The Pitfalls Of Free Hosting


Introduction To Free Hosting
The majority of webmasters looking for hosting accounts have, at some time, considered the use of free hosting accounts. Many have even tried their luck, and almost as many have found that free hosting is only good for certain types of site. The most pertinent point to remember is the old adage that nothing is free. This is definitely true with regards to hosting. Free hosting packages are available that may not directly cost you a cent but they can ultimately lose you business through performance or through directing your traffic to other sites through an over abundance of on-page advertising. There are, though, several different types of free web hosting.

Ad Supported Free Hosting
Advertisement supported hosting is the most common variety. Virtually all free web hosts serve advertisements on your site. Generally these are pay per click adverts and whenever a visitor to your site clicks on one of these links to be taken to another page your host receives a small payment. In some cases one or more of the advertisements may be dedicated to the host itself advertising their services.

Free Host With Advanced, Premium Features
Hosts that also have advanced, premium features, sometimes offer free hosting. Freewebs is one of the most common of these. They offer advertisement supported hosting accounts but as soon as you make a payment to upgrade any of the features offered the advertisements are taken off of your site. While these can be beneficial for hosting pictures the cost of the additional features is usually such that paying for a cheap hosting account offers much more functionality at reduced rates.

Your New, Free URL
Webmasters generally receive a subdomain or domain directory as a pose to a second level domain name. However, it is also possible that these free hosts will let you use your own domain name. Alternatively you can purchase a premium domain name and point it to your free website. In general, though, a second level domain that is attached to your hosting account through the use of DNS settings is much more preferable.

Limited Functions And Appeal
Free hosting is limited in its functionality and, therefore, application. You will usually find that you are limited by the disk space on offer, the bandwidth allowed, and even individual file size. While you will usually receive a free website builder you are usually restricted as to the actual features that you receive as part of a free hosting package.

The uses of free hosting are quite seriously limited. The disabling of hotlinks makes it very difficult to find free hosting to host images or other files. This is done because the free host requires your website to server advertisements and banners in order for them to make money. This is another reason why many free sites may also require that you log in and perform a certain action every month or every so many days.

The Benefit Of Free Hosting
Of course, free hosting does offer one huge benefit – it’s free. For the first time webmaster, it could be worth considering a free hosting account but with budget hosting being so affordable and including a far richer set of features it is difficult see many genuine reasons why any webmaster would want to consider free hosting as an option. If your aim is not to make money or advertise your own services, but you simply want to host a site about your favorite hobby or interest then this is the occasion to consider free hosting.

Conclusion
Free web hosts are surprisingly uncommon on the Internet. This is because the host needs to make money in order to pay for the server upkeep or, more likely, to pay for their reseller account. Placing advertisements on free hosted sites is something of a gamble and depends on the sites themselves getting visitors and making the host money. It really is a fine balance that few hosts have managed to pull off. If you want to publish your own website in a bid to make money or promote your product or service then, generally speaking, free hosting is not the best option even on a stretched budget. Consider looking to budget accounts that are available for just a few dollars a month.