, and you will have to come up with your own domain name if you want to transfer your website files to another host.
Many free hosting plans offer a limited amount of server space to their free accounts. That is because they reserve the bulk of their space to their paying customers. If you just intend to create a few personal pages that just have text and graphics, you may not need much space. However, if you are thinking about posting interactive media, the space limit may be an issue for you.
Free web hosts also sometimes limit the number of databases you can have. If you are going to run a content management system that is database-driven, you will need to know if that can be done within these resource limits.
A lot of times, a hosting service will offer free space if you agree to feature their advertisement on your website. You have no control over what type of banners will be display on your site. This may not be such a big problem if you are running a personal website just to share with friends and family. However, if you are creating a website for an organization, these random ad banners will make your site look very unprofessional.
Find out what the statistics are on your free host's up-time. Since staff resources are committed to paying accounts first, the web host may not have adequate staff to keep the free accounts up and running as consistently as you would like. Frequent down times can be frustrating to you and to your site visitors.
The free host may also put a limit on your bandwidth usage. If you just have text and graphics on your website, bandwidth normally would not be an issue. However, if you were offering video streaming, this will pose a bandwidth problem. Take a look at what type of content you will be posting, and take that into consideration.
Be aware that many free hosts do not offer tech support. Help may only be limited to the FAQs on their website. If you are comfortable with troubleshooting website problems, you may be fine with minimal tech support. However, if all this is new to you, you will need to find a free service that offers free support as well.
Good quality free hosting can be found if you know how to look for them. Use the tips in the article to help yourself find the most reliable free web host.
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