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Getting Started
on a Shoestring Budget: How to Make Your Own Web site for
Free
Having an Internet
business where you make money from your web sites is one
business you can start with absolutely no investment upfront.
Of course it helps to have some money to invest, but if
you are on a shoestring budget you can get started with
virtually nothing.
The
advantages to using a free web host are:
1. Obviously
that it doesn't cost anything, except your time,
to create your site.
2. Most free
hosts just have you create a subdirectory or subdomain form
their main page so you don't have to take the time or
expense of getting your own domain name set up.
3. Using free
hosts may also give you some added privacy. Since
you don't own your own domain, no one can look up your personal
data on the Whois records.
The
disadvantages to free web hosting are:
1. You don't
get to use you own domain name so your site isn't portable
to other web hosts. For example, say you build a site
on cats that becomes really popular and get 500 links to
your site.
2. Most free
hosts are ad supported. You may be able to put your
own ads on the site, too, but then your ads will be competing
with your web hosts ads, too.
3. Limitations
on bandwidth. If you have a popular site, your web hosting
account may get canceled without much notice if it takes
up too much bandwidth.
4. Possible
search engine bias against sites on free hosts. Since
free hosts are often used by search engine spammers, many
people, myself included, think that search engines may tend
to rank sites on free hosts lower than other sites. That
doesn't mean it is impossible to get good rankings with
free web hosts - it just means it might be easier to get
better placements in the search engines with paid hosting
and your own domain name.
5. Lack of
support, or you get what you pay for. Free hosts are
less likely to respond in a timely fashion (if they respond
at all) to your requests for technical help. If your site
goes down, or you have trouble logging in, you may simply
be out of luck getting anyone from a free host to try to
help you.
6. Many affiliate
and ad programs may not accept you unless you have your
own domain name. Fortunately, one of the bigger programs,
Amazon, does allow sites in their programs to be on free
hosts. So it is possible to start sites using a program
like Amazon, and then as your income rises you can create
additional sites with their own domain names. By using a
free host, you really can get your Internet business started
without investing any money at all. Adsense will let you
put their ads on free hosts, but be aware that some free
hosts already have Adsense ads or Adsense competitor ads
on their sites. You may need to contact Adsense support
or check their terms of service to see if your Adsense ads
are allowed to be used in conjunction with the type of ads
that the free web host has already placed on the site.
If you do decide
to go with a free host, here are some of the more popular
selections:
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