In some cases when some hosting providers say they offer a reliable and free shared web hosting service it usually means they are after something from their service users – which is you and many others. It could be anything from posting on their forums, renewing and paying for the service you are using at the end of the month, and some providers even want your email to put in a list so they can sell that list to advertisers and make a lot of money from it – which is completely legal because when you sign up to their service you are signing an internet signature which means you agree to their terms and conditions which usually includes the ability to sell your email to third party advertisers.

You may even find yourself running into a scammer if you are one of those people who uses 1 or 2 passwords to login to every form on websites you use – they can easily steal your passwords and you may not even find out about it. If you are using a free service make sure you think about the little things such as using different passwords and maybe registering a new email to use for the free service just so your regular email doesn’t get spammed to death by advertisers. Using a free hosting provider isn’t always worth the hassle as a lot of them aren’t reliable and promise a service you won’t get.

First and foremost, you will receive online web space completely free of charge; this is possibly the biggest advantage to this. A disadvantage you will not have quality technical support, up time, or reliability.

Therefore, if you wish to use web hosting simply to shell out a couple of ideas, to broadcast a site about your hobbies or other similar things, then choosing free web hosing providers is ideal for you. Free web hosting also tends to be great for websites with low traffic. For instance, you may wish to share your website only with family and friends in order to exchange certain ideas.

It is not advisable at all for those who wish to run or completely start a business online, no matter how great free web hosting providers may paint it out to be. Free traffic transfer space simply isn’t a guaranteed offer with free web hosting providers, which can completely destroy your business. Additionally, you would lose out with visitors when the server is not up to par. Another huge obstacle would be poor technical support, most of all if you get a lot of website traffic since interruption would merely frustrate any visitor and send them away from your site.

The main point that would make anyone with an online business not opt for free web hosting is because the company would simply look like a cheap amateur. Some free website hosts put advertisements on your website. Other possible disadvantages include no access to perl or cgi script, no sub-directories, no safe server for credit card use and very low visibility when it comes to search engine optimization.

In conclusion, beginners who wish to find out how to have a website on the Internet and those who wish to share personal things with friends and family should make use of free web hosting. For other reasons, professional web hosting services are recommended.