At the risk of sounding redundant, free web hosting is web hosting that is free to the user. Domain names of free web pages will often feature subdomain names.
For example “yoursite.freewebhost.com” or a directory such as “www.freewebhost.com/yourname.” Many free hosting companies will offer registered domain names such as “www.yourname.com,” but will require a fee to secure the domain name.
How Free Web Hosting Companies Make Money?
Most fee webhosting companies offer free introductory sites with minimal bells and whistles as a way to attract users in the hopes that they will upgrade in the future to more expensive plans. For the users who do not pay for hosting services, providers use the following methods to generate income:
1.Advertising: This is the most common practice used by free web hosts. Web hosts will place ads on a personal webpage in exchange for the use of their hosting services. The user agrees to these ads being displayed on their personal page in what most consider a fair trade. The users create the traffic and the advertising revenue goes to the hosting company.
2.Referrals: This is a form of “viral” marketing in which users will refer friends, relatives and colleagues to the web host. By bringing in more users, the quantity of paid accounts increases and the free accounts are offset.
3.Reselling Hosting: Some web hosts will offer free web hosting as a way to attract as many users as possible. The more traffic a website experiences, the higher its value. When the number of users has grown so large that the web master can no longer support the site, it is sold. With the profits, these web hosts will often go out and start multiple hosting sites, build them up and sell them.
