Once registering a domain name, the next step is to choose a hosting service. And then a big question arises: whether to go for free hosting or a paid one?
Before getting into the question let me clear what is hosting? The hosting server is a remote server that stores all contents of a website like files, images, video, scripts which can be accessed by visitors and offers additional features and tools like email accounts, statistics, script installer, remote database, file manager.
Free or paid hosting? It depends on needs or usage. For very small websites less than 5,000 monthly traffic, opting for paid hosting may be wasting of money. Free hosting comes with limitations. Less web space, less bandwidth and limited feature just like a demo version of a software. If web space and bandwidth is enough for a small website then why wasting money in paid one? Otherwise the best utilization of a free hosting is for testing themes design, scripts and codes.
Advantages of free hosting services:
- Best for small websites, non-profitable websites and personal website.
- Basically useful for beginners.
- Efficient to test website design, templates and scripts.
Disadvantages of a free hosting service:
- Limited web space, bandwidth and other features & tools.
- Generally, includes banners or advertising on pages without having control over them.
- No guaranteed server availability.
- Performance may slow down when site is accessed by a large number of visitors.
- Limited service support.
- May have Negative impact on SEO.
The purpose of this article is not to discourage the use of free hosting services or any other type of free service. In fact, this article focuses on requirement of hosting. There are even several excellent free hosting services offered on the Internet.
If a website has large number of monthly visitors or if you are not satisfied with limited features of free hosting, opting for paid hosting will be considered as intelligent decision. When a website starts receiving more hits, free hosting starts failing to impress visitors and search engine, mostly because of slow down in performance.
Advantages of paid hosting services:
- No banner or advertising on any pages.
- Script installers, website builders and other professional features and tools.
- Easier to be considered by search engines.
- Generally unlimited storage space and bandwidth.
- More professional feelings.
- Better technical support.
Disadvantages of paid hosting services:
Again there are various types of paid hosting which again depend on need of a website and generally differentiated by usages of system resources, features and prices.
There are many hosting companies that offer quality services at rock bottom prices, which certainly make it worth the investment. But before investing on paid hosting take detail information’s on
- Reliability;
- Bandwidth;
- Web space;
- Control panel features and scripts available;
- Number of domains allowed;
- Price;
- Technical Support.
We have experienced many paid hosting, but only two stands out from our expectation.
HostGator
Hostgator is one of the best companies and world leader in hosting and reseller plans recognized and awarded for its quality services and technical support. From last 6 months we are on Hostgator server and no doubt so far didn’t encounter with a single problem. Hostgator users hardly experience server downtime. They offer unlimited web space and bandwidth with easy control panel and free site builder. Additionally, they provide SEO tools, free server migration, unlimited database, statistics and an award winning support.
BlueHost
Similar features can be found with Bluehost. Bluehost is trusted by millions and offers free domain name, unlimited web space, unlimited bandwidth, drag and drop site builder, and various scripts. Additionally, they provide Search engine submission, unlimited database, statistics, Automatic backup system and US based support system in affordable price.
If wanna build a business, you should invest a little bit more for your site. When you’re starting a business, the foundation should be strong. Yeah it’s good when it’s free but of course there’s is limitation. You can start free anyway and when your business is doing good, you can convert them to paid web hosting to experience it’s another benefits.
I agree, if you plan to have a succesful business that continuously grows, you may get started with free hosting but eventually will benefit more from a paid host.
According to the need of webmaster he/she should select the hosting plan. Its not necessary that paid is always better than the free hosting provider. If you want to get it for a web 2.0 site hosting, you should select free hosting and if you need to host your corporate website, you should select a trusted hosting provider like hostgator, godaddy, bluehost etc.
Free servers are only good for novices in web design that you want to put a page on the Internet, for any commercial use or serious use sites require a paid server, where most of the users have support. Good Systems server etc.