Free web hosting sites??? I need help!

Hello ATS,

How is everyone today? I'm Great! and I hope you guys are too!

Anyway...

I'm starting up an online store and I was wondering if anyone knows about any free web hosting services....
and maybe some personal testimonies or opinions. Everyone's input is appreciated! Thanks for looking!

I would recommend not using free hosting for an online business. Just cough up like 60 bucks and get something decent.

Originally posted by goochball
I would recommend not using free hosting for an online business. Just cough up like 60 bucks and get something decent.

I understand that would be the best choice but I'm only looking for a temporary start up host.
I will eventually go with the paid hosting.

Originally posted by goochball
I would recommend not using free hosting for an online business. Just cough up like 60 bucks and get something decent.

I would definitely agree here, especially if you're going to run a store where you'll be wanting people to purchase things from you. A lot of the free hosts make you put their ads on your pages which will lower your conversions. You can get a 3-5$ a month shared hosting plan from namecheap or godaddy. For free I've played around with 000webhost.com in the past and they do not require their ads all over your pages.

Originally posted by GmoS719
Hello ATS,

How is everyone today? I'm Great! and I hope you guys are too!

Anyway...

I'm starting up an online store and I was wondering if anyone knows about any free web hosting services....
and maybe some personal testimonies or opinions. Everyone's input is appreciated! Thanks for looking!

I think you can forget about free ones. It would probably work better then to setup your own web server at home if you must have a free one.

Free ones are only usable for a non commercial server with very few visitors.

to add,

when money is being transferred you will require secure payment methods therefore free hosting does not supply you with such security when money transactions are concerned. So yes, simply layout several dollars and start your business the proper way and not the other way or you risk and your product risk being branded as a scam and that is something you do not want to be branded as.

reply to post by GmoS719


I use www.000webhost.com top result when searching "Free Web Host", been around for a long time and have always been really reliable with me. Set up can be quite slow as they seem to queue new websites and they have lots in the queue but definitely one of the best free hosts I've used.

I currently have 2 websites hosted with them.

I used zymic.com (a free host) for a while, and they were pretty good. I also had a paid site at godaddy which was very reasonable. I would recommend either one.

reply to post by GmoS719


Okay where to start....................

When starting a proper e-commerce venture you first want to get a merchants license so that you can accept credit card payments without the use of paypal. This merchant license allows you to accept all types of payment even interac, and is the only way to begin a startup as the ability to accept all payments directly helps with trust issues your potential customers may have. A merchants license can be obtained from your bank for roughly $25 dollars a year, and from there use it to open a beanstream.com acount. Beanstream handles all credit card payment, and transfers for you so there are no security concerns or liability directed at you for any grievances. Building your own database for credit card transfer, and trying to do what beanstream does with your own code is definitely not suggested.

From there contact a provider that offers low end hosting, as the other people have stated. For you to be opening an online store where you will need capital to buy, and sell products, and then want to do it free is ridiculous at best. Free hosting often comes with a heavy unseen price tag, and I have had clients come looking for rebuilds of their sites that their free host took the rights to, closed shop on, or deep sixed the site for too much activity, that's right too much activity.

From there you need to develop a site that is higher functioning than a static site, and not that easy to make, so if your planing on using a free site builder next, you may want to look into what that will take before you start spending any cash. I also suggest that you do some back end checking on the marketing practices of your competitors before you start anything. Often there are large powerhouse players in certain markets, and it takes cash to play against them, both in seo, and pricing.

The costs of an online venture are much more than I believe you think they are, and between hosting, site development, merchandise, and then shipping your looking at $1000 at the bare minimum. I build e com sites starting at $2400, and that doesn't include nice things like seo, or site operation video tutorials, just to give you an idea of what web devs cost. You may want to research a lot before you get in to anything, and maybe on web development forums, as there are not many people that have actually built an ecom site or operated one, and you may get less than correct info. If you want I can show you some of the ecoms I have built, as well as a few that I own, and can answer some quick questions, and give you some pointers on what your about to face, just pm me.

I'm wondering why there is a need for it to be free hosted if the site purpose is actual commercial business? I, as a consumer, can see who is hosting your site and in fact I do look at that as one of the first quick checks I do when considering a purchase/busienss from a site that isn't among the corporate giants like Newegg or Monoprice. Just a thought on that...

In that vain, hosting that will pass such a cursory credibility check isn't expensive.... I've been using Rochen as a reseller for quite some time and they have packages in the $10 range. I've also personally used Bluehost with no complaints and they start around $6. For that few bucks a month they do give a ton through Cpanel that a purely free host isn't likely to even consider...

I do keep domain control entirely separate from the company hosting though.... I've been burned a couple times on a host going sideways and without clear and separate domain name/record control, there goes the site too.

I am currently building a webstore for free, well nearly free, you get everything you need for free, although you have to have a banner at the top your page advertising the company.

The rules don't permit me to show you the url , but if you look at my website, you will be able to get
the the name from there.

www.vaperoma.co.uk

I upgraded to a full version for £6.99 a month, and this lets you add new pages.

Check it out , it may be what your looking for.

reply to post by rigel4

I'm in the US, do you think they will still host?

Yea i dont see why not, Might add a few milliseconds to loading time but otherwise should be ok.
Try making a site for free, and see how you get on, then maybe upgrade to a better package.

I have had easier sites, but they mostly use flash as templates and flash if you don't already kow is useless
for google indexing.

Have a go

Go to WEBHOSTINGTALK and check out their offers section. You can get good single domain hosting for ~.50 cent a month. Yes 6 a yr. and with Cpanel access. Easy to migrate if you want to go large someday. All the features that will get you started on the right pathway.

I tried a bunch of them, and most are really clumsy interfaces at best...(not just for hosting, but for building a quick site too)....

Webnode had the best design interface, but I had a hell of a time trying to get it to where my GoDaddy domain would forward to it. (and it was all on webnode's side). I finally gave up on that, and just went with a paid GoDaddy site...much easier.

I will say that if you don't mind a webnode URL, it's pretty easy to use, and you'll be up in minutes (and it offers e-commerce). As others said though, if a business site, you'd really want the control and reliability that comes with a paid service. Also, as suggested, get a merchant account with a bank, so you can take credit card payments yourself...only paying the card issuer percentage vs. a PayPal fee, etc. We even have a reader that plugs into our cell phone, that can scan cards, and take such payments while on the road. Pretty damn cool.

Ok, I paid for GoDaddy's Website Tonight, and I have to say, I'm pretty pleased with it.

It's just as easy (if not easier) to use as webnode, but it's a pretty seamless integration if you also have a GoDaddy domain. If you'd like to see my business' site, here's the url...

www.davestackshop.com

Keep in mind, I've got ZERO html coding knowledge, so this was ALL point and click. (and less than $10 a month for both hosting and the design tool).... Making changes is a breeze, and there are far more customizable options than with webnode.

reply to post by Gazrok


Sweet! I'll check it out, it looks good for a point and click design.
Thanks.

reply to post by GmoS719


Just did a different business site with it also. Really easy to use and update. It's also got some good widgets and tools also (love the Contact form). Here's the other business site. I didn't put as much time into this one, but still shows what you can do with an hour or so to kill, using the tool.

www.fantascenesmurals.com...

That's actually one of the better sites I've seen created with Website Tonight, Gazrok. Nice job.

I made a website for someone recently who wanted to used Website Tonights free plan and discovered that you can't use FTP to upload your own site with it, you have to use their tools, and are limited to about five pages. Did you have to pay to get more on your personal site? Is it a recurring charge or a one time thing?


To the OP:

I know with tripod/lycos their free hosting plans are ad supported, but you can pay to have the ads removed and also upgrade to a full account. When I first started out I was pretty pleased with their pre-made templates, and it's easy to upload your own design as well. May be worth considering.

www.000webhost.com... is 100% free. No card details required, just sign up and you're ready to go.

Don't expect it to stay online for long though if you draw big traffic to your website...they'll ask you to upgrade.

Certainly worth it for beginners though.