Professional Web Hosting vs. Free Web Hosting

Both free and professional web hosting have their benefits and down sides. However, before the best type of web solution can be found the webmaster will need to consider the main motivator for the website.

For those looking for a home page, hobby site, or non-profit website a free hosting service will provide the basics of what is needed at just the right price- free. Although a free website will not provide a professional scene for a business, or a webmaster looking for credibility, as unfortunately free services look very “cheap” then little else can be expected from something that costs nothing.

A free website will offer webmaster’s free templates for the design of the website, and helpful wizards that take the webmaster step by step through the uploading process. Often a free service may offer free domain names and email facilities with their package.

Customer service is often included, although how good the service is will often vary. The biggest problem with a free service is, the amount of traffic onto the sight may be limited, and the sizes of the files being transported may also be limited. Free hosting companies often experience a lot of down time, so they can at times be unreliable.

Because the site is free, the hosting company may very well be relying on sponsors in the way of banner ads to keep the company in business. If this is the case, setting up a business with flashing banners will really cramp your style, credibility, and scare away potential customers.

Paid services are used by webmasters to keep things running smoothly in business, what this means is the good web hosting companies will provide excellent customer service, and have plenty of happy customers who are willing to add their testimonies. Professional companies will usually offer a 100% satisfaction guarantee, live chats, and telephone services for customers experiencing difficulties.

Many professional companies will also offer discounts and bonuses for your business, and reward you for paying early. Other things that a professional web hosting company will offer is ample web space, and disk space. Often large amounts of uptime will be guaranteed, and sometimes failure to keep this amount of uptime will result in compensation from company to their clients.

Professional services may cost money, but the service is far more advanced, and professional companies never take space from their customers in order to place their paid advertisements on. Depending on what a customer is looking for when they create a website, will have a lot of bearing on their choice of providers. For a webmaster that is creating a credible business venture, a professional web hosting plan is vital to business success.

About the Author

Alojate.com is the premier web hosting company in Mexico, offering a range or services for all business needs.

http://www.alojate.com http://www.alojateextra.com

Web Site Hosting For Your Business Free or Paid?

Its time to choose! Should you spend some money to get a web hosting solution for your business or get one for free?

Yes, the big moment has finally arrived. Your business is now on the verge of taking the next step forward. It will establish a web presence. This is an important step as from now on your business is able to reach more customers, is able to get more exposure, and hopefully enjoy online recognition.

Space, bandwidth and domain name all come with a cost, but there is a possibility to get them all for free. Resource management principles will probably tell you to choose the free solution.

Nowadays the cost for web hosting services has a very reasonable reason partially because of the technological progress, partially because of the stiff competition on the web hosting market.

Still why pay for it when you can get it for free?

Free web hosting

Dozens, even hundreds of free web hosting providers offer their services on the Internet. Could there be one that meets the needs for your business? Hardly, if any.

Please let me state clearly that this article is not intended to attack or discredit hosts or advertisers. Its only purpose is to assess and understand how can be best met the hosting needs of a business. Any business. And yes, in spite of everything stated here, even the author of this article has resorted at some point in time to the services of free web hosts!

You probably learned too, and at a very small age, that in life everything comes with a price. However, there it is allover the Internet: Free Web Hosting.

Nothing in this world is free. So how comes there even is free web hosting?

The definition of the term free according to The New Lexicon Webster’s Dictionary, states gives the following definition for the term free:

1. adj. not subject to external restraints or domination; not captive, at liberty; not having to be paid for; unhampered; open to all without restrictions; etc.
2. adv. without expense; without penalty
3. v.t. to release from constraint, set free

Therefore a literally free hosting service would mean no restraints, no expenses and no restrictions for the user. Webmasters would design with only limited by their imagination and skills. All the space and the bandwidth you would possibly ask for at no cost whatsoever. Real-life scenario? Could anyone really think so?

Indeed nothing in this world comes without price. Even it is not apparent. And the price you must pay for free web hosting comes in many forms, as free web hosting providers must pay too for bandwidth, not to mention other costs.

While some free web hosts require you to have one on their banners on your web site, others place pop up adds, or flashing advertising messages. So its free for you as long as you fulfill their set of requirements and meet their conditions. In addition to this, you should consider that host’s service is free with lets say 25 Megs of space; more space means different conditions and you could have to pay for it.

Paid web hosting

If you are billed, it means you own something. There is now a contractual bind between you and your web-hosting provider, which in turn must offer you his services. Ownership gives you more control of your online presence. Important as ownership is, it is neither the only nor the biggest advantage of paying for your hosting solution.

The identity of your business would be clear from your URL down to your web content without banners confusing your customers. Imagine that you deal with What I would say, is ask yourself if you would deal with someone offering a similar service/ product as you are promoting, who was obviously using a free site. If you would, then fine, but if not, don’t expect anyone else to deal with you!

You will have usually sufficient e-mail addresses to accommodate the needs of your business. How serious would you take someone who hands you a business card with e-mail like john.doe@afreewebhostingprovider.com. And more important: would you do business with him?

Its almost a standard for paid web hosting providers to offer features like PHP and MySQL, features that allow your site to grow along with your business needs. With such features you can easily have an online store, offer your customers the possibility to track their orders etc.

Often the web hosting provider offers guarantees for the uptime of the server, and this avoids unnecessary frustration for your customers. To complement this, support services of higher quality allow your business to overcome possible technical problems easier and faster.

Lets review the main points of each option.

Free web hosting:

(+) It’s free. No money for space, bandwidth and domain name

(-) Your URL will contain the mark of the free web-hosting provider and thus would not reflect the identity of your business. Changing providers might result in loosing some or all the traffic to your online business

(-) Required advertising items such as banners, frames etc have a detrimental effect on your content in terms of accessibility and look, making it very unprofessional

(-) If you plan to use banner exchange on your site read carefully their Terms and conditions. Some free hosts doesn’t allow it

(-) You will probably have lower bandwidth then a paid host provides and space could also be restricted

(-) Features like PHP and MySQL are rather rare for a free web-hosting provider. Some dont offer FTP access to your website

(-) Its common that free hosting providers change their Terms and conditions at some point in time. Consider that no adds today could mean a banner or a popup tomorrow. Such changes could mean that the free hosting service is canceled and only paid web hosting services are offered. At this moment either you pay, either you loose your web site

Paid web hosting:

(-) You will have to pay for it. Usually you have to pay for hosting (space and bandwidth) and for the domain name

(+) You can host your own domain. With your unique domain name changing web hosting providers dont cause loosing your traffic

(+) Support is offered by most paid web hosting providers. This usually means 24/7 support via email or live chat and, in some cases, toll-free phone support is available

(+) The uptime of the server(s) hosting your web site is better then on free host and more and more frequently the web hosting provider offers uptime guarantee

(+) The amount of enough disk space and bandwidth available is very likely to cover the needs of your business

(+) Features like PHP and MySQL are almost standard for a paid hosting plan. Also you will have FTP access to your website.

It could be tempting to embrace the idea that a free web hosting is good point to start from, but it’s not something you would want to consider if you are looking to establish your business as a serious web presence.

In the end it all comes down to this one question: How big ambitions do you have with your website?

If you look to make some savings while getting your business online, save time instead and register a domain name. The small amount of money saved on web hosting might cost your business customers, and a loss of image. The cost of a paid web hosting solution is small compared with freedom it gives to your online presence. Yes, freedom of your image, of the way you treat your online presence.

If your online business is important to you, better make that if you care for it at all, when coming to the decision of opting over free or paid web hosing choose

Keep in mind that the success of your online presence will play a significant role in the future growth of your business.

About The Author

Calin Indre is editor at HostPinPin ( www.hostpinpin.com ), a Cheap Web Hosting Directory. HostPinPin.com is a resource for webmasters and consumers looking to find a web hosting company. Providing web hosting articles, tips, web hosting reviews, compare web hosting plans and more.

This article may be reprinted or published without the authors consent as long as the About and weblinks are kept intact.

Are Free Webhosting Accounts Really Free? – 5 Critical Things to Consider Before Choosing a Free Website Host

Many free web hosting accounts are free to use, however they will cost you a lot of money, time, and customers as well if you have a site that is meant for business purposes and is more than the simplest site imaginable. Consider the following items as to why free web hosting might cost you more than you had bargained for when you signed up.

Consideration #1 Bandwidth

Frequently, free web hosting providers offer you little bandwidth which means it will take longer for your page to load. When your page takes more than 10 seconds to load you will lose visitors because they will simply move on. Because of this, you might lose a lot of customers and sales from your free web host.

Consideration #2 Advertising

Many free web hosting companies are free to you, however, you will have advertising posted on your website as well as pop up ads. Most people do not like this and will not visit your site because of it. Be careful about signing up with a free web hosting company that uses advertising. It might not bother you, but it will probably affect your traffic and sales.

Consideration #3 Web Space

Since the web host is free, you cannot expect a whole lot of web space. Frequently people do not have the space they need to upload their web page and include all of their information. Be sure to check with your free web space provider or the ones you are considering to make sure you will have enough web space to host all of the required elements of your web pages.

Consideration #4 Reliability

Another consideration with free web hosting companies is reliability. Often times limitations are put on your traffic flow and if you exceed this, your site may be disabled for a period of time or you may even receive a bill. Find out what the rules are for traffic and what the consequences are for exceeding your limits.

Consideration #5 Limitations

More often than not, your free web host will have rules regarding the size of photos, icons, and more that you can upload. You will want to check into this before you sign up for free web hosting because if you cannot upload what you need, it is time to look at other options.

While free web hosting is technically free, it frequently costs websites more money in the long run because it limits activity and business from occurring at the rate set by consumers. Because of this, if you have a growing site it will eventually be too big for the free account and you will have to make some changes. Instead of dealing with the hassle, figure out if a free server will really be worthwhile and make a plan for change and growth ahead of time.

About the author:

Michael Turner reveals his foolproof way toincrease website traffic in his free 7 part mini-series. Grab it free right now athttp://www.powertraffictactics.com/

Free Web Hosting

Internet hosting or web hosting is a lucrative business. The hosting firms charge according to the quantity and quality of features, support and more. But some hosting firms are absolutely free.

There are many ways to make money even on a free website. The most common way is to place banner ads in the client’s site. Other hosting firms bombard you with the client’s e-mail ID at the time of registration, using ads and spam mails. Still others offer free hosting in the hope of convincing the client to upgrade to an advanced hosting service by paying a hefty fee. And there are those who charge an exorbitant registration fee.

Free hosting is not a viable option for business websites as there is no guarantee of either service or security. Also, many free hosting firms shut down within a year of starting the operation. Some close down even within a day or two. Under these circumstances, free hosting can be useful for those who wish to post personal information such as family photos or personal profiles, or for those who want to learn the basics of web hosting. Free hosting can also be useful for those who want to try their programming scripts in different environments.

It’s a good idea to check websites already hosted by the company for insight into the type of ads the firm will display and to discover the bandwidth speed the provide. Some free hosting directories will publish user reviews of the hosting firms, which may be a valuable source for the prospective client.

Remember, every free hosting firm will try to make money from your website. Look for a hosting firm, which is less intrusive and more reliable.

Free ASP FTP Hosting

To understand the concept of Free ASP Hosting, we need to be clear about what the terms ASP and web hosting mean. Active server pages, or ASP as it is commonly known, is a server side language. This means that the code of the ASP, which is programmed in JScript or Visual BASIC Script, runs on the server when the page is requested and then the final result is sent to the browser. ASP was originally made by Microsoft for their IIS and Personal Web servers but now it is being used by Java-enabled Unix Servers like Apache.

Web hosting is a service which enables companies and individuals to showcase their websites on the computer servers, so that people connected to the Internet can access them whenever they require. These websites are available on the computer server 24/7, and this makes accessibility extremely convenient.

Search the net and you will come across innumerable companies offering both paid and Free ASP Hosting services. Paid services are beneficial for websites with commercial purposes that involve transactions such as credit-card processing. Individual websites, not involving very heavy traffic can opt for Free ASP Hosting.

Many companies provide Free ASP Hosting services. Though these companies do not charge directly for hosting your website, they would require you to place a banner advertising their company. Another point to be kept in mind is that you don’t really have the freedom of choosing the name of your website. This is because these companies generally allocate a name, which in most cases is an extension of the server address. So, if you want a unique name for your website, you will have to pay to register it. There are also companies who impose certain restrictions on the content, scripting language and also functions. So these are also factors that you need to take into consideration before deciding on whether you require paid or free web hosting.

Free FTP Hosting provides detailed information on FTP hosting, free FTP hosting, FTP server hosting, FTP site hosting and more. Free FTP Hosting is affiliated withDedicated Hosting Servers .

There Are Many Free Web Hosting Options On The Web, But Do Some Research Before You Use One For Your Online Business

There Are Many Free Web Hosting Options On The Web, But Do Some Research Before You Use One For Your Online Business

by: Syd Johnson

Where can I find free web hosting?

There are hundreds of free web hosting services on the web. You can type free web hosting into any major search engine and get an expanded list. However, when you sign up for free hosting account, you are basically signing an expanded advertising agreement.

What exactly is free hosting?

In exchange for free hosting, the company can place ads your website. The ads can be placed on the top of the main page, the top of every page, or on the sides. The ads are usually not targeted. It is possible that they wont match the demographics of your web visitors. In addition, they are not customized to match the content on your web page.

This is a very expensive exchange program if your goal is to build up an online business. The area above the fold, everything that is visible without scrolling, is the most effective advertising area on the entire site. This is the area you should use for your affiliate links, Google Adsense, paid links and expanded site navigation.

Some free web hosting contracts go a step further and ask for your participation in their email marketing campaigns. You will receive emails that require a click through to a merchant site, and/or fill out endless surveys. This can be very time consuming and annoying.

Before you sign any free hosting contract ask to see sample sites. You want to get a feel for the types of ads that are being shown on other website. What do you want to look for?

1. Do you see pop-up ads? What about banners?
2. How large are the ads?
3. Are they just off topic or are they inappropriate?
4. Where are the ads? Are they on every single page or on selected pages?

Even if the ads are not on every page, watch out. It could mean that the hosting service has figured out which pages bring in the most revenue and they can afford to ignore everything else. Guess what? If it brings in lots of revenue for them, it could probably bring in lots of revenue for you.

There’s free and then there’s FREE

If the space is free, what about the domain name?

If your new site will look like http://yoursite.freewebhost.com youre getting a subdomain for your site. Its not really your unique domain name. They are simply loaning you a space for your stuff.

This is not a unique domain name that you can use to brand your business. You cant use it anywhere except with this particular web hosting company. Ditto if the new domain names is http://www.freewebhost.com/yoursite/ .

So what if they offer a truly unique domain name?

How long will it take before you actually own the domain name? Even the cheap web hosting services will require that you stay with the company for thirty to sixty days before you can keep a free domain name.

What happens if you want to switch to another company before the period is up? Sometimes theres a charge to keep the domain name or to transfer it. This should be clearly stated in their FAQ’s or in the text of the hosting contract before you agree to use their service.

Do you have enough bandwidth?

Many free web hosting services are providing their services in such a way that you will need to upgrade your hosting package if your site has any degree of minor success. The tipping point is usually bandwidth. That is a measure of how much text, pictures, ftps etc. you can send to your web customers every month.

The Bandwidth in your contract is measured on a monthly basis. Check the contract to see if there are any fees for going over your monthly amount, or if you will lose your free hosting privileges.

Free host today, no host tomorrow

There is a very high turnover for free web hosting services that heavily depend on advertising revenue. Even the most successful web companies will find that their advertising revenue varies on a monthly basis. Will the company suddenly go out business if they hit a three month slump?

There should be a written policy on what happens to your content if they site suddenly goes out of business. Can you still access your files? Is there an alternative URL or login site with your information? How much time do you have?

You are only as reliable as your hosting service

Check out the statistics on the uptime for their servers. This applies to any hosting service, whether you are paying or not. If their uptime is in the low 90s and below, then try to find another hosting provider.

You are taking a big risk if you use a free web hosting services for your business site. The inability to control your advertising, high turnover rates among the free hosting providers, and variable contracts usually spells disaster for e-commerce sites.

To run a successful online venture, 24-hour live customer service, high uptimes ratios and control of your advertising space is a must. These features are also the major weaknesses of the average free hosting provider.

A better option for you company would be to sign up for an affordable or cheap web hosting provider. You will have many service options in this category and can usually avoid the limitations of the free hosting companies.

About The Author

Syd Johnson is the Executive Editor of RapidLingo.com , Financial Solutions Website. You can see more articles at http://www.rapidlingo.com .

This article may be freely distributed as long as the author’s bio is included with an active link tohttp://www.rapidlingo.com .

Free Web Page Hosting – How Much Does It Really Cost and Can You Tell If It’s Right For You?

The short answer is: Maybe. Free web page hosting may be a great way to get started with your Web presence, especially if you are planning to develop a personal website.

Nearly all Internet Service Providers give you very limited free hosting when you sign up for an internet access plan. But it’s usually just enough for a page or two. There are even some web hosting companies who’ll give you a fairly complete free web site hosting package.

Quid Pro Quo

The give-back with free web page hosting is that you must accept online ads plastered all over your web site over which you’ll have no control. If you are hosting a personal web site and are not concerned about a bunch of unrelated or possibly offensive ads on your web pages, a free web site may be a good way to go.

However, if you plan to establish an online business presence you should simply forget about free web page hosting. The limited range of features, coupled with a barrage of ads unrelated to your business, will certainly be a turn-off for your visitors.

It’s Not 1995 Anymore

Most web surfers today are pretty savvy and can spot a free website at a glance and will not take your business seriously if your website doesn’t exude at least a basic degree of professionalism. You just can’t do that with a free web site.

The Good News

It’s actually pretty easy to find paid, yet affordable, web hosting that will enable your online business to compete effectively against the big guys. That is, if you know the kind of web hosting solution that will suit your immediate and long term needs.

Let’s take a look at the pros and cons of free web page hosting versus a more comprehensive paid web hosting plan.

Free Hosting – Pros

• Well, nothing is completely free. In the case of free web page hosting, it’s pretty close to being free except for having to put up with those pesky ads.
• Free web sites that come with your ISP’s internet access plan are generally easy to set up and modify using free, though limited, web site design tools provided.
• This is also true of the free hosting packages offered by some mainstream web hosting companies. They get some ad revenue. You get online for free.
• Free sites should cause no concerns if you are planning to build a web site that is essentially non-commercial in nature.

Free Hosting – Cons

• The main drawback with free web page hosting is that it obviuosly looks to your visitors like a non-commercial (read “unprofessional”) web site.

So if you are planning to transact any business online, whether product, software, or services sales, or affiliate and pay-per-click marketing. you simply must pay for your hosting.

Not To Worry

At Web-Host-Watch we report on a variety of free and low cost hosting solutions. Spend some time with our tutorials, tips, and recommendations to get the information you’ll need to select the best paid or free hosting plan that’s just right for you.

About the Author

Anthony Hamill is the founder ofWeb-Host-Watch.Com which helps online business owners understand the basics of web hosting. There you’ll find affordable web hosting plans, tutorials, tips on avoiding common mistakes, a glossary of web hosting terms, and aweb hosting review <

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