Posts Tagged ‘free web hosting sites’

What’s the catch with the “free web hosting – no ads” you see popping up from time to time? You can bet, there is a catch!

In a previous article, I shared the pitfalls of using free web hosting and explained how it isn’t really free. One of many reasons I recommended you avoid free hosting was that, while you are not paying them cash directly, you are quite like an unpaid writer that goes out, researches information on a topic, and writes an informative article on that topic. The free hosting provider then uses your article to display related ads which pay them revenue.

I also explained in my previous post how pretty much any decent blogger should easily be able to purchase cheap web hosting, place ads on their site, and make more than enough revenue to cover the cost of their hosting. All while enjoying many more hosting features that make it a far more enjoyable web experience for both them and their visitors.

The latest gimmick for free web hosting is the “no ads” advertisement. Now that bloggers are catching on that they could be the ones making that money from those ads on their web sites, those hosting providers are having to come up with a new twist to draw in customers. So, I decided to check a few of them out and see what they are really selling you now.

What I found was that free web hosting with no ads will probably cost you in one of the following ways…

1. You must pay 6 months worth of hosting fees in the form of a “setup fee”.
2. You must register a domain with the provider (at a much higher than average registration fee). A domain that should only cost you about $8-$9 will cost you more like $35!
3. Free only for trial period. Then, you will be billed monthly or lose everything you’ve built.

I came across one provider that, on the surface, appeared to offer truly free web hosting with no ads. However, when combing through their terms of service, it became very apparent that the restrictions on the account made it almost impossible to comply with their rules. Leaving the user no choice but to upgrade to a paid hosting account if they wanted a site they could actually use!

The bottom line, once again, is that you can find high quality, cheap web hosting which offers many great features that make your life as a web site administrator much easier and your efforts much more rewarding. So, there is no need to risk falling for scams or gimmicks like “free web hosting: no ads”!