Free web hosting provides a great option for many people getting started on the Internet. I personally used free web hosting for my first website and it did help me learn a lot about the Internet and becoming a webmaster. Although for relatively little money per month a shared hosting account would be my first option.
Most free web hosting companies offer free hosting in return for showing their advertisements on your website. However, there are a few companies out their offering completely free web hosting with no advertisements if you are willing to search hard enough. Many of the free blog platforms (blogger, wordpress) are a good place to start looking. These are perfect for anyone wishing to start a little personal web site.
Most free hosting providers offer users a simple WYSIWYG web site design program with limited features. Some of the better free web hosting sites allow users to upload pages that have been created with a HTML editor (like dreamweaver). Content management systems with SQL databases (such as joomla and wordpress) are usually not allowed on free hosting. You should also consider that free hosting usually has limited or no customer support.
Advantages
- The price – free!
- A very good way to learn about building websites and becoming a webmaster.
- Perfect for little personal sites.
Disadvantages
- Usually supported by advertisements.
- Limited or no customer support.
- Lack of features compared to paid hosting.
- No SQL database support.
Whatever you decide to use free web hosting offers a good insight into getting your little corner of the web operating. If you can handle the limitations that comes with free hosting then go for it – the price is certainly right!