Paid Website Domain Hosting vs. Free Hosting

By Shawni Groezinger

The internet is full to the brim with opportunities for those who want to setup shop online to start an internet business. However, much like a local business requires an address, a building, and floor space, an online business requires a domain name, hosting account, and storage space. While you may be tempted to take the ”free website hosting” route, it would be wise of you to avoid this all-too-common trap for new online business owners looking for a cheap website hosting solution.

Why you should avoid free website hosting.

Free website domain hosting is attractive to new online business owners for one reason — the price. However, while the initial out-of-pocket expense may be zero, the long-term costs in terms of time, and potentially your reputation, can make free web hosting one of the most expensive investments that you make for your online business. Additionally, once you move past the point of setting up your website to the point of promoting your website, what you will be doing is tantamount to footing the bill for upgrades and renovations on a property that you do not own.

See, when you setup a website with a free hosting account, you typically lack ownership and real control over the domain name and even the website template used for your website. This can have devastating effects on your online business for several reasons. For instance, if the free hosting provider goes offline, is compromised, or you chose to switch to a different hosting account provider later on down the road:

1) You could lose your domain name.
2) You could lose your website’’s content.
3) You could lose the right to use your website’’s current template or theme.
4) You will lose any benefits from your previous marketing tactics.

Furthermore, free website hosting plans, especially those that are ad-supported, speak volumes about your business opportunity, and even yourself as a person, to your website’’s visitors. Unfortunately, they tend to convey a lack of professionalism, and if you happen to be promoting a ”make money” type opportunity, they hurt your business” credibility even more than usual.

Benefits of choosing paid website domain hosting.

Paid website domain hosting, much unlike the free counterpart, is seen as the best option for those who are setting up a business on the internet. While they definitely have more up-front costs — scheduled hosting plan payments and annual domain registration fees — the long-term benefits far outweigh the minimal costs.

For instance, your domain name is not registered through a free hosting provider, which may be lost if you leave your current web host. Secondly, you are able to make regular backups with your own hosting account, and you can take your website design with you if you want to switch providers, so you will not have to worry about losing your data in the event of downtime, a security breach, or if your hosting provider quits the business.
Also, any marketing and promotional tactics that you employ for your own website domain name that you own outright will benefit you even if you switch hosting providers. Most importantly, however, is that having yourdomain.com or yourdomain.net lends much more credibility to your website and what it has to offer than yourwebsite.freewebhosting.com or the like.

Credibility and control is key when you”re running an online business, and paid website domain hosting provides these benefits in abundance. It’’s the same with just about everything in life — you get what you pay for, and when you pay nothing for something up front, the costs are usually substantial later down the road.

About The Author

Website domain hosting does not have to cost you a fortune.Domain name web hosting is an inexpensive way to get your business or personal website found.