Free is a Four-Letter Word in the Web hosting Business

Articles on Hosting | Topics: hosting, web, host

by Guadalupe Munoz

Everybody likes free stuff. But at the same time we know that nothing in life is really free. Web hosting is no different. When it comes to web hosting free and paid sites just don't compare. When you subscribe to free web hosting services you ultimately end up losing business. Free is a four-letter word in the web hosting business.

Web hosting is a business just like the one you are hoping to promote through your website. They would not just give away free web space because they are nice people. They are not charging you any fees but they do plan on making money from your site. When you sign up for a free website, the ISP (internet service provider) will place its own ads on your site which may feature companies that you are in competition with, or ads that have nothing to do with your site. When visitors come to your site they will either see 468x60 pixel banner ads on every page or they will be hit with pop ups every time they click on something. We all know how annoying pop ups are and it's hard to think of a better way to drive away business. Furthermore, it takes away from the professionalism of the site.

Since your free web host is busy placing its own advertisements on your site, it will place restrictions on your own advertising or disallow it altogether. If you are simply using your site as a personal page then this won't be a problem. But if you are running a business this can severely restrict your potential for gaining important advertising revenue.

If that isn't enough to turn you off, consider this: Web hosts do not feel as obligated to provide support or dependability for customers who are not paying them. Every web host experiences downtime at one time or another. If you are with a reliable host this may happen very rarely. Your ISP knows that you lose business when your site is down and you will be less likely to renew your subscription to a host if it happens repeatedly. But hosts that offer their services for free aren't worried about whether or not you continue to use their services; your site is not generating any revenue for them.

Historical Quote

Science is a dynamic undertaking directed to lowering the degree of the empiricism involved in solving problems; or, if you prefer, science is a process of fabricating a web of interconnected concepts and conceptual schemes arising from experiments and observations and fruitful of further experiments and observations.

—James Conant (1893–1978)

Unfortunately, this also means that you can expect customer service to be poor for the same reason. A good ISP will have a 24hr/day support staff with knowledgeable technical support. However, the majority of free ISPs do not have the funds (or the reason) to hire a support team. If your site is having a problem then you will probably be routed to the host's FAQ page or you will be asked to send an email to who knows where. And they aren't pressured by the revenue they receive from your site to do anything. You might not receive help at all and it definetly will not be in a timely fasion.

Every web host will put some sort of restriction on the amount of space that you are allowed to use, but it is always possible to buy more. Free web hosts often only offer you 5 to 10MB of space with no option for expanding. If you are a large business that plans on receiving lots of emails and visitors to your site, or a small business that plans on growing, these limitations will be restricting. You will eventually have to move to a paid host.

If the pop ups and banner ads don't drive your customers away, then the lack of secure server access will. As people do more and more business online, customers fears about privacy, security and fraud grow. People (as they should be) are very careful about exactly where they give out their credit card numbers and prefer to divulge that information only under a secure server. Your customers won't think twice about opting for another business because they offer a more secure way of obtaining their money.

Unless you are using your free web site for fun and not a business venture, free is a four-letter word in the web hosting business. For those in business, whethere they are selling their product online or simply offering a way to access their business through the web, paid hosting is the only option. Remember, you get what you pay for.

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Please note: All personal opinions expressed in the "Free is a Four-Letter Word in the Web hosting Business" article belong to the contributing author and are not necessarily shared by WebDesignConferencing.com.

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