Free Web Hosting Guide

It’s true that web hosting is easily one of the most pertinent expenses you’ll have to shoulder if you want to create an online presence, which is one of the main reasons why free unlimited web hosting is such an appealing concept. But is there such a thing?

Now, free web hosts are certainly not a myth. But the companies that offer them are not in the business of giving away things without getting in return, so there is almost always a catch. Some put ads on your site, but some go so far as to impose restrictions and limitations on bandwidth, storage space, and what you are allowed to host on your site. They are free, but they’re very far from unlimited.

Why go for blogger or wordpress when you can get your own web host for free for 6 months with all the features of a paid host? Try it for 6 months and dismiss it  if you don’t like it. Click here.

The best thing for you to do is identify where you want to take your site. Surely, a personal blog that will serves as your personal journal won’t need a dedicated host but if you feel that you can actually launch a product or brand someday, it would be good to get your own host. Remember that once you open a site and users start visiting it, you get a certain amount of data that could be useful for you eventually.

Now, if you really are just looking for a free host, check out below.


Blogger.com


For many novice webmasters, Google’s Blogger service may be the first thing to try when it comes to free hosting. The way the service works is that users sign up for an account through the site (and since Google has a universal ID feature, chances are people already have an account if they have a Gmail account), which entitles them to a free blogspot account that they can post to as much as they want.

Blogger’s CMS is turnkey, and has features that rival paid CMSes. This only uses a subdomain so don’t expect the benefits of having your own domain unless you’re willing to plunk down some money. The one advantage of Blogger over the rest is that it’s allowed on Google adsense even though it’s only a blogspot subdomain (because of Google’s ownership of the service), which means there are more options for monetization.

In summary, here are the advantages of blogger.com
1) Full integration to other Google services including Google Adsense
2) Easier Google Adsense approval
3) Easy set-up if you want to use your own domain name
4) More flexible templates for easier formatting

Disadvantages of blogger.com
You are constantly in their crosshair. Should their bots find any violation in their terms, they can shut you out of your blog with absolutely no form of access.


WordPress.com


Similar to Blogger, WordPress acts as a free CMS that users can sign up for and post to their heart’s content. They also have CMS features that rival paid ones, and give you unlimited bandwidth and storage (although similar to blogger, you’re only allowed to upload certain types of files such as images and videos.) It also only offers a subdomain for free users but they offer a hosting service once you’ve outgrown their free ones.

WordPress.com’s main advantage is that it can serve as a sort of training wheels for their CMS, because you can install it on your own host once you decide to get your own. Additionally, they support all sorts of plugins for everything from expanding the capabilities of your site, to increased tracking and monitoring of stats, and even for monetization.

In summary, here are the advantages of wordpress.com
1) Most popular CMS, you have a ready audience for your blog
2) Better looking templates
3) More plugins

Disadvantage of wordpress.com
You cannot use ads on wordpress


Weebly.com


Weebly is relatively new compared to the other two above, but it’s already got some years under its belt, having been established in 2006. They are technically a paid host, but they also offer a free service, albeit with limited features. The main pull of Weebly is their Drag-and-Drop, WYSIWG editor, which allows even non coders to craft gorgeous looking sites instead of relying on cookie cutter templates like other services.

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