What are some things you should look for when choosing a Free Web Host?
Most free web hosting sites impose advertising on your website, this helps to cover the expense of your free web space and associated services, some require you to place a banner on your website, while others display pop-up windows. There are no rules which is to be preferred, some people dislike pop-ups while some webmasters dislike putting banner codes in their website. Whatever you comfortable working with should be the rule here.
Does the free web host offer enough web space to meet your needs? Most sites use less than 5 MB of space. If you are planning to expand your website in the future you may want to cater to future expansion. Your needs will vary depending on how many pictures, sound files or video clips etc. you may want to add.
I personally think FTP is mandatory, (What is FTP?) some free hosts only allow you to design your page with their online builder. While this is great for the beginner, do you have the option to expand later once you become experienced and the page builder can no longer facilitate your needs. FTP access, or at the very least, the ability to upload your pages by email or browser, is needed!
Some free web hosts impose a file size limitation, or limit the types of files that can be uploaded to jpeg/gif and html. If you want your own programs on your website you will have to look elsewhere.
Another extremely important feature would be speed and reliability, a site that is down alot will cause you to lose visitors, if a visitor finds your site on a search engine and its down he will just proceed to go down the list. Slow access is also frustrating to visitors, everyone hates to wait for a page to load! So how do you know if a free web host is fast and reliable? well, if you can’t get feedback from someone, you can always check it out yourself, after all it is Free!
and last but not least, Bandwidth, some free web hosts limit the amount of traffic your website can use per day/month. What does this mean to you? IF your site is loaded by visitors beyond a certain number of times per day the web host will disable your site. It’s hard to say what amount of bandwidth is needed since there are alot of variables to consider like the design of your site, your target audience and the number of visitors your able to get to your site, but, 1-3GB traffic per month is adequate for a basic simple site just starting out.