Free Host

[Ray]

Is there still a niche for it.. How do you guys feel about it

 

[HostMantis]

Is there still a niche for it.. How do you guys feel about it

There are always people looking for free hosting for testing projects, etc., so the need is definitely there.

 

[lothos]

there's always people looking for free hosting. Giving away free hosting can bring problems, though.

 

[bulkdomainz]

lothos, what kind of problems?

 

[HostMantis]

lothos, what kind of problems?

Some of the types of clientele you attract by offering a free hosting service are typically the type that will abuse your services/servers because they have nothing to lose since it didn't cost them anything anyway.

Free hosting providers deal with a lot of spammers, phishers, etc. That's usually why it's not worth the headache.

 

[lothos]

lothos, what kind of problems?

Some of the types of clientele you attract by offering a free hosting service are typically the type that will abuse your services/servers because they have nothing to lose since it didn't cost them anything anyway.

Free hosting providers deal with a lot of spammers, phishers, etc. That's usually why it's not worth the headache.

Exactly, and people hosting malware and trojans on your hosting.

 

[bulkdomainz]

Thanks, lothos and HostMantis!

 

[HostMantis]

Thanks, lothos and HostMantis!

You're welcome! :D

 

[michelshawn]

promo offers are good and professional for starters, its better than free stuffs.

 

[WebIntellects - Rob]

I think that it will be much better to pay some extra dollars and use paid hosting services based on quality.

 

[SiberForum]

Can agree with Rob that you will have as much as possible headaches dealing with free web hosts.

 

[Ray]

I understand the headaches associated with it, but what im trying to do is start a free host and gain popularity and make the transition into a paid host.

 

[PlusNames]

I understand the headaches associated with it, but what im trying to do is start a free host and gain popularity and make the transition into a paid host.

Well, once you switch to paid hosting most people will just move to another free host.

You'd probably bet better off if you offered low budget hosting rather than completely free. Then as your hosting company grows you can start adding more higher priced plans.

 

[HostMantis]

Well, once you switch to paid hosting most people will just move to another free host.

You'd probably bet better off if you offered low budget hosting rather than completely free. Then as your hosting company grows you can start adding more higher priced plans.

I couldn't agree more!

 

[bluearrow]

There's always a demand for free hosting but it needs lot of time and work. you have to monitor your sever lot more carefully and also need to maintain very strict set of rules.

You can try free package with less features and low cost budget package with all features.

 

[WebIntellects - Rob]

Many free webhosts impose advertisements to your web sites and will not provide you with 24/7 knowledgeable support service.

 

[ldcdc]

I know of at least 2 really big free hosts that have stopped providing that service. One would be Geocities (owned by Yahoo) and the other Netfirms, which has recently been bought and then notified all free hosting users that the service is gone.

I'm not really sure there's all the much demand for free hosting either nowadays, when facebook, youtube and blogger combined can fulfill the "personal hosting" needs of most people.

Then you have the wild days of the Web fading away. Advertising (the main revenue source of free hosting providers) is about results (ROI) much more than it used to be. Branding was enough of a reason back in the day to spend lots of money on advertising. Freely hosted websites rarely manage to attract quality traffic, which in turn means that selling advertising on them must be done cheaply.

 

[jacobatwood]

There are many problems and issues regarding to the free hosting. A free host can not provide a quality of service, features and performance that a paid hosting provides.

 

[WebIntellects - Rob]

Read other clients' or customers' testimonials.
I think that you need to be 100% sure in its reliability.

 

[labrocca]

Demand for free high quality hosting is huge. Profit and viability for a high quality free host is nil. Unless you have a very unique method to monetize a free host I'd suggest you just forget it. Hosting margins are generally very small. And cheap crappy hosts are a dime a dozen. Just the fact you're making this thread tells me you have no idea what you're doing. The internet needs less hosts that are crap not more.

There are many better ways to earn from the internet than hosting.