The
old adage that there is no such thing as a free lunch applies to web hosting as
much as any other area of life. What it means is that, if you don't have to pay
with money, you pay in some other way. Whether you accept the deal is
ultimately a matter for you, but with the many offers of free WordPress hosting
around, it makes sense to understand what your payment is likely to be.
Advertising
The
hosting provider has to generate revenue somehow and so is likely to run
adverts on your pages. Whether they have any relevance to the subject area or
nature of your blog is an issue over which you are very unlikely to have any
control. If you plan in the future to attract and develop your own advertising
revenue stream, free hosting is not the place to be.
Inflexible
Any free package is only going to offer limited bandwidth
and a relatively small amount of storage. If you make occasional posts and are
not looking to expand this may be sufficient, but if you want to develop a
strong following with interactive forums and discussion pages, even perhaps
move into ecommerce, you need a package that gives you the flexibility to grow
without having to change hosting providers.
Technical
Support
All
hosting providers offer some sort of technical support but if you are using a
free package, you are going to come way down the list of priorities behind
paying customers. Even those with paid for packages frequently find the support
is not as good as advertised, so be prepared for less than the best service in
this important area.
Upgrades
Some
companies that offer free hosting do so to draw clients in and then seek to
convince them to upgrade or purchase add-ons at a price. This can work out more
expensive than opting for a paid package in the first place.
