Search free websites or hosting on Google, and you’ll get 191,000,000 or more links to websites offering this so-called deal. If you plan to set up a family site with the latest news, photos of the kids, etc, or you’re a genealogist. If you would like to post your family tree and information for other genealogists, all the traffic you want or need is your family, friends and whatever strangers you meet and would like to send to your URL. By all means, please take advantage of their offer. Because that is probably all the traffic you will get to visit your site. However, if you are seriously considering becoming an internet entrepreneur, find yourself a reputable web design company and an affordable hosting plan. Free hosting is not suitable for
internet entrepreneur, so always Avoid Free Websites and Hosting Deals.

There are three factors which I encourage my clients to keep in mind when selecting a website for their online business venture. The deciding factors when choosing your web design should be the ease of navigation and the suitability of the page layout to your content. Customers visit your site searching for a product, service, or information. If your site does not provide easy access to the content they want, they will not hang around to admire the design elements of your website. By selecting a layout suitable for the content you intend to place on your web pages, whether it is product images and descriptions or informational content, like this article, for example, you can save a lot of time and–if you intend to have your support staff setup your content– money as well.

The third factor is the primary web design. While many experts, and myself as well, believe customers are sub-consciously motivated by colours (red encourages them to take action, blue promotes a sense of trust, yellow and orange, a sense of healthy being or contentment, etc.), the essential design elements of your website such as the background colours, images, bullets, flash etc., are a matter of personal preference.

If you are determined to succeed in the online marketplace, you’ll save a lot of time and trouble if you start right. Before you leap on that free website and hosting offer, research. Read the fine print and see if the deal they offer will meet your needs now, and calculate the cost you could incur if you have to exceed the allotment of services they provide for free. If you want your domain, add the provider’s membership and cost. Talley the “free provider’s services” costs, then set it aside and shop around a bit. Visit a web design company offering professionally designed websites for less than a hundred dollars and see what they offer. Look at the hosting plans available with all the features you need. Now, compare the costs of both options. Remember that, as with any business, you will eventually have to invest a little money if you truly want to succeed.

If you plan to use a free provider, don’t purchase a domain for your new site unless you intend to pay the provider’s membership fee. Most free providers provide you with two membership options—free or paid. If you choose the free membership option, the provider will set up your URL for your website like this: FREE PROVIDER DOMAIN/YOUR USER ID, or even worse, like this: FREE PROVIDER DOMAIN/DIR/YOUR USER ID. Settle for either URL, and you’ll be lucky even to get your site indexed by the search engines and directories. Many search engines and directories will not accept your website submissions if your URL contains a forward slash. Some major search engines and directories categorically refuse to accept requests for websites hosted with free providers. Google rarely indexes sites hosted by free providers and even more rarely gives the place a ranking more significant than 0/10.

Even if you are lucky enough to land a few customers for your site, including a free provider’s domain in your URL can also adversely affect your ability to get repeat customers. Yourdomain.com is relatively easy for your customer to recall. Your provider domain.com/your user ID would be strict for them to remember since they have probably never done business with your provider.

Of course, your free provider will be more than happy to set up your website under your domain—provided you pay their membership fee and purchase the part yourself. It defeats your purpose of saving a few bucks, doesn’t it?

My friend, they are not providing free hosting out of the goodness of their hearts. Read that fine print again. The majority of free providers offer limited amounts of web space, bandwidth and features. Better check the number of web pages you can set up under your free account while you’re at it because some providers set a meagre limit. If you exceed whatever limits your free provider allows, you’ll have to pay their membership fee and purchase one of their hosting plans.