While free hosting may seem appealing at first, there are several reasons why it can be detrimental to your website or online presence. The thought of getting a free website is tempting. The internet is full of companies offering free website hosting, even for self-hosted WordPress. So, why isn’t everyone else using a free WordPress website? In this article, we’ll share the main reasons why having free website hosting providers is a bad idea and a mistake you should avoid at all costs.
Why Free Hosting Can Be Bad?
They Can Shut Down Your Website
The terms and conditions of these services clearly state that they can shut down your website at any time without providing you with a reason. So, If they shut down a website, they usually don’t give you data or provide a way to save your content.
Reasons Why Free Hosting Can Be Bad: Google Will Not Help
Long gone are the times when Google treated “professional” websites as equal to “free” websites (if there ever was such a time). This is because so many of those free sites are of such low quality that Google (often) assumes all of them aren’t that great.
The real harm of low search engine rankings. Websites on free web hosts are ripe targets for spammers. You will have to be more vigilant to stave off spammers. You’ll also find it harder to rank your website for certain keywords if you’re using a free provider with your site in one of their subdomains.
Not Completly Free
Many of these free website services often turn out to be limited trials. After a while, you are asked to pay for it. In most cases, this price is usually way higher than regular WordPress hosting services. If you added a credit card during signup, they can charge you without warning you.
While the hosting may be free, some providers may charge for additional features or services. Moreover, they might have restrictions on certain activities, and violating these terms could result in unexpected charges.
No Server Control
Let’s say you publish a post that becomes popular on Reddit or Facebook. You’ll likely quickly exceed the bandwidth limit you get as part of your free hosting. So, your site will go down, and you’ll lose tons of readers. With free hosting, you might have limited control over your website. Some providers retain the right to shut down or remove your site without notice if it violates their terms of service.
Reasons Why Free Hosting Can Be Bad: Bandwidth Limitations
Bandwidth is the data transferred from the server to the user browser. It costs money, and most free websites come with very limited bandwidth caps.
Free Domain Can Not Be a Domain
Normally, when you sign up for free hosting, you’ll see a “free domain name.” This will usually look something like hosting.yourfreesite.com. Hardly professional, right? Remember, your site address is not your own. What you’re in a subdomain. As a result, you never own this domain name. If their service shuts down, your website and “free domain name” will likely go with it.
Bad Storage
Free website companies host hundreds of websites sharing the same server and hard disks. So, they usually give you very limited storage to store your data. Finally, when you reach that limit, you need to pay for more storage.
They Can Sell Your Information
In this day and age, a good thing to remember is that if you aren’t paying for it, then you are the product. So, these free web host companies use other ways to make money, such as selling your personal information, email address, and other personal and company information to other companies.
Final Words About Free Hosting Bad
In summary, while free hosting can be a starting point for personal projects or small websites, it often lacks the reliability, performance, and features needed for a professional or business-oriented online presence.
Investing in a reputable paid hosting service is generally a better choice for critical websites or those with growth potential. We hope this article on the main reasons why having free website hosting providers is a bad idea and a mistake you should avoid has helped you. Leave us a comment.
