Free Web Hosting?

[LeightonH]

Can anyone recommend a good free web host? I don't need anything too fancy; it's just for a local car club. I might also make a site for a small business later on. I would like a proper URL, but I don't need a ton of storage or bandwidth, because both sites would be on the smaller side, and only have a local audience. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

 

[Dark_Lite]

If by proper URL you mean a domain you control that isn't a subdomain of the host, you will need to register a domain. It only costs like 10 dollars a year for most places.

If you are looking for absolutely simple, free hosting, I recommend Google Sites. Never used it, but it looks decent enough for simple static sites. You can add a custom CNAME record later on to point to your own domain. Google Sites is also ad-free.

If you need any kind of server side technology, I do not recommend a free host. Some have it, but they're all pretty bad, and they have ads. You can find very cheap web hosting that offer basic server-side technology stacks out there these days.

 

[wiggsfly]

Stay away from the free stuff, even for a small site. The $5-$7/ month plans are worth it. Try Web hosting provider - Bluehost.com - domain hosting - PHP Hosting - cheap web hosting - Frontpage Hosting E-Commerce Web Hosting Bluehost

 

[Qyöt27]

I'd say it depends on how exactly you want to organize things or flashy you want to be, and how 'permanent' you want downloads (if any) to be. Even Wordpress might be fine (at least there, you could use the Wordpress software - that's Wordpress.org, not Wordpress.com, although the .com is among the free hosts with optional premium pay plans - to publish to the host if you want a domain all to yourself).

Many of the free file hosts (Mediafire, for example) are a good substitute if the data doesn't need to exist for long stretches of time - as the stipulation on those file hosts is either based on at least 1 download per month or you visiting your account/logging in at least once a month.

 

[Kristin E]

I have heard of free webs / they are now known as "webs".
Webs - Make a free website, get free hosting

 

[567234ta]

i have a dedicated server i host a few sites on. i would be willing to let you have some free space and bandwidth. you would have to purchase a domain name from a place like godaddy though.

 

[LeightonH]

Thanks for the replies. I'm a complete newbie on this subject so anything helps.
I'd be willing to pay something like 5 dollars a month for the domain name on the small business site, but I'll have to check if the club is willing to fund one.

i have a dedicated server i host a few sites on. i would be willing to let you have some free space and bandwidth. you would have to purchase a domain name from a place like godaddy though.

Thanks for the offer. I'll have ask the club about it.

 

[567234ta]

Thanks for the replies. I'm a complete newbie on this subject so anything helps.
I'd be willing to pay something like 5 dollars a month for the domain name on the small business site, but I'll have to check if the club is willing to fund one.


Thanks for the offer. I'll have ask the club about it.

no prob just let me know. you are probably thinking about a forum right?

 

[LeightonH]

no prob just let me know. you are probably thinking about a forum right?

Hey, sorry for the late reply.
Actually it will probably just be some information and an events schedule, picture gallery, and some links. It's mainly for people who are looking for a club in our area, which has a population of about a quarter million. So unless it expands to other areas, there wouldn't be much need for a forum -- at least not at first. I'm still interested in the hosting, but I still have to discuss some specifics with the club before I go ahead. Thanks again.

 

[Rocklee]

LeightonH,

There are a lot of options to choose from in deciding free web space because it is so competitive (good for us). But because of the competition some businesses go down (bad for existing customers). They do this to encourage more people to try their services and upgrade if you like it enough.

Personally it is better to pay a fee if you are concern most about backup and uptime. Most businesses say they are up 99.95% but with some simply calculation that could translated into a few hours of your customers not being able to log on or access your site. Not a big problem if you aren't selling anything or running thousands of operations like ebay or facebook.

My experiences with free has been good and bad, good in that everything was free, I had access to all the software apps to develop from, I had free web space. Bad in that servers go down sometimes, you are completely at the mercy of the host management who can do anything they want because "its all free" and they can close shop anytime. Plus, no backup.

That said, I would also suggest using a content management system (CMS) first to conduct the things you want to do for your club. If that is a bit too complicated then a forum would be good enough (you can customise the forum with a gallery). The idea is to contain all your information together rather than delegate them into different applications, making it far easier to manage. It is also easier to host your stuff using one application on someone's site (and with your own URL address).

Good luck with that. I remember building my first club website on a server from russia. Our URL had 30 characters and we couldn't change the background color to anything other than gray. It was a long time ago ;-)

 

[AdamKane]

I would go with either webs, bravehost or bravenet.

 

[Phillip7475]

[FONT=&quot]I would suggest you stay away from FREE hosting. As you don't pay anything, you'll not get any support for the domain, and you'll run the risk of them shutting down their servers without warning.

If you want your own domain name, which is best in the long run, it will only cost you £5-£10 per year, this is standard anywhere and a small price to pay for your own name. Less than a meal at a road side cafe.

Hosting can also be acquired very cheaply. But remember, it's free for a reason. Who is paying for the server, the bandwidth, the electricity, the maintenance? If you’re not, who's going to? Chances are they're not going to consider your site important should anything go wrong.

If cost really is a problem, and you would be prepared to buy the domain name, my company will host the site for you. We are in the UK with UK servers. [/FONT]

 

[LeightonH]

I talked to the guy who runs the club, and he wants to start with free hosting and see how that works first. We are going to register a domain name though. Thanks for all the help.

 

[Hosana]

According to my experience Last month i got the reseller account in this site goresellers.com & got hosting services at cheap cost.

 

[molimar]

I also recommend blue host and to stay away from the free sites. You get what you pay for plus there are bonus like Google ads, facebook and yahoo free offers.



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