I see several ads in the advertising forums offering free web hosting accounts with no ads. What can possibly be the benefit of giving away free web hosting?

I just cannot get my head around this!

Some hosts put ads on their website, and cPanel. Many also offer a paid version with more features, hoping those who like the free hosting will eventually move up to paid hosting.

I see several ads in the advertising forums offering free web hosting accounts with no ads.

Here? Free hosting isn't allowed on WHT, so I'd be interested in seeing the ones you're referring to.

usually all free hosts have a way to switch to paid hosting - so the free hosting is just a stepping stone into getting a paid customer.

but I've never really owned a free host or looked into what the profit factors would be, so I'm just speculating

Well the obvious, it's FREE. Other then that I really don't see alot of benefits. Most places that have that will not provide support and you will have limited access such as no Fantastico or cPanel scripts things of that nature.

I guess you failed to read the question properly. I was asking why a hosting company would provide free hosting. Not why a consumer would want it.:confused:

Well the obvious, it's FREE. Other then that I really don't see alot of benefits. Most places that have that will not provide support and you will have limited access such as no Fantastico or cPanel scripts things of that nature.

I used to run a free host. Money was made off of ads on my site. I didn't force any.

I also ran a post to host deal, so that helped get clicks. I wasn't making much if anything so I gave up on it. Some people find success in the business but it's pretty tough.

Here? Free hosting isn't allowed on WHT, so I'd be interested in seeing the ones you're referring to.

Here is one http://www.webhostingtalk.com/showthread.php?t=888649&highlight=free+hosting

Please let us know if you see any more. That was removed. ;)

If it's done correctly it can be quite profitable ;)

Most free web hosts impose advertising on your website. This is done to cover the costs of providing your site the free web space and associated services. Some hosts require you to place a banner on your pages, others display a window that pops up every time a page on your site loads, while still others impose an advertising frame on your site.

The company operating the free host gets a very important component, and that is they get to build up a large database of users/customers that require hosting. They can then email/contact these customers with offers/specials on their paid hosting services in the hope that people who upgrade to the paid offerings eventually cover the costs of the free services.

It also allows them to build brand awareness and a company profile.

If you've just started on the Word wide Web, you may not require plenty of space or bacndwidth. You'd wish to experiment and create simple webpages to market only few of your product/services. You can also check the viability of your SEO strategies using these free webhosting services.

As most people have already said the benefits of providing a 'free' hosting option is to attract first time website owners whilst offering them an option of upgrading for a reduced fee in the future.

I guess you failed to read the question properly. I was asking why a hosting company would provide free hosting. Not why a consumer would want it.:confused:

My mistake. I thank you for pointing that out to me. I think they would provide free hosting as a method of marking their services. After all, no better way to test a product or service then being free.

But will people change to the paid version. If they are happy with the free service they will keep that, if they are not they will go to another company.

Has anyone here used a free host and actually either been happy with it, or then upgraded to paid hosting with the same company?

It depends what you are trying to get out of it... there are completely different ways to do free hosting as people have already mentioned in this thread. Is your primary goal to grow your own hosting business? Is it to make money from ads? Is it to use CPA programs like clickbank\CJ to refer people to other hosts? Depending what your goals are the benefits are different.

google ads and switch to paid plan

I prefer running a free hosting company over a paid hosting company because it is much more enjoyable and less stressful.