Pay For What You Get: The Trouble With Free Hosting
With more than one and a half billion websites online, it’s hard to imagine the sheer volume of web hosting utilised to support this data. Websites big and small are stored in servers and data centres around the globe for you to access both day and night. However, this does not mean that all web hosts are created equal. From shared hosting to leasing entire dedicated servers, each has its own host of pros and cons. And yet, none have quite so many cons as the hosting you do not pay for.
If you’ve ever heard the old adage “If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is” then you will also likely be familiar with the tired old tale of free hosting. Read on to discover why getting what you paid for can lead to disaster when the price tag on your hosting reads: Free.
Free? There’s no such thing.
There are plenty of people looking for minimal hosting requirements in the range of access and storage space. It is easy to be lured in by promises of zero cost and zero commitment. However, your data and personal information may be more at risk than you originally may have thought.
Security
While free web hosting websites are generally safe, there are no procedures in place to guarantee that your data is being protected. Unfortunately, since you are not paying for your services, web hosts are often easily enticed to sell or leak personal information like email, address, phone number, or even payment information when stored within their systems.
Uptime
If your website is dependent on being online all the time, then free web hosting will not properly suit your needs. On average, free web hosts offer uptime less than 90%, meaning that 10% of the time, your website will be unavailable.
Quality
Need SEO support? What about professional domains and email addresses? You most likely will not be able to find these services from your free web host. After all, quality hosting costs money for hardware, data centre, and electricity. If you are not paying for these amenities, you can guarantee that the quality will suffer.
Support
Experiencing website or web hosting issues? Hopefully, you are familiar with forums because most free web hosts offer almost no support, and the supported solutions you do receive will take much longer to implement than you are willing or able to invest.
Ads, ads, and more ads…
While you may not mind the adds circumnavigating your website, you can pretty much guarantee that your website visitors do. Avoid offering a spammy website to your website traffic by investing in your web hosting infrastructure.
Affordable Options
If you’ve been living with free hosting, be aware that there is a better way. For only a few pounds a month, you can enjoy the security, support, and tools of industry-leading hosting experts. For example, at UK2.NET you can enjoy professional email, excellent security, and around the clock support for as little as £1.99 per month. Get started today!