Why Free Web Hosting is NOT a Good Idea For Business

If you’re serious about doing business online, you need to use a professional, credible approach! After all, getting prospective visitors to “trust” you enough to part with their money is not easy to do at the best of times…

To your prospective customer, having your own domain name –
i.e. www.yourbusinessname.com
– is the first step in building that trust!

And having “proper” email/web hosting is the next step!

Don’t make it even harder by trying to save what amounts to chicken-feed, something around $100 a year, by taking out any of the “free” hosting options that are available.

Seriously, if you can’t afford to spend that sort of money on your “business”… then I really might have to ask WHY are you even in business???

That means you’ve got to part with probably $10-$15 a year to register your own domain name! But not to worry – it is a fair dinkum business expense, and is fully tax deductible 🙂

Also tax deductible is the “proper” lower range shared web hosting (which INCLUDES your email hosting) – with many options available at under $10 a month!

It’s ideal for small business people with just one web site. Look for cPanel being included with your hosting to make the backend management a little easier for you.

And if you want to get a little creative and ambitious and set up more than one domain name and website… look for reseller hosting. It’s a better option although it does cost more @ around $20 a month.

Anyway… once you DO have proper hosting, it means you can then set up PROPER EMAIL ADDRESSES – i.e. info@www.yourbusinessname.com or sales@www.yourbusinessname.com – which is the NEXT step in appearing more trustworthy.

It also helps avoid any serious complications if you change your Internet Service Provider (ISP) and need to change your email address… as that issue never arises 🙂

Speaking of change… the REALLY good thing about having your OWN name and hosting… is that they are ALSO transportable! If you have any issues with your registrar, or your web hosting company… you can move to another supplier without too much trouble.

You domain name and your hosting are YOURS to do with as you wish! They do NOT belong to a third party over which you have little or no control. E.G. If the “free” hosting company goes out of business what happens to you? Essentially – you’re cactus! 🙂 Any promotion you’ve done… any links you’ve built which point to the old “free” site are goooone!

But when you own the name… the worst that can happen is that you may only lose a few days if you do need to move your hosting… But those all-important links coming into your place remain in place! Did you remember to do a back-up??? 😉

Most hosting companies also include “site-builder” type software if you want to have a go at doing your own website. However remember these can end up costing you a lot in time and effort spent learning how to use them in the first place!

For example… WordPress (the hosted solution) which comes with most cPanel hosting, is an excellent tool to make websites… It drives this one, and many other websites I own. But it IS very time consuming to learn how to use it effectively!

Obviously, I think it would be best to discuss your actual requirements with a web design professional – that would be me 🙂 and NOT usually the kid down the block. Sure some companies might and do charge well into the thousands to build web sites… but if you’re just starting out, that is NOT what you are after!

You really should be able to get some sort of basic professional, custom designed package done for under $1000. At least that’s what I aim for with most of my small business clients.

And at the very least, you should have a much clearer indication and understanding of exactly what you need to consider!

There are also lots of other “free” tools around that promise to do all sorts of things for you. Be a little wary about how you use these as sometimes they can end up costing you a lot more in time and effort.

The same applies to all the free “advice” you might get from your friends or associates. Don’t take what they suggest as being totally correct and applicable to your situation. Often you might find what works for one person in one niche online, can completely fail for someone else… even in the same niche.

While nothing beats the advice of a seasoned professional in the industry, you can’t expect to get it for nothing.

Consider any money spent wisely on your Internet presence to be a sound investment. After all, you do need to spend it to make it 🙂

Cheers
Stephen

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