Many free webhosts will give you a sub-directory for your site. For example, your websites address may look like – “http://some-free-host.com/~yoursite/”. A better option, provided by some free web hosting services, is to have your own sub-domain, in which case, your websites address would look like “http://yoursite.some-free-host.com”. A few free web hosts will even host your own domain if you have one.

In order to pay their bills, most free web hosting services require that you show their ads on your site. These ads generally include banners and often popup ads.

Free web hosting is generaly limited in a number of ways. Most free hosts do not allow server side scripting such as CGI, or php. Also, the amount of storage space and data transer (referred to as bandwidth) allowed is normally limited.

THINGS TO LOOK FOR IN A FREE WEB HOST

When looking at the free web hosting options you should first think about what you might need, and then find a site that provides those options. The following is a list of options you should consider:

• Storage space – more is better. Look for at least 20 Megs.
• Bandwidth – again, more is better. Look for at least 500 Megs/month.
• Scripting – even if you don’t need it now, you should look for a site that allows CGI scripting.
• Free subdomains – subdomains are shorter and normally easier to remember.

Cheap web hosting is often all you need, while premium web hosting adds the bells and whistles needed to run dynamic websites.

Dedicated servers are great for high traffic sites, or where added control is needed. Managed servers offer the advantages of dedicated servers and the added comfort of knowing the software is upto date, the latest security patches have been installed, and more.