The features and subsequent benefits of free web hosting go far beyond one simple motivation or selling point. There are plenty of reasons why a hosting company would give away free web hosting. The most obvious benefit to you is the fact that it is free. The most common question that people ask is “What’s the catch?” Quite often, there is a catch, and quite often it is one that is very detrimental to you.
What could possibly go wrong?
There are some companies that want you to pass financial information through the server so that they can steal it, or they steal the emails addresses that pass through the website. There are some that use free hosting as a way to “sucker” you into a contract that makes you pay later on down the line. And, there are hosts that run adverts at the top of your website, and those that install malware into the server websites that they manipulate later. There are also negative sides such as the fact you get limited bandwidth or that peak times get very busy and it takes the websites offline.
What motivates free web hosting?
There are a lot of reasons it may happen. Some companies use as much of their server as they need so they pass on the rest to the first that apply. Google offers free hosting with the Blogger content management system in the hopes you will one day add Google Adsense to your website that will make them and you some money. There are many that offer free hosting if you pay for a subscription to their services, there are those that want to introduce companies to the Internet so they buy services later down the line, and many more reasons why companies offer free web hosting.
What are the features you get?
That can depend upon the company doing the free hosting. A good free host will not oversell the server space so that your website doesn’t go offline during peak hours. Some may offer a content management system and many will offer some sort of FTP software. Many will offer a certain amount of free storage space and a certain amount of bandwidth. Many will offer further paid packages so you may buy more bandwidth and server space, and many sell extensions and plugins to their content management system. There are some free hosting services that offer technical support and/or free perks to sweeten the deal.
Photo cred: Flickr /Â andrewfhart
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