Deciding on a web host solution can be the hardest part of getting a website set up. It can be so tempting to keep your costs low by choosing a free hosting solution but many people can come to regret that decision soon afterwards. Our advice to you would be to spend time understanding the difference between the two options and then deciding which web hostis the best fit for your needs. The team at Top 10 Website Hosting have put together a nice comparison along with some nice statistics.

Free Hosting

Free web hosting services are great if you have absolutely no money to spend on your website. And for many people, it does a pretty good job. However, if you are looking for a website that generates sales for your business, it might not be the best solution. There are a few reasons behind this and one of them is that many free hosts will use your website to display various adverts on. You literally have no say in what is displayed on your website, it could be anything and there is no limit as to how many they display. If your potential customers find your website but then get annoyed by ads flashing up in their faces then they are likely to leave your website pretty quickly.

Another issue that irritates website visitors is slow loading pages. If they have to wait more than a few seconds, again this will put them off and they may jump onto another website instead. With free hosting, you are not guaranteed great levels of performance so your website could run really slowly and there is not a lot you can do about it. You are also limited in regards to storage space and bandwidth and you are not entitled to technical support. So those are the limitations that you can expect through free web hosting.

Paid Hosting

There are different types of paid hosting solutions but we will look purely at shared hosting in this article. Shared hosting basically means that you share server space with lots of other people just like yourself. You will pay a monthly fee that can vary from a few pounds per month to £15 per month depending on the package you opt for. Shared hosting is a popular choice for small businesses with limited budgets and who won’t expect huge volumes of traffic to their site.

For those larger companies that need better levels of performance to support the increased demands, dedicated hosting is likely to be a better option but it is considerably more expensive than shared hosting. Shared hosting stays relatively cheap because the server costs are spread over the full group of customers using it. Most web host companies provide a range of different host types and the options to scale your website. What we mean by that is if you are only starting up but then your company quickly grows, your hosting support will be able to continue to support you throughout your growth.

Some of the popular host providers include Bluehost, HostGator, GoDaddy and 1&1. They are all quite similar in terms of ratings and what they offer but you might find that one is better equipped to support your specific needs. You may want to use WordPress so you will want a host that is best placed to support you with that. Having a host with specialist knowledge in your website development platform is key to troubleshooting any problems you may come across.

So that is pretty much the basics that you will need to know to help you to decide which option is best for you – free or paid hosting.

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