The option to make a free website can sound
very enticing but as the saying goes, you get what you pay for. Plus
many of the companies that offer 'free' services are just luring you
in and then get you with fees for advanced features or once a trail
period ends.
I realize that money may be tight but it's certainly worth
the investment to pay for services. You can register a domain
name for only $6.95 per year with
www.WebsiteSpot.com
plus the offer web hosting for as little as $4.95. I'll explain
below a few free options and then explain the disadvantages.
Free Domain Names
If you look at majority of the websites on the internet they have an
address such as www.SteakBrands.com. Selecting a free domain would
get you an address such as www.steakbrands.freewebs.com.
The issue is that it isn't professional plus you can't setup
personalized email addresses such as sales@steakbrands.com or
billing@steakbrands.com. You'd need to use your current email
address and this just doesn't portray a professional image.
As I mentioned you can register a domain name for only $6.95 per
year through
www.WebsiteSpot.com plus they are currently offering $1.99 .INFO
domain names.
Below you'll find a script that will allow you to search for a
professional domain name. If you have questions about domain names
be sure to read my page on
domain name registration.
Free Web Hosting
Hosting is going to be one of the most expensive services that you
need but when I say expensive I'm talking about $53.00 per year.
Majority of the websites out there will require you to pay for the
full year in advance but
www.WebsiteSpot.com offers month to month terms.The thing
with free hosting is that the company has to make money in some way.
The way that they generally do this is by placing advertising on the
top of each page of your website. If you're trying to achieve a
professional feel on your website you certainly don't want
advertising of each page.
One thing to consider is selecting a regular web hosting plan and
adding Google Adwords to your website. At least this way you can
dictate where the advertising is placed and customize it to the feel
of your website.
Free web hosting certainly sounds attractive but you've got to
realize that at some point it's going to come with a price and in
most cases it compromises the professionalism of your website.
Visit my web hosting page for more information on
selecting a web hosting plan.
I've also put together a page on
free web hosting that has
additional information.
Free Website Builders
I can't personally think of any free website builders. There is
CoffeeCup which offers a free 30
Day trial but at some point you'll need to pay for it. The only
thing I can think of in regards to a free website builder would be
by selecting a Website Tonight plan with
www.WebsiteSpot.com.You
pay for the software on a monthly basis but it does include web
hosting with it so you don't have that additional expense. Plus
since it's a service you're paying for you don't have the website
advertising.
Another advantage is you pay for the number of pages that you use
so if you intend on a small informational site you can select their
5 page plan. Also, you select from 100's of professional templates
so you don't need to design the site, all you need to do is fill in
the website with your text and images.
Read more on
free website builder
options.
Free Search Engine Submission
This is another thing I don't recommend using. With that said, it's
not going to hurt your search engine rankings but the best way to
get listed on a search engine is by having it find you through
another website.If you're still interested in using a free search
engine submission tool I'd recommend that you visit
http://www.submitexpress.com/submit.html. I wouldn't bother with
signing up for any for the stuff that they offer, you'll just end up
with a bunch of unwanted spam.
If you're considering a premium search engine submission option
you may want to take a look at TrafficBlazer. It'll submit your
website to all of the major search engines and directories plus it
offers search engine optimization to assist you with optimizing your
website for search engines.
Webmaster Forum
I invite you to visit my
webmaster forum,
it's a great place to discuss websites and ask questions to fellow
webmasters regarding topics that you may still have questions on.
