| Free Web hosting is a great option if you want to | | | | be there all the time. They may simply be |
| establish an online presence and and don't have | | | | offering this free service to bring in a lot |
| the money to invest in paid hosting. It also | | | | customers or running a trial. The service may |
| enables you to test the waters before making a | | | | suddenly disappear or may start charging a fee |
| large investment. There are a couple different | | | | once they get established. If the company |
| options for free web hosting. One is to seek out | | | | disappears you'll lose your domain name, website |
| a company that offers free hosting. The other is | | | | and all the content you created. |
| to build a free website with one of the online | | | | 4. Limited technical support |
| services that also offer free hosting e.g. | | | | Free hosts need to maintain low operating costs. |
| WordPress dot com, Blogspot dot com, etc. | | | | This means they can't afford to hire technical |
| Pros of Free Hosting | | | | support staff. If you have a technical problem you |
| 1. No costs | | | | may not receive any help or it may be very slow. |
| It will only cost time to build your website | | | | 5. Advertisements |
| because the hosting is free. It's great for a | | | | Some companies offer free Web hosting by |
| beginner because you can get your hands dirty | | | | displaying advertisements on your web pages. |
| without incurring any expenses. It will enable you | | | | This will annoy your customers and drive them |
| to learn and experiment with all the features | | | | away plus it looks very unprofessional. A |
| offered by the hosting company. | | | | professional website should not have banners or |
| 2. Create unlimited websites | | | | pop-ups that display ads unrelated to your niche. |
| If you use a service such as WordPress dot com | | | | 6. Lack of control |
| you can build unlimited websites without expense. | | | | Because you don't have your own hosting |
| This enables you to test market your product or | | | | account you have limited control over your |
| service before investing a lot of money. | | | | website. For example you won't be able to install |
| Cons of Free Hosting | | | | your own scripts, software, create your own |
| 1. Unable to host your own domain name | | | | e-mail accounts or observe your website |
| If you want to establish a professional online | | | | statistics. |
| business you need to register and host your own | | | | 7. Inability to optimize web pages |
| domain. WordPress dot com will give you a free | | | | In order to attract visitors to your website the |
| domain name and hosting but must you include | | | | web pages need to be optimized for the search |
| WordPress in your domain name e.g. | | | | engines. This means you need to create the |
| bob.WordPress dot com. This subdomain looks | | | | appropriate meta-tags, header tags, file names, |
| unprofessional and may be a hindrance to doing | | | | image descriptions, navigation links, etc. to make |
| business with other professionals in your niche. | | | | your site search engine friendly. A website built on |
| 2. No professional e-mail address | | | | a free hosting account won't enable you to do |
| A professional online business should have an | | | | this therefore you'll miss out on receiving a lot of |
| e-mail address that reflects the domain name of | | | | traffic from the search engines. |
| your business. If you use a free e-mail address | | | | Conclusion |
| from Gmail or Hotmail customers may think you | | | | The cons of free web hosting clearly outweigh |
| are a "fly-by-night" business person. This is | | | | the pros. Don't waste a lot of time and money |
| because many spammers use these free e-mail | | | | investing in a free web hosting account. Instead |
| accounts to send out spam messages or to hide | | | | purchase your own hosting account to show |
| their identity. | | | | others in your niche you are a professional |
| 3. No guarantees | | | | business person. |
| There is no guarantee a free web host is going to | | | | |