There are several factors to consider before choosing a free web host, as not all free web hosting companies provide quality services. Here are few tips to select a free web hosting company:
- To cover the free hosting charges, web hosts try to impose advertising on your website. They may place banners or pop-up menus on your website. Talk with the hosts in advance and choose the method that you are comfortable with.
- Ask the web host whether they provide access to FTP. FTP is the ability to upload webpages by browser or email. Unless you are creating a really trivial site FTP is not needed, but if you want to expand your website at a later date, FTP access is mandatory. Similarly, you also need access to Perl and PHP scripts.
- Sites that take a long time to upload do not stand any chance of finding regular visitors. Ask your web host about the speed of access and reliability. Slow access can frustrate a visitor and you will not want to lose customers just for this reason. To find out the site speed, ask someone to try uploading the site in both the peak and non-peak time.
- Some free web hosting sites impose a limitation on the number of traffic your website receives on a daily or monthly basis. In other words, web hosts now impose a bandwidth, and if visitors to your site exceed the allotted bandwidth then they will either disable your site or ask you to pay for the excess use. Choose the bandwidth depending on the kind of website you intend to create and the target market.
Before finalizing a free web hosting site, discuss all the technological aspects with the consumer care department. Most importantly, choose a reliable and popular free web hosting site.