The aim of this post is to prevent you from making an expensive mistake with the false economy of free hosting for your websites or blogs. It is probably the most common mistake made by new webmasters and online entrepreneurs when they think about building their first web page.

There are thousands and thousands of people out there who are considering setting up a website for the first time and anyone who has learned the process from scratch, knows that it is not altogether simple. Having said that, the technology available in 2009 does make it far easier than it was back in the ealry 90′s when I first started out, coding my first webpages using Notepad while at home recovering from an operation.

The results of those early attempts were, I have to admit, pretty horrible, but the web was a very different place back then and my first site was just one of many horrible sites to be found on the internet. It was a hobby site and I hosted it using the space allocated by my ISP, which was a pretty common offering back before the days of broadband and high speed internet. Of course, when I changed my ISP, the site, in all it’s clip art glory was, to all intents and purposes, dead. Probably a good thing, but those early efforts were a hugely valuable learning experience.

I think those days were the last time I ever used a free hosting solution until the recent failed experiment with another company claiming to provide the equivalent of a paid service for nothing.

If you are serious about running a website, particularly with business overtones, good web hosting is essential. This is hardly news to you I’m sure and you’ve probably read it a hundred times already if you are researching how to start your own online business. The reason for this is that it is absolutely true and until you are ready to accept this, you will remain stalled at the starting gate.

Take a look at this video from Lisa, an experienced affiliate marketer at  2 Create a Website where she explains why free hosting of any kind is really not the way to go for anyone thinking of going into business online.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9oTWvACXHY8

I think that sums up pretty well my own views on free hosting. It simply isn’t worth the potential price you may end up paying in terms of lost revenue and time. (as for her comments on building a site, don’t let that phase you too much. Building a dynamic site on a platform like WordPress is really simple, even if you start from a base of zero knowledge. Sure you will learn a lot as you go along, but nowadays you can learn as you go, tweaking your sites as your knowledge grows). You don’t need to invest money in expensive web authoring programs.

Here is another great video showing you just how simple it is to do a simple WordPress installation using cpanel and Fantastico. When looking for hosting, I strongly recommend you find a provider who gives you both of these features, particularly if you are just starting out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PctLptiDJ34

The cost of setting up a website nowadays is really minimal. For those starting out there are shared hosting plans available for less than five dollars a month – that’s less than $60 per annum. Add the price of a domain name and you’re good to go. Way less than $100 for a year.

If you are hoping to earn money from any online venture, this is the starting point. Buy yourself a domain name and a hosting account. The rest of your journey will then be that much easier.

I know that there will be contrary views and that some people will tell you that there is no need to invest money in a fledgling website and doubtless there are users out there who have used and are still using free services quite happily but until the axe drops on all their hard work, as it so often can when relying on “free” services, they will remain unconvinced. If you want to own your own business, you really do need to own your data and your work, and with free services that just isn’t going to happen and you risk losing everything you have worked for at the whim of a person or company outside of your control. That is the harsh bottom line.

If you’re not sure about buying a domain name or finding a hosting provider, stay and have a look around our site, where you will find answers to most of your questions or concerns. You will find hosting deals ranging from the cheapest shared options all the way up to dedicated server providers costing hundreds of dollars per month, so there is something here for every level of user.

TCH