Beginner Web Hosting – Try It Free!
Beginner Web Hosting – Try It Free!
Increasing numbers of people are now moving their internet activity into owning their own web space. Use of your own bit of the web may be for private use such as a family site, sharing of photos and media or simply sharing your thoughts and news with your private contacts. Others are interested in creating a public space for forums, sharing social media, to showcase a home or small business, lead generation or a myriad of other uses.
In all cases a web site would be hosted with a web hosting service who stores your website on its servers. This website is then reachable with the use of a web address known as a URL or domain name. It is this address that others would enter into their browsers to view your website. The servers the hosting service host your website on will be categorized as colocation, dedicated, reseller or, most commonly, shared.
Care needs to be taken in choosing your domain name to reflect the nature of your new website. You purchase your domain name from registrars who manage the registration of your domain name. You can purchase domain names separately from hosting. Some free hosting services are also domain name registrars and will offer this service as part of their hosting service. Most free hosting services also offer a free sub-domain which is added to the service domain. This is often adequate for websites not intended for public viewing.
When selecting a free hosting service, a clear list of requirements will help in finding a suitable provider. Items to consider might be:
- email account provision,
- ad-supported or ad-free hosting,
- control panel or file manager used,
- online website builder,
- included scripts such as shopping carts,
- ability to install additional scripts,
- disk space and bandwidth,
- traffic statistics,
- sub-domains,
- guaranteed uptime.
A good free hosting service will have full explanations of all the inclusive features they offer. Given the competitive nature of the web hosting industry, many paid web hosting services offer free hosting to allow prospective clients to experience their service first hand before signing a contract. These free services are sometimes offered as a scaled-down version of the paid service or most often, as a time limited trial of the main service, without obligation.
If you can envisage a future need for a more comprehensive site then such a trial account can prove ideal as you can be sure you have chosen their best service for your needs before signing.