Web Sites
20 Secrets You Didn’t Know About FREE WEBSITES
Chris, Web designer
It’s easy to build a website, is not it? And it’s free, yeah?
There are many website development tools that allow you to drag and drop images and insert text – hence, we will be looking at 20 Secrets You Didn’t Know About FREE WEBSITES.
The problem is that these tools use generic models, and not specifically designed to meet your needs, unless you want to be the same as everyone who uses these tools …
Free Websites Guide
Another thing is that a website with an address such as http://FREEWBSITE.com/mysite or http://www.FREEBIESITE.com/mysite does not say much for your business, nor does it inspire trust, apart from the fact that you may not believe enough in your concept / services / products to invest the bare minimum in a professional website.
“It is expensive to have a professional to do a job for you, but you should see how much the work costs when an amateur does it!”
Do not you think that a site address such as https://mysite.com seems a little more pro?
You will also notice that most free websites URL starts http://, whereas a professional site will start https:// in a short time (perhaps already) sites that do not have SSL – i.e. those starting with https:// will have a terrifying warning notice or even be blocked by Google – no point in having a website, even if it is free, that is not visible.
Most beginners who want to start their own website want to keep the cost down, which is understandable.
Ok, it costs money to launch a good webdesign project, but can you afford not to pay that?
Website builder for FREE
Photograph  Google
Most ‘Free’ websites have a free plan, but only if you use their subdomain (e.g., yourwebsite.freewebsite.com). You also have to display the free website ads and have limited functionality.
To use a custom domain and have full functionality, you have to pay for a premium plan, which can work out quite expensive.
As we often say, it is expensive to have a professional to do a job for you, but you should see how much the work costs when an amateur does it!
Web development requires background coding and customization by professionals.
There are lots of DIY projects that you can tackle yourself, maybe around the house or garden, but here are 10 reasons why building your professional website should not be one of them .
Here are 20 resons why you should think twice before deciding on getting a ‘Free’ website for business.
1. Limited customisation
Free website templates are generally not customizable, are very basic, and are not interactive – although some providers have recently improved greatly.
If you want to add additional functionality or additional content, a free website template does not offer you this option and the amount of free plugins are very limited, unless you pay.
There are thousands of companies that have made the mistake of using the same boring generic model. Now you are stuck with a site that looks like all the others.
Is it unique? Nah …
2. Limited efficiency
Web development and design is hard work, and it takes creativity, collaboration with the customer and a long period of time to create an excellent website.
The hours or days you spend trying to create a website could be spent more effectively in generating business and increase your customer base.
Why not let someone with experience and knowledge build it, it will save you time and money and the result will be night and day compared to a free website builder.
3. Not very professional ...
It’s a simple fact, a website made by an experienced web developer / designer will look professional and functional and it will work!
The same can not be said about a free website, unfortunately.
What would you think of a business card with the name and logo of the company, followed by http://Freewebsites.com/this-blokes-business and underneath an email address: info@freewebsite.com/this-blokes-business.com or this-blokes-business@gmail.comÂ
Hmmm, to me it looks like they haven’t got much confidence in the long-term prospects for their business…
4. Search engine optimization and https
SEO (Search Engine Optimization) allows exposure of your website to potential customers, which is crucial for your business.
Your website should be attractive to search engines like Google and Chrome.
Google does not explore (and therefore does not classify) free sites; they are too busy classifying optimized pages on https sites.
Some FREE website companies are starting to offer HTTPS sites availability (SSL) although not for sites that point away from the FREE site.
5. Poor Google compatiblity
With a free website creator, Google cannot check your site in the tools for webmasters. Google uses complex algorithms that may be too advanced for some people, but for a professional web developer using Google Webmaster Tools or Google Analytics, it can be used to monitor site downtime, crawl rate, time loading, broken links, traffic etc.
6. Google Analytics
Old scripting technologies (often used by free site builders) have inaccurate site scans.
Some use a lot of Javascript that give the impression of sites loading quickly, they can respond very quickly, but also take a while to fully load.
Professional site analysis reports provide an image of the performance and traffic of your websites.
Customers can view monthly reports and read notes explaining how their site works and adjust content, social media approach, etc., based on analytics.
7. Not mobile friendly
Self-built sites that do not have many databases or graphics are often not mobile-friendly.
How many people do you know today who only use their desktop computer to access the Internet?
The majority of people browse the web using their mobile phone / device for convenience, so your site has to adapt to it and be fully responsive (suitable for mobile screens and tablet).
With some FREE website builders, once you pick a template, you cannot change it without rebuilding your website (so pick carefully!)
Some are not mobile responsive, but they have a dedicated, advanced mobile editor.
It all seems a lot of bother for something you will never fully own, unless you pay a price for it!
8. Faster is not always better
With most free website builders, you can create a site in about 30 minutes.
It’s less time than most restaurants to deliver pizza.
Doesn’t the website of your company / project deserve more time and effort than a pizza?
Your website is usually the first stop that people visit to learn more about your company / project.
A quality website takes weeks or months to build, depending on the size and scope of the project – but it is always worth it.
9. Dodgy advertising
If you are a fan of these beautiful banners that say “THIS SITE HAS BEEN CREATED BY FREEWEBSITES.COM GET YOURS FREE OF CHARGE TODAY!” </ Strong> Opt for a free website template.
It seems unprofessional and makes your business look cheap.
10. Represents a future unsafe value.
If you have a website today, what will you need it to do in the future? (In technology, the future can be just a matter of 6 months for quite significant change.)
If you have a free website, you will not be able to keep up with the present, let alone the future.
A web designer / developper can add custom features to your site, now and in the future.
We want to establish a long-term relationship with our customers to support them in the long term.
This may not always be the case with Free website builders.
11. Slow sites
Most free website hosting providers put hundreds of websites sharing the same server.
This makes all their websites load at very low speeds (see above regarding Javascript).
Slow sites create a bad user experience and are very bad for SEO.
12. Votre site Web peut être fermé sans avertissement
Les termes et conditions de ces services indiquent (généralement) clairement qu’ils peuvent fermer votre site Web à tout moment sans vous donner de raison. S’ils arrêtent un site Web, ils ne fournissent généralement pas vos données, ni un moyen d’enregistrer votre contenu.
13. Limited disk storage
Free website companies host hundreds of websites sharing the same server and hard drives.
They usually give you very limited storage to store your data.
When you reach this limit, you are asked to pay for more storage or for supplementary MySQL databases.
14. HTML sites with a limited number of pages
Some of these free website builders offer only a limited number of pages on your website.
If you want to add more pages, you will have to switch to a paid plan.
In addition, these free sites are often not secured by https (SSL).
15. Doubtful security
Free web services are notoriously vulnerable to hacking and malware, which will hurt the reputation of your website.
And because these companies offer limited access to your files, it can be difficult to recover if your website is targeted.
16. Investing time on a free website is wasting your time!
If you have serious intentions of building something on the web, then you should never start with a free website builder.
As you have read in this article, they can be unreliable, dangerous, difficult and severely limit your growth options.
If it is for a hobby, then why not, but don’t forget that you risk leaving all you written behind at some point.
17. No such thing as a free lunch
Like any other business, these free website companies have to make money too.
Some of them charge their users additional services such as image hosting, email accounts, FTP access, website transfer, and so on.
These fees are often exorbitant.
18. Your data can be locked and impossible to move when you expand
Many users who start with a free website and then want to switch to a paid service, find it impossible to move their website data.
These service providers do not offer any tools to easily migrate your site. Users end up paying freelancers to manually export their content, which can quickly increase your bill.
It’s a bit like having all your furniture bolted to your house. If you move – you can’t bring anything with you.
19. Adverts from your competitors on your website
Most of these free website services are backed by commercials.
You create content and create your website, but they are paid for ads – if you want adverts removed then you will have to pay for that.
Often these ads are distracting, intrusive, unprofessional, unrelated to your business and seem ugly.
The worst part is that your savvy competitors can then pay these free website hosting companies to advertise on your website.
Talk about sabotaging your business …
20. Standard Templates
Free website builders can have hundreds of templates available so you can get a look and feel that is adapted to your trade, but not necessarily your business.
Eveybody who is a photographer has access to a limited number of photography themes, so everybody ends up looking more-or-less the same.
Are you happy with that or would you prefer to stand out from the crowd.
Nobody cares more about you and your company than a professional agency that supports you; as Active WebDesign.
We have every reason to help your business grow because when you grow, we grow. If you want to talk about a project you have in mind, contact us today!
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