WEBSITE DEVELOPMENT AND HOSTING ARTICLES
The High Cost of "Freebies"
Know what you are signing
Free hosting, free domain names, even free websites. Suddenly everyone in the internet business is doing well enough to become a charity? Hardly. - It's all in the (often non-existent) fine print and buyer beware.
Please remember that any company that offers anything free has to make this up somewhere else. Often with higher fees on other related services, or by tying people to long term contracts, or by compromising on standards, service and/or support. In some cases the cost is very simply that they make it impossible for you to ever transfer your site away from them. It's fine if you decide to accept the trade-off. The problems come when you don't even know that you are making it in the first place.
Let's look at some of the questions you should be asking before signing up for a freebie:
FREE DOMAIN
Will it be registered in your name? - In most cases a free domain name ties you in to a lifetime of hosting with the company. If you ever want to change hosting company, you may find that you have to leave your name behind.
What other services are you having to buy as well? - At what price? (don't just ask, go through the entire contract with a fine tooth comb. The terms and conditions stated on their website constitute the contract in the absence of anything in hard copy. - Print this out, read it and keep it).
Does the website have your own domain name or is it a "mini-site" aka "starter site" aka web page within their site?
FREE HOSTING
For how long will the hosting be free?
What happens after that? - Do you have to stay on as a paid client for X period after the freebie is over? - At what monthly fee? - For how long?
Are they going to advertise on your site?
Are they going to place any external links on your site other than ones you ask for?
What support do they offer?
What uptime do they offer?
Do their guarantees (if they have any) also apply to their free package?
Is there a set-up fee? - How much?
How much are the other services that you will need along with the hosting? - Are you signing up for anything else as well?
Does your website have your own domain name or is it a "mini-site" aka "starter site" aka web page within their site?
FREE WEBSITES
How much are you paying for hosting?
How much for set-up?
How much for your domain name? - In who's name will the domain be registered?
How long must you host with them?
What happens if you want to change host? - Is the website yours or theirs?
Does the website have your own domain name or is it a "mini-site" aka "starter site" aka web page within their site?
Have you actually seen at least 5 or 6 examples of their free websites?
FREE SEARCH ENGINE SUBMISSION
Don't even ask. This is a ploy and 99.9% of the time worth absolutely nothing. For loads more info, read our article on internet myths
BOTTOM LINE
Whatever the free or cheap deal you are being offered, please, read the contract and, if it is long, involved and gets too much to go through, invest in having a lawyer peruse it for you. This small outlay could save you a lot of money and aggravation in the future.
There is no contract? - Then there must at least be detailed terms of service or "terms and conditions" on their website. - Print it out, read it carefully and keep it so that there can be no dispute later over what was agreed. This applies to any guarantees that they offer as well.
There are thousands of small businesses who have been tied in to a seemingly great deal only to discover in the end that they had nothing and have been completely trapped into living with bad service at a high long-term price.
If you aren't too sure how all the questions above can tie together to highlight or avoid a problem, we have some interesting real-life case-studies for you. >>>>> read on ..
At Web Inn absolutely nothing is hidden. We have occassional promotional offers which are completely transparent and nothing is "too good to be true". We openly provide you with our complete terms and conditions, both on this website and in downloadable format, before you even consider doing business with us.
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