Free vs. Paid Web Hosting

We're halfway there folks. My First Web Site is a four-part series that will walk you through the process of setting up your very own web site. This includes domain registration, web hosting, web design, and marketing tips. So far, I've covered topics such as "How to Choose a Domain Name" and "What You Should Know About Domain Registration," two important steps in the process. Now that you have registered your domain, you must search for a good web hosting company that will suit your current needs.

Simply put, a web hosting company is able to store your web site's contents on a server to make the web page accessible to others on the World Wide Web. Most web hosting companies want you to register your domain name first in order to set up your account, but if you haven't, they will offer to do it for you. So here's a tip: Never let anybody else register your domain name, no exceptions. Don't be tempted by the host's free registration offer; doing so will only create problems for you in the future.

As you start looking through the thousands of listings for web hosting services, you'll realize that choosing a reliable web host is not easy. The reality is you can't always let price be the main deciding factor, especially if you're setting up an online business. What you want is a good combination of features for an affordable monthly price. With that said, let's look at the pros and cons of free web hosting versus paid hosting.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Free Web Hosting

Everyone has different budgets, and with that comes the decision of taking on yet another monthly payment or not. Free web hosting sounds like a great deal, until you realize the limitations involved. Insufficient web space, FTP access, no email, imposed advertisement, lengthy URLs, and lack of support are just some of the main disadvantages, so don't expect a lot of flexibility. If you decide to choose a free web hosting service, pick one that's been around for at least a few years. You don't want to invest all that time creating a web site that will disappear along with the host.

On the other hand, if you're creating a very simple static site, a good free web host is a great way to get started. You want to make sure they offer you plenty of storage space (50-100MB), email, domain forwarding, site building tools, bannerless advertisement, and reliability. You also want to have the option of upgrading your free hosting account to a paying account in the future, just in case your site grows. Yahoo! GeoCities, Netfirms, and Bravenet seem to offer some pretty decent packages. You may not realize it, but MySpace, Blogger, LiveJournal, and Wordpress are also free hosting services, and the most popular among bloggers. I'll tell you more about them in my design post.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Paid Hosting

Business owners, however, should seriously consider a paid service. Having an online presence is essential for any business even if it's not an elaborate ecommerce web site. Either find a free web host that offers bannerless advertising, like DotEasy, or purchase a budget hosting plan so you can at least have some control over what is displayed on your site. Prices have gone down considerably due to the increasing number of hosts springing up on the web, so finding competitive prices is possible.

The good news is that web hosts will offer you very generous deals on paid packages that include databases, 24-hour phone support, design tools, statistics, plenty of space, bandwidth, and some will even move your site to their server for a low fee. The bad news is that choosing the wrong company can cause you a lot of trouble, especially if your site is down most of the time. This is the number one reason people switch hosts, which makes reliability a very important factor to consider when looking for a web host. Before you sign up, find out what others' experiences have been with the company you're considering. Start by reading reviews, forums, and look for a customer testimonial page with actual links to their customers' sites. Many sites today will have a blog or news page that alerts their audience of any downtime that may inconvenience them. That should be a good indication, too.

On my next post, I'll give some tips on what to look for in paid hosting services, as well as questions you should ask your potential host. Stay tuned.

My First Website Series:
How to Choose a Domain Name
What You Should Know About Domain Registration
What Your Webhost Won't Tell You
Free vs. Paid Web Hosting
Eliminate Spam: Mask Your Email Address
Family Website or Family Network?