Free Web Hosting With No Banners

Free web hosting with no banners. Is there such a thing? Why would someone let you host your web site for free on their servers? There must be catch.

The good news is, there is such a thing as free web hosting with no banners. Yup! That’s right. None of those ugly banner ads at the top of your web pages to distract your customers. But there aren’t too many of these hosting accounts running around.

Most startup internet businesses would jump at the opportunity of a free web hosting account with no banners. But before you decide if this is for you, I’d like to take you back to the late 1990s when I first started out and was in need of a ‘free web hosting with no banners’ account.

• Free web hosting with no banners Option 1 - Your own ISPMy first try was with my own ISP. If you have a good ISP, you shouldn’t have to look far for a hosting account. Most ISPs offer free web space to host your web site. And most don’t force banner ads onto your web pages.

  The only thing about hosting with your ISP is that you won’t be able to host your web site with your own domain name. You’d probably get a URL looking like this: http://www.yourisp.com/username/.

  Back in the 1990s, this would have been fine. No one would give it a second thought. But now, in the 2000s, one look at that URL and you can wave goodbye to potential customers.

  The other critical problem, with this type of hosting is when you get into a fight with your ISP. Or if your ISP goes bust or they just terminate your account for reasons that are totally beyond comprehension.

  Imagine this: For the past few months, you’ve been building steady traffic to your ISP subdomain. Not only does your ISP get a good traffic ranking for that, but now that your account has been terminated, everyone will be going to that subdomain and you won’t be there anymore. You’ll have to start all over.

• Free web hosting with no banners Option 2 - DotEasy.comAfter having these problems, I decided to look for a different alternative. One that can host my own domain name. Lucky for me, DotEasy.com made it’s debut. If you’ve been on the net for quite awhile, this web host should ring a bell. They took the net by storm when they introduced their web hosting with no banners services. Although the inital hoo haa has died down, they’re still in business and still running strong. For most of you, this would be a likely choice.

  The first thing that people do when they see something going for free is to look closely to see if there’s a catch. In fact, some may even shy away from the offer, thinking that there must be a catch and better safe than sorry. With DotEasy.com, there isn’t one. Well, almost.

  Okay, okay. The first thing that you have to do to qualify for this ‘free web hosting with no banners’ account, is to purchase your domain name from them. Or to transfer your existing domain name registrar to them. The last time I looked, their domain name costed $25 a year. That’s quite expensive considering you can get your domain name for as little as $8.88 a year. But then again, you are getting a free hosting account.

  As far as I can see, there’s nothing wrong with this hosting account if you’re planning on putting up a small and simple web site with not too much traffic coming in and out.

  But if you’re thinking of creating a 20+MB web site with CGI and PHP scripts and loads of traffic, then you’re out of luck. You will have to upgrade. You will quickly come to learn that you will soon need CGI and PHP scripts. These scripts go a long way in helping you to keep sane as your business activities increase.

• Free web hosting with no banners Option 3 - Portland CommunicationsAs I realized I needed scripts for my web site, it was time to look for alternatives. So, I switched to Portland Communications. With Portland Communications you don’t have to transfer your domain to them. You can use your existing registrar and still sign up for their ‘free web hosting with no banners’ account. You get slightly less web space but you have full CGI and PHP access. Which means you can automate your web sites with scripts.

  This account would be a dream come true for small web site owners if it wasn’t for two things. Firsly, once you’re set up, connecting to the server can take forever. So if your web site needs changing often, to keep it up to date, this is going to be a problem for you. On the other hand, if you’re only going to create a web site that doesn’t need to be updated constantly, this account could be for you.

  The second thing that is not very impressive is the support you get. Well, you hardly get any. But who can blame them. With so many free non paying accounts, who has the time and money.

In short, if you’re thinking of creating a simple, small, low maintenance web site, one of the above three choices of ‘free web hosting with no banners’ account could be perfect for you. Especially if you’re just starting out with no extra cash in your pocket.

If, however, you’re thinking of setting up a business web site with ecommerce features and the ability to interact with your customers, you’re better off starting out on the right foot.

The one key to survival when running a business online, is to create good rapport with your customers. How can you possibly do this if you can’t connect to your server half the time, with close to no support when your server is down while your customers are waiting for their orders to be fulfilled.

Important Update: Unfortunately, as of Oct 2003, Portland Communications has discontinued CGI support on free hosting accounts. (Another reason why you should opt for a paid hosting account ). They still, however, have PHP support. Like CGI, using PHP scripts is a wonderful way to automate your web site.

Another Update: Oops! Nov 2003, Portland Communications has discontinued PHP support as well, on all ‘free web hosting with no banners’ accounts.