Everyone likes the word free. Free means you usually don’t have to pay any money for the product or service being offered. While this may seem like a great deal on the surface, there are often many hidden costs that can turn a free perk into a disastrous choice. If a company is offering free php web hosting services, should you take it up on the offer?
The answer depends on the fine print. If you’re a hobbyist or a small business owner, using a free service to host your website can be a good financial decision. You can use the money you save to invest in other things that can help you achieve the goals you have for your business or blog. When you’ve generated enough sales or come into some cash, you can always upgrade to a paid service that may suit your needs better.
As noted before, though, free services and products often have hidden costs. One hidden cost is the insertion of ads into your website. The company has to generate income to support the free hosting it’s giving away, and one way it does that is by placing ads on their customer’s websites. This may not be a big deal if you’re a hobby blogger, but it can look extremely unprofessional to customers if you’re a business.
Another hidden cost is the provider’s reliability and service. Free accounts may be placed on slow or unreliable servers, leading to lost readers and business. Customer service may be poor or nonexistent, so you may not get any help if you have a problem with your website.
Lastly, the risk of the business going under without notice is fairly high with free web hosting companies. Web hosting is an expensive and extremely competitive business, and not all hosting companies make it. A company offering free services may not be able to make enough money to stay afloat. The provider may decide to fold up overnight, forcing you to start all over somewhere else.
While free php web hosting service may seem like a great find, it’s best to think carefully about the pros and cons and make a decision that will support your goals in the long term.