Free Website Hosting versus Paid Hosting, or The Good The Bad and the Ugly
The negatives of free web hosting plans.
This article is about my experience of using different Website Hosting providers via free and paid for services,and the unseen problems and pitfalls that a novice website creator is is likely to encounter.
My first step on the website creating ladder happened when I realised that my free email provider provided free webspace (if activated).
The condition was that I had to use their dial up service and unique phone number to transfer (ftp) my website files,enabling them to get commision via part of the call charge in exchange for providing my Webspace.
This is what I found :
Webspace was limited to 20MB
Individual file size was limited to 1.5MB
Tech support FAQs were next to useless prompting expensive phone calls (strangely left on hold for ages)
For security and data usage reasons,facilities such as CGI,PHP,PERL,Databases,Frontpage extensions etc were not available,so no forums,counters,tracking,scripts,eshops,etc
My webspace had an obscure,odd domain name URL e.g. http://mysite.hosthemost-members.com/mygreatsite.
However I still retain this free webspace as it serves a usefull purpose for simple website testing and for the storage of ebooks that I sometimes sell as downloadable items.(Ebay etc)
Other free webhosting deals involve a period of free usage (usually a year) followed by a pay or leave type situation,quite disruptive and inconvenient if you have a nice website or download area operational.
My next step was to gain a broadband connection with the added attraction (in my particular broadband package) of free webspace (5 separate 25MB websites) and bigger file
size limits, but this initial excitement did not last long however as I found these big disadvantages :
I could only ftp files using my home broadband connection (no use if you need to ftp files from a non home area)
Every webpage had a large advertising banner at the top of the page (so professional looking)
Each homepage was in frames and so did not contain the code of your original index/home page ie without optimised text,hyperlinks etc,making it was next to useless for SEO/search engine purposes.
Technical help was almost impossible to obtain,and when you succeeded in getting to speak to someone via the expensive tech helpline,they didnt seem very competent.
Eventually I decided to pay for my hosting because I needed the extra facilites of counters,forums,trackers,database,etc and after a long search, I found a special Hosting package which included an expensive bundle of free software which contained a website building program which was far superior to the one I was using at the time,in fact the package was so good I started promoting it on my website.
So because I was paying for this service I expected some real advantages to free hosting,and this is what I found :
My queries were always answered to my satisfaction by technically competent staff.
I was never left on hold for hours on end.
I was able to store scripts,CGI,Perl etc on my Webspace.
I was now able to use counters,forums,chatrooms,forms,
newsletters,etc.
It is common sense really,but like many other things in life these proverbs come to mind,
You get what you pay for
You pays your money and you takes your choice
So all things considered,I would recommend a free hosting package for beginners and simple testing purposes,and an established hosting company for absolutely everything else!
Sergio DAlesio is Webmaster of Webpro101.com a site that promotes Affordable Web Hosting,Quality Website Templates,and 3D Graphics for Website Logos and eBooks.
This article is free for republishing
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HostData Side Note: Just remember the old saying, "You get what you pay for." Free Web Hosting doesn't offer much. Therefore make sure you know everything you're getting before you sign up for this plan.
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