If you’re not a techie person and you’re trying to build your own website, you’re probably getting confused with the terms like domain name, web hosting, website builder, etc.
In our previous blog, we talked about the importance of domain names for a website. And in this blog, we will talk about the next step after you create your web domain name. And that is web hosting. Just as you need a home to live in, your website also needs a home to thrive in the huge world of internet.
In a nutshell, website hosting is an online service that lets you publish your website in the internet. It is the process of renting or buying a space in the World Wide Web to accommodate your website. And with that, you need a web host to allocate a web space for your website to store files and other data.
Free web hosting, anyone? Of course! Who does not love free stuff? It is not a crime to be attracted to a “free” tag. This is also true for business ventures hence a lot of web hosting providers offer free hosting services. And just because you are using a free web hosting does not mean you cannot have a splendid website.
Here, we list some of the best free web hosts that you can rely on for your website:
1. WordPress.com
WordPress powers about 37.8% of all websites as of July 2020 (source: https://w3techs.com/). It is one of the most popular brands when it comes to getting online. WordPress.com offers access to free templates for your website and allots users more storage space than some other free web hosting providers.
2. Sites.google.com
Just like most Google products, this Google web hosting is absolutely free. They offer responsive templates, drag-and-drop editing and integrations with most of their other services such as Google Drive, Google Maps and more. It is ideal for personal and small business websites. Sites.google.com currently hosts over 70,000 live websites.
3. 000WebHost.com
It is one of the most top-rated free web hosts. It is owned and operated by Hostinger and has been around for over ten years and with millions of users. 000WebHost.com’s slogan is “Zero cost web hosting with PHP, MySQL, cPanel, and no ads!
4. Infinityfree.net
Infinityfree claims to have 300,000 users and offers unlimited space and bandwith. It has been in the business for over six years and managed to get recognized as the most feature-rich free web host on the market.
5. Wix.com
Wix is leading when it comes to easy set-up, robust features and drag-and-drop editing for building basic websites. Their free plan offers a Wix.com subdomain, 500 MB of storage and 500 MB of bandwith.
6. Weebly.com
Weebly is another well-known website builder that offers variety of hosting plans. They also come with drag-and-drop editing feature and ready-made templates. Their free plan includes a Weebly subdomain, 500 MB of storage and more.
They say that the best things in life are free. While this phrase is both sweet and true, unfortunately, this does not apply to all the stuff that you need, to be honest.
A lot of times, a free web hosting offers the same security, speed and network bandwith as that of a paid hosting. But just like any other free offers, getting a free web host also has its limitations.
Let’s take a look at some pros and cons of having a free web hosting:
Pros
- Free – no need to spend a single cent
- Less commitment
- Short-term or no contract
- Ideal for testing your website, startups and small business owners
- User friendly
- Ideal for beginners to learn the basics
Cons
- Advertisements on your website
- Limited space and speed
- No branded domain
- Limited features
- Limited control
- Unreliable or no customer support
Many people really opt for paid hosting especially medium to large business entrepreneurs. Paid web hosting offers high uptime, unlimited email accounts, free branded domain name, unlimited bandwidth, and disk space, and much more. Web presence is essential for a website to stay online and to establish a web presence. Your website needs a reliable web hosting service.
These are some of the low cost, paid web hosting providers:
- Bluehost
- GoDaddy
- Hostinger
- Hostgator
- Interserver
A free web server hosting may not necessarily be for everyone. It all boils down to what you actually need. It is important to be wise when choosing a web hosting and make sure you are getting all the essential stuff you need and want for your website.
Though free web hosting sounds like a great deal, you need to assess your needs first. Do not jump right in and fall for the “free” marketing hype easily. “The best things are free” may be true but “you get what you pay for” also weighs.
If you need to create a website and you need some help with selecting your hosting providers, you can reach out to us so we can help you. Feel free to chat with us or simply fill out our contact form.
