In this increasingly-connected digital world, web hosting and domain hosting have become necessary expenses for businesses. An online presence is becoming mandatory to stay relevant and connected with your customers. Most big corporations allocate separate budgets for website hosting and related expenses. But most small companies do not have a big budget for their online spends. So most of them choose Shared Hosting plans, the most affordable hosting solution available today. The best Shared Hosting plans offer a reliable and secure hosting platform for most new websites.
But even that is not a justifiable expense for some businesses. They then opt for free web hosting. It is essentially free, but not quite. They end up making too many compromises in exchange for a “free” hosting solution. Some of the trade-offs are acceptable while some are not; it all varies from one user to the next. Are the trade-offs worth it?
But the most important question is, “Is Free Hosting Safe?”
- Performance
Performance is one of the least important considerations for those who opt for free hosting; they’re only concerned with getting online. But performance takes a significant hit as free hosting providers offer the most basic hosting infrastructure. It is enough to get you online, but that’s it. It will definitely impact user experience, and a site may end up losing its users.
- Reliability
Reliability is a questionable aspect of free hosting. The best Shared Hosting plans assure you of reliability, but free hosting cannot promise a reliable hosting experience. You get what you pay for, in this case, nothing. Users do not like a website with inconsistent performance and soon stop visiting if it keeps up. Once you lose a user, it is difficult to get them back.
- Security
This should probably be at the top of the list when it comes to publishing your website. But sadly, most website owners do not bother. Free website hosting offers low to zero security features. It leaves your website open to hacking and malware attacks. It will also compromise your users and their data, which will get your website blacklisted by search engines. Secure Shared Hosting plans from reliable web hosting providers are subject to a fair usage policy and thus guarantee a safe hosting experience.
- Uptime
Uptime is the best way to measure a website’s reliability and usability. It is nothing but the amount of time your site stays up and available for its users. Higher uptime is better. If your hosting crashes frequently or goes offline too many times, it eats into your uptime. It will impact your website’s usability and effectiveness. It also has an effect on your SEO efforts.
- Other considerations
Shared Hosting and other hosting platforms offer a bunch of extra features such as automated backups and robust security with their plans. These are not available with free hosting. Also, free hosting providers display ads on the site to recover their costs. A site owner has no control over which ads are displayed. It degrades the user experience and may turn away some users forever. Additionally, most free hosting providers add their name in your domain name, so it appears to be a sub-domain.
You think you are saving money with free web hosting, but you pay in other ways. In India, web hosting is not very expensive. So, do your website a favour and avoid free hosting.
The following video will show you four reasons why you should avoid free web hosting –
