subject: Making Your Own Website - Have Your Own Piece Of The Web [print this page] Before you jump in and make your own website, it's important to consider where you will host it. After all, your domain name and hosting type can have a big effect on how other people perceive your content. For some, paid hosting, with its greater support and prestige is the only way to go. Many people, however, can get a lot of benefit out of free webspace. Here's a look at free hosting, how it might benefit you, and its potential downsides.
Traditional Free Hosts
Some free website hosts work much like standard paid hosts. These provide space on a server, to which you upload a conventional HTML website. Many of these free hosts also provide their own easy webpage builders. This type of solution gives you a page that's much like that hosted on a conventional paid host, but usually comes at the cost of having to place ads on your site.
These ads may advertise the competition and can look unprofessional. You may also suffer from content restrictions, a difficult to remember Web address and other problems. Traditional free hosts include Google Sites, Angelfire, Freeservers and many others.
Free Blog Hosting
In addition to traditional hosting, you can also make your own website using free blog hosting options. These are ideal for sites that will be made up of multiple chronological posts, and some services also allow the creation of static pages. Free blog hosting provides a basic template that works well for many standard sites and takes some of the weight of Web design off of your shoulders.
The downsides of choosing a free blog host include the limitations of the format, the potential of having an unoriginal design, and reduced options for monetization. Blogs allow primarily for diary-type sites, which can make it hard for users to find certain types of content. Free blog hosts also rely heavily on templates, which increases the risk of your site looking just like someone else's. Finally, some free blog hosts don't provide many options for product sales or advertising through your page.
Free Social Media Hosting
Social media webspace is the newest option when you make your own website. Sites like Facebook, Google+ and Tumblr allow you to create a Web presence that's accessible to a large audience without too much effort. This type of free Web hosting provides some customization, easy access and a ready web of links. This makes it very appealing for many first-time site owners.
Social media options have their problems, too. Depending on the site's terms of service, you may not retain sole ownership of your site's content. You may find yourself lost among a large number of similar sites, or you could find that rules about what you can post limit your ability to represent yourself. The quick and easy advantages of this site option can be overshadowed by the stricter rules you have to follow.
