Buying a Domain? Why not get one Free?
Contributed by Kimberly Valentine

Free, no charge! If it says free and then attempts to charge you then guess what? It wasn't free.

Free can be very good, and saves your pocket money.

Most free hosts also offer other hosting package but has a basic or starter package that it advertises as free. These packages do not usually carry many features as the paying ones and are most suited to personal sites. Some free services offer a complete ecommerce site where all you need to do is to stock it with your own goods. The trick is as you market your site they benefit as your are benefiting their domain by driving traffic and pushing up their rank as their site grows without them doing very much.

If you are new to the net and want to try at selling products without expending a lot of money then a free service might be for you. While you get that main important website ready for listing, you can use a free host to quickly develop and promote your products on the web. Later on you can use this site to drive traffic to your main site.

There are point to note however, when you are looking for free packages to open a store. Consider the following factors.

Free might mean no support service. If it is a business site, then this becomes invaluable.

Free might mean insufficient resources with which to carry out the functions of the store. You might not have sufficient bandwidth, or disk space.

Free might mean that you do not have a domain for yourself. Rather you have a free sub-domain or sub directory. E.g.. I have a web store at http://kimmieval.ecrater.com. This means that I am hosted through a free service and my URL reflects just that. Some search engines do not favour free services or sub domains when you submit your store. Bear in mind some persons have done it and have received rankings. But note that with changing search engine algorithms you might not be as lucky.

Free might mean they host their banners on your site which detracts from your business, and hurt potential page ranks as many links lead away from your site.

Some free hosts also do not allow you to host any form of advertising or pages outside of what is on their template. This make it difficult for you to participate in reciprocal linking or use services such as Google AdSense.
All in all the ultimate choice of host partners is dependent on you, your pocket and the needs of your business. But whichever route you go, make sure to do your homework. A minute spent in research equates to possible money saved.

About the Author: K Valentine is owner of http://www.valenciastores.com & http://www.jamaicastores.com.
For information mail: valencia@valenciastores.com

You may link to this article but you may not change or reproduce it in any way without express authorization from the author.

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