Is Free Unlimited Hosting Secure?

Starting a new online business can come with quite a few expenses, and so it’s normal for website owners to want to get some freebies in the process. The words ‘free’ and ‘unlimited’ in the same sentence always has a nice ring to it, right?

In this article we’ll take a look at free unlimited web hosting, and how secure it actually is.

What is unlimited web hosting?

When it comes to web hosting, the word ‘unlimited’ can mean a variety of things; unlimited bandwidth, unlimited disk storage, unlimited FTP accounts, unlimited addon domains and so on. It’s important when choosing your web hosting provider to clarify what unlimited actually means, and whether the resources you require are truly unrestricted.

For website owners who want to host multiple sites, unlimited hosting could be the ideal solution to ensure no extra charges for the overuse of resources. Now, we know what you’re probably thinking, there must be a catch – can you really get all of those benefits completely free?

In essence, no – when choosing your web hosting provider you should most definitely try to find the best deal, but a completely free service may come with some major downfalls that could ultimately be detrimental to your website’s potential.

Disadvantages of free hosting

Security

Imagine spending a load of time creating your website, for it to not be properly secured by your hosting provider. Security is fundamental when it comes to the success of your website, and opting for free hosting hugely puts this at risk. With free hosting your website is vulnerable to attacks and security breaches, unlike with paid providers who have a higher duty of care to keep their clients websites safe.

If you’re still considering to opt for free hosting, you need to take a good look at the terms and conditions. It’s not unheard of for free hosting companies to close down without sufficient notice, meaning your website could be permanently lost.

Ads

You might still be wondering how web hosting providers can offer a completely free service, and the answer is they can’t. These companies still need to earn a living, and that’s usually where ads come in to play. By placing ads on your website, the hosting provider is able to make some money without you having to spend any – but you won’t have control over what ads are showing on your website.

Reputation

If you’re just starting out with your website, it’s important to create a trustworthy reputation in order to build a strong user-base. Apart from the ads on your website being damaging to your reputation, it’s also likely that your domain will include the free hosting companies name too. Users are becoming increasingly wary of this and, let’s be honest, it doesn’t give a great first impression.

Performance

Just like anything in life, you get what you pay for. Choosing free web hosting will most likely lead to your website being frequently unavailable with incomprehensive uptime SLAs. Not only will the performance of your website be affected by downtime, your SEO ranking will struggle too, with Google associating free web hosting with spam.

Customer Service

When it comes to hosting a website, the level of customer service you can expect to receive should be amongst your highest priorities. Opting for a free hosting provider will most definitely have a huge impact on the customer service they’re able to provide, and you’ll likely find yourself without the support you need.

Affordable Web Hosting with NetShop ISP

NetShop Internet Services is an award-winning Server Hosting Provider with privately owned infrastructure in various global locations. We’re delighted to offer our clients fast, reliable and affordable web hosting from as little as €5 per month.

Stick to a budget whilst keeping your websites secure with our Cyprus, Malta or United Kingdom Web Hosting services that come with the powerful cPanel, and the added benefits of a free SSL, domain name, and 24/7 customer support.