Free Web Hosting?
When looking for free or paid web hosting provider, you need to base your decision on the nature of your site. Paid web hosting is a must for some sites since it offers more space and many necessary features. Free web hosting is usually advertisement supported and has limited functionality. Both will host your site, but you need to choose which option is the best fit for you.
Do you really want “Free Web Hosting”?
If you have been designing or developing web pages for awhile chances are you are starting to consider moving to a paid host if you haven’t already made this wise decision. Free web hosts are free but chances are they have left you frustrated. Some of the frustrations you can expect to experience from a free host is:
Domain Name? “yourfreewebhost.com/blah/blahblah/yoursite/”
Does the URL above sound like something you would remember? Free web hosts require you to use a sub domain or give you a folder, somewhere on their server. Sub domains and folders are not meant for landing pages and are often much harder to remember. Paid web hosts allow you to use your own domain names and often times include it with their service offerings.
Banner Ads, Pop-up Ads, and Ads in your Dreams!
Many free hosts rely solely on ads to make money. Your site may have many unwanted ads on each of your pages. These ads can reduce how well your page is perceived and often prevent visitors from returning to your website!
More Downtime than Uptime?
Many free hosts have a lot of downtime. Their subscribers are not paying for service so many hosts do not feel obligated when it comes to dependability. Keep in mind, these hosts are running on a tight budget so they have to cut costs and many times this is with their support staff. If there are dissatisfied users, the web host is rarely bothered by that fact. Remember the old saying, beggars can’t be choosers?
The World of Limitations
Where to Begin? Disk space, data transfer, speed, file types, ect… Basically, in order to stay profitable, the free web host is hoping you use extremely minimal system resources and still get a reasonable amount of traffic to support their ad revenue. Most everything is extremely limited. What happens if you exceed what they expect? You will be halted or your site will be taken offline without notice if they choose.
Customer Support?
Anyone There? If you experience problems with you web hosting you will most likely have to rely on the Facts and Questions page. Most free web hosting do not have the money to hire customer support teams to answer live questions or emails. Once again, if they do offer this service, they normally could care less about resolving your issue or satisfaction.
Zero Advertising Revenue
There is only room for a one advertiser with a free provider and it’s not you! If you are looking to sell advertisement on your webpage, free web hosting is the way to go. Many free hosts do not allow you to sell advertising on your webpage.
Web Hosting Reality
Paid web hosting has become so incredibly low priced that it is amazing free web hosting companies still exist. Face it, free items are normally too good to be true. Save yourself from the frustrations and limitations that included with free hosting and try a paid host. Most include trials and even free domain name registration!
How Businesses Can Benefit From Dedicated Remote Server Hosting
A dedicated remote server host can be ideal for your business. After all, as the name suggests, that server is dedicated to you. And remote servers give you extra layers of protection from theft and human error. But what comprises the full range of benefits of a remote dedicated server host?
- More reliability and more availability. You can’t afford to be worried about traffic clusters, server downtime and server errors. These are all common problems that come along with shared hosting. These problems are very rare with dedicated remote server hosting solutions, however.
-You are in complete control, and you can use all of the disk space and bandwidth that you require in order to maintain the website that you want and feel that your business requires. Furthermore, since the server is remote and virtual, you have access to it anywhere in the world as long as you have an Internet connection. Are you travelling but learn that your server needs a reboot? No problem, you can take care of that on the road just as easily as if you were back in your office. This also means that you can handle things from your home without needing to get in your car or take the tube or bus back to your office to deal with some server emergency.
- Once again, as you aren’t sharing server space with anyone else, you maximise your website’s performance. Visitors who are looking over businesses cannot stand to be delayed or derailed by slow downloads or constant needs to refresh the page. In addition, those same visitors want to be entertained and well-informed, and that won’t happen to full effect unless you can deploy the highest performance website possible.
- Whenever you need to upgrade your website’s performance, dedicated remote server hosting makes this very easy. You can do it without any new wrinkles in your performance fabric, and you don’t have to worry about hitting any ceilings.
- Since all of the security features of a dedicated remote server host are exclusively for your sake, you have far greater security and higher levels of control than you would on a shared server host. You have your specific website having a customised security system in place just for it, rather like installing a security system in a particular home rather than buying some generic system that is supposed to protect every home to the same degree.
- Speaking of customisation, you can install all of the software that you need for your website’s operation, while leaving out the unnecessary and undesired. In fact, your host will have access to all of the latest and greatest in server hardware and software and you, thus, shall have the very same access.
- If ever something should go wrong that you cannot deal with yourself, you will have access to a technical support staff who will be able to assist you. They are part and parcel of any good dedicated remote server host package.
As you can see, the importance of using a dedicated remote server host cannot be overstated in today’s business climate.
Is Free Web Hosting Worth It?
There are certain instances where people may need to upload their website to a web hosting provider as soon as possible. Although shared web hosting has some affordable rates, other hosting providers may offer web hosting for free.
These packages certainly attract and they offer some features that may be beneficial or degrading to your site depending on the type of site you are setting.
Free Site Generator and Templates
If you do not have a website or do not know how to design a website, a free hosting plan is the quickest way to get started. If you go for any of the paid hosting plans, you have to pay the provider on a monthly basis, making it insensible to go for if you are not yet ready to come up with a website.
Even if the hosting provider lets you build your website online, you still waste a few hours or days in generating your site while your monthly plan is active. When you take the free route, you can take all the time you need to find a template or craft a site using their online interface. The site can later be transferred to a paid package.
Slower Site Performance during Heavy Loads
Large amounts of traffic going to a particular server shouldn’t cause any harm even if the hardware specifications are basic. But if that server has other websites being hosted, it is more likely for that server to reach heavy load times. Even if the other website gets a huge surge of traffic, your site’s performance will be affected as long as that site uses the same server as yours.
This is how it works with paid shared hosting packages as well but the free users often get the short end of the stick when it comes to specs. Fortunately, this shouldn’t be so much of a big deal if you are setting up a private blog or some small community.
Script Support
Some web providers may add support for popular languages like PHP and databases which are necessary for platforms like WordPress to work properly. While it is not good to host any blogs directed for large-scale audiences on free hosts, these free plans can prove to be beneficial when testing scripts.
You won’t have to go through the process of transforming your system into a local server. It can also give you a better idea on how fast your site loads when these scripts are present.
Advertisements
Advertisements are undesirable for the most part. But these hosting providers have to make money somehow if they are offering these services for free. Companies that strive to provide more reliable free services use advertisements as a “catch”.
This isn’t so bad if you can reposition the advertisement to better blend in with your site. If the site does not provide advertisements, it is likely that you won’t be allowed to add your advertisements.
So is free web hosting worthwhile? It really depends on your needs. Some of the most basic site structures should run completely fine so getting the cheapest web host can be a waste of monthly money. On the other hand, paid website hosting packages are a must have if you need speed, support, and reliability.