Web Hosting Geeks' Blog » free web hosting http://webhostinggeeks.com/blog Web Hosting Industry News, Latest Trends, and Analyses. Thu, 09 Feb 2012 05:48:19 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 Critical Factors for Choosing a Web Hosthttp://webhostinggeeks.com/blog/2011/02/08/critical-factors-choosing-web-host/ http://webhostinggeeks.com/blog/2011/02/08/critical-factors-choosing-web-host/#comments Tue, 08 Feb 2011 20:13:08 +0000 Art http://webhostinggeeks.com/blog/?p=1408 Today’s global economy demands a web presence in order to be considered a formidable competitor.  For small and mid-size companies, navigating web hosting services is often a daunting task, occasionally frustrating.   Due in large part to the numerous web host servers readily available to fit your new business needs and budget.

There are several things you should take into consideration when selecting a web hosting service for your new online business including:  customer service, price, domain names, and upgrade options.

Efficient Customer Service

Before closing a deal, you should always know your business partner. Whether attempting to contact the interested web host service company via phone, e-mail or learn more about the services each offers reading website information and client testimonials, gauging customer service is an essential component when making a final decision.  Thriving business owners realize their key to successfully acquiring and retaining customers is excellent customer service; web hosting services are not immune from the same curiosity.

A respected web host service representative should return messages within 24 hours, answer questions honestly and value your time as a potential client – if not then move on to your next option.  If the web host service doesn’t respond in a timely manner, then chances aren’t any better in troubleshooting assistance.

Affordable Pricing

Pricing is another significant aspect to consider when opting for a web host package.  Many new online businesses get into financial trouble when purchasing a web host because either they aim too high or too low.  Quality service should never be compromised, but neither should it be ridiculously priced.  If you’re a small business owner, then you won’t need all of the bells and whistles as those of larger websites.   Although starting a website, estimating visitors and bandwidth usage is difficult, consider your current client base.

Free web hosting is tempting for many new online entrepreneurs; however, it’s not always the best option even though being affordable.   A free web host typically requires your website to display ads of various products and services.   Visitors quickly equate the pop-up ads as annoying and quickly exit left to your nearest competitor’s website.   Summary:  avoid free web hosting unless you’re testing a specific market or sharpening your web design skills.

Dependable Domain Names

It’s equally important to spend some serious thought and effort into a domain name for your online business.   A good web hosting provider will offer you at least one free domain name per hosting account. Of course, receiving the free domain is the easy part. Chances are the first name you choose will already be taken, so consider several different options.   A legit domain name should be easy to remember, spelled correctly, and relate to your business.   If you opt to use a free web hosting service, be aware that typically your online address requires you to include part of the web host’s address to your domain name.

Despite being affordable, the convoluted web domain name confuses existing customers searching for information online and detracts potential new sale leads.   A lengthy web address also wrecks havoc on SEO rankings.  When picking a profitable domain name, paying for the convenience of owning a personalized address is a worth-well investment.

Available Upgrade Options

Finally, before settling on a web host, be familiar with the available upgrade options.  Initially, your online business endeavors shouldn’t require a fully-loaded web hosting package, however, as your business grows, so will your need to accommodate web visitors.   The most common reason small business owners find for upgrading websites is due to an increase in web traffic to your website, which means the demand for more bandwidth.  A couple of advanced upgrade options preferred by larger online businesses include Managed Hosting and Unlimited Managed Hosting packages.  Upgrade options depend greatly on individual needs and available budgets.

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]]> http://webhostinggeeks.com/blog/2011/02/08/critical-factors-choosing-web-host/feed/ 0 Free Web Hosting Limitshttp://webhostinggeeks.com/blog/2011/01/13/free-web-hosting-limits/ http://webhostinggeeks.com/blog/2011/01/13/free-web-hosting-limits/#comments Thu, 13 Jan 2011 18:32:47 +0000 Dmitry http://webhostinggeeks.com/blog/?p=3557 If you are thinking about saving on web hosting costs then you should consider free web hosting services that don’t cost a penny and which, though they have not very great functionality, still allows you to have a presence on the Web. In addition, it is usual to get a sub-domain or even a directory to your name and it is often the case that free web hosting services will also allow you to use domains that you have purchased separately. However, before choosing a free web hosting service, you need to know about the top web hosting services and make sure that you are aware of the limitations to choosing the best web hosting service. So, before reading up on web hosting reviews look at what the limitations to using free web hosting services are and then make your choice.

Some of the limitations to using free web hosting services include limits on the size of the hosted file, tinier bandwidth each month, does not allow hot linking to files and it may not have the facility of certain files such as MP3, MPEG and ZIP files. In addition, with free web hosting services, you may have no alternative but to place the Webhost Banner or even Popup advertisements into each of your web pages, and worst of all, there is no guarantee of how much uptime you are going to get. Nevertheless, the free web hosting service could provide some extras such as control panel that is web based, transfer of files using FTP and use of scripting languages and even relational databases as also guestbook.

There are some methods used of giving out free web hosting that includes instant activation, approved activation, and post for hosting as well as forum hosting. In the case of instant activation, you will generally be given very small storage space and there is very little bandwidth allowance as well plus you have to put up with many other limitations as well. And, you will also be at risk of being spammed.

In case you go for approved activation you will get plenty of space as well as good bandwidth though there will be few features and such approved applications are generally needing approval of administrators who are employed by the free web hosting service and who need to validate your application depending on the information that you have supplied, which is really meant to help avoid spamming from occurring and also discouraging your website from becoming a phishing website.

It is also usual for some free web hosting services to require that you post on a forum and free hosting that is forum-based will require that you contribute a number of posts before you are given free hosting with them. Such forum based free hosting usually runs on the basis of points for each post which can be used in order to get a free hosting account.

Another thing that free web hosting services discourage is use of their service for file or image to be hosted and you will not also get a web page because that is where they put out their own advertisements. Also, in case your files exceeds a certain limit, the free web hosting service may not allow it though you can avail of some file hosting service for free that do permit extra large files and also hot linking.

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]]> http://webhostinggeeks.com/blog/2011/01/13/free-web-hosting-limits/feed/ 1 Choosing a Web Hosting Companyhttp://webhostinggeeks.com/blog/2011/01/13/choosing-web-hosting-company/ http://webhostinggeeks.com/blog/2011/01/13/choosing-web-hosting-company/#comments Thu, 13 Jan 2011 18:02:08 +0000 Dmitry http://webhostinggeeks.com/blog/?p=3545 There are number of factors that are to be considered while choosing a company for posting your web site. Internet marketing is one of the most growing businesses these days. A number of business meetings are arranged online to allow people from different part of the world communicate with each other.

The internet marketing techniques can be used to make your website better and generate more revenue. There are basically two reasons why a person posts a webpage online. One aim is of person revenue generation. There are a number of other motives too. There are some business organizations who post a website to make them more approachable amongst the masses. The approachability to a particular organization is one of the very important factors that govern the growth of the organization. Also there are a number of websites that are meant to make the people aware of the different products that a company deals in.

There are other motives for which a person might be interested in posting a web site. There is a number of revenue generating features that can be used in a web site. The tools such as Adsense etc that can be placed on a web page require you to carry a web page. Also there are other companies that get them registered to post the advertisement on the Internet.

These companies are enrolled in a program wherein they are required to pay for each click that they receive. This is basically used to make a website more popular. Thus depending on your need you make choose a web hosting company that can serve you efficiently.

There are a number of websites that allows you to post your website online for free. These include the Geocities that is powered by Yahoo. Geocities allows you to post a web page so that you may post the details of an individual or the links of a company as a whole.

There are other companies too that also allows you to post your web site for free. One of the important factors that decide the selection process of deciding the right company is the budget. Obviously there are a number of extra features that you are provided with when you register with a paid web hosting company. These tools may directly enhance your reputation and your position in the internet search pages. The rank of a particular website is not dependent on the web hosting company that a person registers with; it is more dependants on the content that your website carries.

If you are looking for a web hosting company then you should first decide upon your requirement and the size of the data that you need to put up on the Internet. Also you should consider the privacy that a particular web hosting company provides you.

One should carefully decide upon a particular web hosting company depending on the factors that have been mentioned above. By carefully checking the above mentioned factors you can be sure of the revenue that you generate.

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]]> http://webhostinggeeks.com/blog/2011/01/13/choosing-web-hosting-company/feed/ 0 Beginner’s Guide to Web Hostinghttp://webhostinggeeks.com/blog/2011/01/13/beginners-guide-to-web-hosting/ http://webhostinggeeks.com/blog/2011/01/13/beginners-guide-to-web-hosting/#comments Thu, 13 Jan 2011 17:52:15 +0000 Dmitry http://webhostinggeeks.com/blog/?p=3540 Web hosting is basically an Internet service that allows companies and individuals to create their own space on the Internet. Web hosting companies have servers that act as data centres. Customers will give files to their web hosting providers and those files will be stored in the data centres. They can then be found by anybody who wants to visit that person’s or company’s website.

There are many web hosting services available, mainly these are divided between free web hosting and paid web hosting. Free web hosting is just that – free and the customer doesn’t pay a thing. This is more suitable towards people who are just beginning to have a website on the Internet. A paid web hosting company will charge for their services and offer more features to their customers. This is ideal for small companies that are going to be expanding or for large companies. Free web hosting will only allow for limited space and subdomains for the person’s site.

There are many different paid web hosting companies that can be found online. The prices will depend on what type of services they offer. One can choose from a dedicated server, where one server will be dedicated to only that person’s file, or from a shared server. This is when many people are using the same server. It’s best to start with a shared server to see if the web hosting company offers what is needed. If the individual is satisfied with the service, it is then an appropriate time to move to a dedicated server.

There are many benefits that can be derived from web hosting. The first is that the person or company will get their own web space. This provides the person with enough storage to keep all of their files and data to be published online. These files include web pages, images, audio, and videos. These are just a few of the files that may be kept by web hosting. The average amount of space that is provided by web hosting is 200MB. The more expensive packages can reach anywhere up to 500MB.

Free email is another advantage that customers can enjoy from web hosting. This is much different than the public email addresses provided by Hotmail or Yahoo. This email address will be exclusive to the individual’s website. For example, if the website is called “Music.com”, the email can then be downloads@music.com. These types of email addresses are more than just handy to remember, they are important for serious businesses. It shows customers that they are dealing with a reputable company who is interested in spending money to make their business grow.

Another advantage to web hosting is bandwidth. This is simply the amount of information that is transferred over the Internet. When a web hosting company provides appropriate bandwidth, it is easier for users to view the web page. This is especially true when there are many images, audio, or videos on one page. Users like to have a website that is easy to use so bandwidth is extremely important.

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]]> http://webhostinggeeks.com/blog/2011/01/13/beginners-guide-to-web-hosting/feed/ 0 Which Web Hosting is Best For You?http://webhostinggeeks.com/blog/2011/01/13/which-web-hosting-is-best-for-you/ http://webhostinggeeks.com/blog/2011/01/13/which-web-hosting-is-best-for-you/#comments Thu, 13 Jan 2011 17:44:28 +0000 Dmitry http://webhostinggeeks.com/blog/?p=3534 With thousands of beginners trying their hand at websites, it is certain that the market is becoming quite crowded. From music blogs to gossip communities and technological havens – these online avenues can be a wonderful hobby for people who just want an audience. After all, who wouldn’t want to be heard among thousands of visitors every day? For this reason alone, websites are one of the most popular forms of entertainment. While making a website is essential, the majority of beginners do not realize that web hosting is even more important.

In simpler terms, web hosting provides you with the space to create your masterpiece. When you design your layout, post thousands of pictures, and even set up a chat room, you absolutely need a place to do so. For instance, if you were to do something like this outside of the virtual world, and build a theatre, wouldn’t you need your own space? Luckily, web hosting is extremely affordable and can be easy for even the beginners to use.

After you purchase a domain name, the next step is to find a company that will host your website. There are many different paths you can take to do this, but it depends on your main goals. Therefore, the first thing you need to do is ask yourself why you want to create a website. Is it for personal use – simply to post your pictures from college? Or perhaps your dream is to create the most popular music website on the internet. Regardless of your priorities, companies have built specific web hosting packages based around your needs.

If you are looking to just post pictures or create something for fun, a free web hosting company is the way to go. There are many of these around the web, including Geocities and AngelFire. These two companies are dedicated to helping beginners. As a result, new webmasters do not need to know extensive HTML or CSS. In this day and age, it is quite easy to build a masterpiece. While these hosts give you a large amount of space and freedom, there are downsides. The majority of companies will stick pop up advertisements on your space, in order for them to market their company. Unfortunately, this is an annoyance for most, and can cause visitors to leave immediately. Luckily, Geocities lets you close the box when you enter the website. Nevertheless, if you are looking for an easy website and do not care about visitors, you simply should try it out.

On the other hand, if you are looking for something a bit more professional, you should be emptying your wallet. Providentially, 3ix.org and GoDaddy are two companies that offer extremely cheap website hosting. This means that you can easily pay $12/year just for an abundance of space. Still looking for more features? These companies will let you add on everything from FrontPage Maker to extra bandwidth. If you are serious about your venture, these are places to check out.

Web hosting may sound like a daunting task, but it doesn’t have to be difficult. With so many beginners flooding the internet, companies have put it upon themselves to make these programs much easier to use. As long as you can type in your name, have overflowing creativity and an e-mail address, the opportunities are endless.

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]]> http://webhostinggeeks.com/blog/2011/01/13/which-web-hosting-is-best-for-you/feed/ 0 Shared Web Hosting vs Free Web Hostinghttp://webhostinggeeks.com/blog/2010/10/07/shared-web-hosting-vs-free-web-hosting/ http://webhostinggeeks.com/blog/2010/10/07/shared-web-hosting-vs-free-web-hosting/#comments Thu, 07 Oct 2010 17:28:35 +0000 Art http://webhostinggeeks.com/blog/?p=1152 Shared web hosting is the cheapest and most common type available, which is one of the reasons it is often compared to other hosting types. Free web hosting on the other hand is often despised by serous webmaster, and many people do not believe it is worthy of any comparison. However, both free and shared web hosting have their applications, and many people use both of them with success on a daily basis. If you’re wondering whether you should spend money on a shared hosting plan, then you may want to consider the following comparison between shared and free web hosting.

Reliability

Many people have problems with the reliability of shared hosting because shared web servers have a tendency to experience server down time. Shared hosting plan are often criticized by experienced webmasters because of the lack of reliability in comparison to VPS and dedicated hosting plans. Free web hosting on the other hand is nearly as reliable as shared hosting, as long as the limitations of the hosting plan are not exceeded. Unfortunately, the limits of free and hared hosting plans differ greatly depending upon the provider and the specific plan.

Limitations

Although each plan is unique, in general shared hosting plans have far less limitations than free web hosting. Free hosting plan are designed for novice webmasters that need a way to get a little bit of hosting experience without spending money on a hosting plan. There are very few web sites on the internet that utilize free web hosting for an extended period of time, simply because there are too many limitations involved with nearly every free web hosting plan. Nonetheless, a lot of personal sites and portfolio sites do utilize free hosting, as it is certainly possible to host several pages on a free hosing account without having any problems.

Choices

In general, shared web hosting provides many more options because there are a wide variety of plans available. However, free web hosting also comes in many forms, as there are many ways to establish a site without ever setting up a hosting account. For example. Web 2.0 sites lie Squidoo and Hubpages give individuals the opportunity to set up their own pages, or as many pages as they’d like. If you are just looking for a way to put your opinion on the internet then web 2.0 is undoubtedly your best option. Most people don’t realize that they are spending money unnecessarily on shared hosting, when in fact they don’t even need a hosting plan. If you do not foresee the need for expansion then you may ant to investigate some of the free options available before purchasing a shared hosting plan.

Conclusion

If you’re planning on using free web hosting then you may want to consider the benefits of setting up a simple web 2.0 property. Shared hosting plans are great options for novice webmasters, and should only be considered by individuals that are planning to operate their we site regularly. Purchasing a shard hosting plan does not make sense if you do not intend to utilize it to its full potential.

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]]> http://webhostinggeeks.com/blog/2010/10/07/shared-web-hosting-vs-free-web-hosting/feed/ 0 Questions About Free Web Hostinghttp://webhostinggeeks.com/blog/2010/03/10/questions-about-free-web-hosting/ http://webhostinggeeks.com/blog/2010/03/10/questions-about-free-web-hosting/#comments Wed, 10 Mar 2010 16:27:15 +0000 Art http://webhostinggeeks.com/blog/?p=790 The internet is an ever-growing sea of entrepreneurs and small business owners, and with every passing day new people are joining the gold rush trying to get their piece of the pie. If you are in this situation and you’re trying to make a name for yourself in the online world, then you’ll need a web hosting solution. Simply put, you’re site cannot exist without a web host. A web hosting plan gives your site access to a web server, which stores all of the site’s data and makes this information viewable to the world. Selecting a web hosting plan when you know absolutely nothing about web hosting or site creation can be nearly impossible to do correctly. In fact, you’ll almost always regret your first decision unless you do all of the research necessary before deciding upon a web hosting solution. If you’re having trouble figuring out which hosting plan would be right for you, then you may want to consider a free web hosting solution.

Free Web Hosting Really Exists?

Yes. You can get free web hosting from many different  companies, the only set back is you’re not going to be able to build your business with free web hosting. However, you can become acquainted with the web hosting industry and you can learn how to build and operate your site with a basic free web hosting solution. Instead of spending your money on a plan that you’re not sure about, you can opt to test the waters with free web hosting instead. If you are looking for a free web host, just do a web search for the term “free web hosting.”

What Can I Do With Free Web Hosting?

The answer to this question is a broad one, in that you can do pretty much anything you would do with a regular hosting plan, except you are limited by the amount of server resources. Free web hosting provides a sample of what web hosting is like, and it let’s you site up a small site that you could use as a personal profile or a small personal blog. Free web hosting is similar to the food sample you’ll find at the food court in the mall – you can get a taste of what is on offer, but don’t expect to make an entire meal out of it!

Can I Upgrade My Free Web Hosting Plan?

One of the best aspects of free web hosting plans is that most web hosting companies will let you upgrade your free plan to a more inclusive paid plan. Many times upgrading is as simple as sending an email or making a phone call. If you are looking for a way to test the waters before you set your boat a sail, you may want to consider free web hosting with a company that offers the option to upgrade. Since free web hosting is such a limited solution, you are undoubtedly going to have the need for an upgrade in the near future, so you’ll want to leave this option open and make the transition as smooth as possible.

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]]> http://webhostinggeeks.com/blog/2010/03/10/questions-about-free-web-hosting/feed/ 1 Freehostia – Free and Paid Hosting Companyhttp://webhostinggeeks.com/blog/2009/11/12/freehostia-%e2%80%93-free-and-paid-hosting-company/ http://webhostinggeeks.com/blog/2009/11/12/freehostia-%e2%80%93-free-and-paid-hosting-company/#comments Thu, 12 Nov 2009 18:25:24 +0000 Art http://webhostinggeeks.com/blog/?p=615 Offering web hosting services for over five years now, Freehostia is slightly different from the rest.  A new customer can start out with a free web hosting account to try out the services and move up to a paid account accordingly.  Sure, there are a few hosting companies out there that offer similar free accounts, but Freehostia does it without forced advertising.

Accounts offered

Freehostia offers five different account levels – Chocolate, Watercircle, Lovebeat, Wildhoney and Supernatural.  These plans range in pricing from free to $9.95 a month.

Chocolate – 250 MB in disk space, 6 GB bandwidth, 3 PHP3/IMAP e-mail accounts, 1 MySQL database, 10 MB database space – free

Watercircle – 500 MB in disk space, 12 GB bandwidth, 100 POP3/IMAP e-mail accounts, 2 MySQL databases, 25 MB database space – $2.95 a month

Lovebeat – 12000 MB in disk space, 150 GB bandwidth, 300 PHP3/IMAP e-mail accounts, 8 MySQL databases, 60 MB database space – $4.95 a month

Wildhoney – 35000 MB in disk space, 400 GB bandwidth, free domain name, 15 MySQL databases, 90 MB database space – $7.95 a month

Supernatural – 90000 MB in disk space, 900 GB bandwidth, free domain name, 50 MySQL databases, 120 MB database space – $9.95 a month

1-Click installer

Elefante is offered with all accounts (even the free account).  The Elefante installer is a software platform that enables web site owners to quickly install a variety of programs with a single click of the mouse button.  Over 40 PHP scripts are offered in categories such as wikis, blogs, CMS, e-commerce and more.

Some of the more popular blog software offerings are Movable Type, WordPress, and b2evolution.  The CMS programs within Elefante are a bit more impressive of a list – Drupal, Mambo, Moodle, Joomla and eight other popular CMS programs are available.  In the category of e-commerce, Elefante offers osCommRes and osCommerce.  All in all, Elefante is a great added feature to all Freehostia accounts.

Support

Freehostia has a customer care department at work 24×7.  All hosting customers (with the exception of those using free hosting) can expect to receive an answer within 1 hour of contacting the support department.  Free hosting customers are not completely disregarded but aren’t given priority – expected support answer waiting time is 6 hours.

The hosting company offers video tutorials, FAQs, a knowledge base and a ticketing system for support as well.  The online contact form is easily found within Freehostia’s support area.  While not the most expansive of support areas, Freehostia offers a good solid range of options when one is in need of assistance.

Conclusion

With most free hosting accounts offered by web hosting businesses requiring that advertising be present on all web pages, it’s nice to find a company that not only offers ad-free accounts for no charge but also gives free hosting clients the standard features one would expect from a paid service.  Add in the ability to upgrade to accounts that are very economical, Freehostia is a web hosting service worth checking out.

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]]> http://webhostinggeeks.com/blog/2009/11/12/freehostia-%e2%80%93-free-and-paid-hosting-company/feed/ 0 Free Hosting Is Not Always The Best Choicehttp://webhostinggeeks.com/blog/2009/10/12/free-hosting-is-not-always-the-best-choice/ http://webhostinggeeks.com/blog/2009/10/12/free-hosting-is-not-always-the-best-choice/#comments Mon, 12 Oct 2009 17:10:35 +0000 Art http://webhostinggeeks.com/blog/?p=568 With the economy hitting not only the individual but also businesses, many are looking toward free web hosting services to house their online site.  For monetary reasons, this looks great on the surface.  But going free is not always the best choice and may, in fact, cost your business money in the long run.

Ads

While a company may offer hosting at no cost, they are by no means not making money off of your site.  Nearly all free hosting offers will involve advertising placed on your pages.  These will be completely out of your control.  Some companies try to gear ads toward being relevant to the site topic but this isn’t always guaranteed.  Add in the very real fact that your competition may be placed on your web site and this can equal a loss of revenue for you.

No control

Another downside to hosting for free is a severe lack of control.  Most free hosting companies do not offer a control panel or an ftp access account to allow administration of a web site.  This means you cannot make page changes on the fly or add in programs that may be needed by your business.  If you are a retail business, this means no ability to add in a shopping cart or software that helps you control your inventory.  Putting a bit of tracking coding is not an option unless you can have access to the page coding.  Even attempting to change the look of your web site can be an issue.  Some free hosting sites will give you access to templates and a few will even allow some minor changes made to backgrounds.  But, all said, you are very limited to what you can do within your own site.

Support

Support is another problem with free web hosting.  You’ll be limited to perhaps some online forum areas to ask your questions but you won’t have numbers to call, ticket support systems or one of many options offered by paid hosting.  If your business site isn’t working, this can end up costing you a lot of money.

Affordable solutions

Paid hosting these days really doesn’t put a huge dent in your pocketbook.  Some hosting companies run specials on a regular basis and you’re sure to find one that will fit your budget.  You can find hosting from as low as $3-$5 a month, depending on what your business web site requires.  Many of these companies also give a lot of great features for your money – including unlimited web space, unlimited bandwidth and a huge assortment of easy to install programs to get your site up and running quickly.

What it boils down to

When all is said and done, you need to ensure your business is hosted with a company that you can rely on for support and also one that gives you the needed tools to ensure your online site is a success.  This is one time when you do not want to “tighten your belt” or “pinch pennies.”  Do a bit of research and find a good, solid hosting company with a price you can afford.

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]]> http://webhostinggeeks.com/blog/2009/10/12/free-hosting-is-not-always-the-best-choice/feed/ 2 Tips to Apply to Free Hostinghttp://webhostinggeeks.com/blog/2009/10/02/tips-to-apply-to-free-hosting/ http://webhostinggeeks.com/blog/2009/10/02/tips-to-apply-to-free-hosting/#comments Fri, 02 Oct 2009 18:06:52 +0000 Art http://webhostinggeeks.com/blog/?p=552 If you have been considering a free web hosting service for your website needs, you may want to think twice and prepare yourself to deal with pop-ups, pop-unders, third-party banner advertisements and other annoying elements.  You also have to keep in mind that common features such as PHP programming, MySQL databases, CGI scripts and FTP access may not be available.

You can embark upon a mission to look for a quality free web hosting service with no advertisements and useful features, but you will likely return disappointed once your search has concluded.  While you can never really expect any guarantees when it comes to free hosting, knowing what to expect will better assure that you do not end up with a terrible service.

Understand How Free Hosting Works

There are more than enough free web hosting providers to go around.  Unfortunately, most of them force you to place advertisements on your site or only provide you with the free service for a limited time.  Some do set you up with a quality service in exchange for carrying banners while others leave you to run your site on slow and insufficient servers.  In some cases, these servers fail to respond at all, leaving you with a website that is essentially useless.  So, if the service is impractical, how do free hosting companies make enough money to survive?

More and more, we are seeing free web hosts keeping themselves afloat by persuading their customers to sign up for paid hosting plans.  If they can provide a good service, this actually turns out to be a fair deal.  Premium hosting services are very affordable these days so purchasing service with a company you trust could prove to be worth your while.   The major downside is that even when upgrading to a paid service, your package could still end up lacking features that are commonly found on the professional hosting market.  For example, you just might have to pay extra for items such as FrontPage extensions and FTP support.  So even when you purchase service from a free web host, you still have to make sure you are getting your money’s worth.

Secure Your Web Presence

Should you find yourself in a situation where you must rely on a free web hosting service because of financial restrictions, there are a few things you can do to protect your website and identity.  First, you can register yourself a domain name with a reputable company such as GoDaddy or Yahoo.  Domain names are pretty cheap these days and only cost about $10 to $12 per year.  Before registering the name, look out for domain features such as a control panel and URL forwarding.  This will provide you with the ability to redirect your domain and change the destination to where ever you prefer.  So if your free web host folds and goes out of business or things simply are not working out, you can point the name somewhere else and move your website right along with it.

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