Make A Free Website
-
David
-
February 20th, 2012
The option to make a free website can sound very enticing but as the saying goes, you get what you pay for. Plus many of the companies that offer 'free' services are just luring you in and then get you with fees for advanced features or once a trail period ends.
I realize that money may be tight but it's certainly worth the investment to pay for services. You can register a domain name for only $8.95 per year with www.SiteToad.com plus the offer web hosting for as little as $6.95. I'll explain below a few free options and then explain the disadvantages.
Free Domain Names
If you look at majority of the websites on the internet they have an address such as www.SteakBrands.com. Selecting a free domain would get you an address such as www.steakbrands.freewebs.com.
The issue is that it isn't professional plus you can't setup personalized email addresses such as sales@steakbrands.com or billing@steakbrands.com. You'd need to use your current email address and this just doesn't portray a professional image.
As I mentioned you can register a domain name for only $8.95 per year through www.SiteToad.com plus they are currently offering $1.99 .INFO domain names.
Below you'll find a script that will allow you to search for a professional domain name. If you have questions about domain names be sure to read my page on domain name registration.
Free Web Hosting
Hosting is going to be one of the most expensive services that you need but when I say expensive I'm talking about $53.00 per year. Majority of the websites out there will require you to pay for the full year in advance but www.WebsiteSpot.com offers month to month terms.
The thing with free hosting is that the company has to make money in some way. The way that they generally do this is by placing advertising on the top of each page of your website. If you're trying to achieve a professional feel on your website you certainly don't want advertising of each page.
One thing to consider is selecting a regular web hosting plan and adding Google Adwords to your website. At least this way you can dictate where the advertising is placed and customize it to the feel of your website.
Free web hosting certainly sounds attractive but you've got to realize that at some point it's going to come with a price and in most cases it compromises the professionalism of your website.
Visit my web hosting page for more information on selecting a web hosting plan.
I've also put together a page on free web hosting that has additional information.
Free Website Builders
I can't personally think of any free website builders. There is CoffeeCup which offers a free 30 Day trial but at some point you'll need to pay for it. The only thing I can think of in regards to a free website builder would be by selecting a Website Tonight plan with www.Sitetoad.com.
You pay for the software on a monthly basis but it does include web hosting with it so you don't have that additional expense. Plus since it's a service you're paying for you don't have the website advertising.
Another advantage is you pay for the number of pages that you use so if you intend on a small informational site you can select their 5 page plan. Also, you select from 100's of professional templates so you don't need to design the site, all you need to do is fill in the website with your text and images.
Read more on free website builder options.
Free Search Engine Submission
This is another thing I don't recommend using. With that said, it's not going to hurt your search engine rankings but the best way to get listed on a search engine is by having it find you through another website.
If you're still interested in using a free search engine submission tool I'd recommend that you visit www.submitexpress.com/submit.html. I wouldn't bother with signing up for any for the stuff that they offer, you'll just end up with a bunch of unwanted spam.
If you're considering a premium search engine submission option you may want to take a look at TrafficBlazer. It'll submit your website to all of the major search engines and directories plus it offers search engine optimization to assist you with optimizing your website for search engines.
Webmaster Forum
I invite you to visit my webmaster forum, it's a great place to discuss websites and ask questions to fellow webmasters regarding topics that you may still have questions on.