Top Reasons Why Having A Free Website Is Not A Good Idea

A free website is quite easy to get nowadays. It is usually available through a plan offered by web hosts to help businesses get started without breaking the bank. 

Here are some of the top hosting service providers that offer free websites:

• WordPress
• Wix
• Weebly
• SiteBuilder
• Squarespace 

This all sounds great, but sometimes, cheap is expensive. After weighing the $0 price tag with the limitations, risks, and irreparable damages it could cause your brand, the prospect of a free website might be worth skipping altogether. 

Read on to find out the dangers of going for a free website. 

Unprofessional-Looking URL

As opposed to a cheap website hosting plan, when you sign up for a free website, you are given a subdomain of the host website. In short, you do not get your own custom URL, but one that includes the address of the service provider. While this saves you pennies, it might even make your business look shady or untrustworthy.

For example, instead of your website showing up as www.megansgowns.com, with a free website on WordPress, it will appear as www.megansgowns.wordpress.com. 

Lack Of Control Over Your Site

If the hosting service decides to close, you will lose your website and all the data. Moreover, they will not face any legal consequences by doing so. 

The worst thing is that free hosts often add their own branded icons and links to your site. It gets worse because service providers make money by selling advertising space on your site to other businesses. 

For example, your website named ‘Merlin’s Yoga’ might display ads of your competitor ‘Energy Goddess’s Yoga’. Such an ad lures your customers to visit other sites and is counterproductive.  

No/Limited WordPress Installation Possible

Most free website plans do not let users install WP for free. This is because WordPress is resource-heavy, and this is not viable for them to offer on a free plan. On the other hand, if a service provider does let you use WP, there is a high chance their servers might not be able to handle the load. 

For example, after letting you install WP, the free website might immediately crash or fail to work. Also, not all WP plugins will work on free or cheap web hosting plans.

Security Risks 

When you use a free website, you might get a website with poorly written or hidden code. Hence, there are chances your website data might be stolen or fall prey to malicious attacks. 

Hackers can easily manipulate poor security standards and steal the financial information of your customers. 

Moreover, service providers often sell your emails, personal information, images, and other content with legal immunity on such plans. Another danger of free website hosting is malware distribution, which is proactively done by shady hosts for economic rewards.

Limited Space And Design Options 

Given that cramming servers with the maximum possible number of users is common on free and shared hosting plans, your website will ultimately receive low disk space. 

For example, you will not be able to upload videos or photos. There will be restrictions on the total number of pages given that free websites come with stringent bandwidth limitations. 

Besides slowing down your website, these kinds of plans come with minimum templates. You will not be permitted to use your own designs or other designs that otherwise would have suited web hosting for beginners. This is why most of the free websites look alike. 

No Contact Forms, Branded Emails, Or Customer Support 

The lack of custom contact forms on free plans attracts spam, besides losing conversions. You could miss the chance to acquire customers because there may be no option to make a unique email address based on your domain. 

For example, you will have to use your personal Gmail or yahoo address for your website, which looks unprofessional.

Unlike paid reseller hosting packages, you do not get any customer service to help you troubleshoot issues. Simply put, expect zero help when you are stuck. 

Bottom Line 

Free websites can expose you to hackers, besides making your brand look unprofessional. It offers zero support, email addresses, or contact forms to help you improve the business. On top of limited space and templates, you will be dependent on the web host forever. 

Hence, it is wise to skip free web hosting if you want to start a credible business online. It is safe to say that on the topic of websites, you get what you pay for.