Disadvantages of Free Web Hosts
- Limited web page space
- Can't add interactive features (chat rooms, message boards, games, online ordering etc.)
- Search engines often ignore them A HUGE disadvantage!
- Your visitors may doubt your credibility
- May have banners and/or pop ads on your homepage and/or all of your pages
- Long and hard-to-remember web address (instead of yourdomain.com)
- No guarantees of site availability and longevity
- No branded emails addresses (you@yourdomain.com)
- Poor help and support options (if any)
- May not be free forever
Advantages of Owning Your Own Dot Com Name
- Easy to remember website address (yourdomain.com)
- No banners or popups
- Easier to get listed in search engines (Google, Yahoo etc.)
- You have more control over the look and feel of your website.
- Multiple branded email addresses (you@yourdomain.com)
- Plenty of web page space for site expansion
- No worries of site being removed unexpectedly
- Looks more professional
- More flexibility for design and functionality
- Help is readily available
Many beginners gravitate toward the free hosters because they feel that registering a domain name is too expensive and/or too difficult.
I realize the website building process may be intimidating for you if you've never created a site before. You may be worried about spending your money on something that is unfamiliar and difficult. I can totally understand that.
Let me assure you that building a dot com site is not expensive at all. The average website costs between $5 and $10 per month to maintain.
This site costs me absolutely nothing to maintain because I earn all of my hosting fees back (and then some) by belonging to Google's Adsense program.
