Not long ago, if you wanted a website, you had to be willing to shell out at least a few grand for the most basic of static sites. I remember about ten years ago at a firm I worked for, quotes for ecommerce sites, or sites with other dynamic features, would be over $20,000!
If you're not a developer, designer, or even a web person
, but you have a business or brand that you want to get online, here are some hosts you can sign up with that won't require you to hire design services or developers.
What's It Going to Cost Me?
The answer is, having a website is pretty stinking cheap these days. Most of the following hosts have plans starting at FREE! And unless you have hundreds of thousands of visitors a day, less than $10 a month gets you a pretty powerful setup.
But First, a Bonus!
Before we get into web hosting, it's worth mentioning that if you have a business, and especially if you cater to local clients in your area, you should get your business listed on maps!
Many people use Google Maps or other map services to find businesses while they travel, or just as a normal way to search (I do!). It makes sense to update your listing on the most popular map services.
Here are some links to get started:
- Google Maps
- Bing Places
- Yahoo Basic Listing (scroll down to the Sign Up button under
Try Local Basic Listing for free
) - Yext (MapQuest)
Social Profiles
Maybe you don't need a full-fledged website; maybe you just need a personal brand page or business page.
If that's the case, try the following services. All free!
The king of social profiles title still belongs to Facebook. If you have a personal profile already, you can create a page for your business too. In a company I work for, when searching Google for the company name, the Facebook page comes up even before the primary website!
You would benefit here if your business revolves around you personally as the brand. If you're a consultant or freelancer, or do business-to-business or networking, then LinkedIn can help. Start with a free profile, but you may want to upgrade at some point.
Google Plus
If your business is connected to media, perhaps through YouTube or other Google services, then G+ is a good idea. If your business is a personal brand, similar to what I said about LinkedIn, this could be for you as well.
Myspace
Yes, Myspace is still around! And mostly owned by Justin Timberlake. The site focuses mainly around music and the arts, culture, and lifestyle.
If your brand is in music and arts, you should think about a profile here.
Bonus: Foursquare
This is a category all its own, but if you have a local business with high foot traffic and a young culture, take a look at Foursquare.
If you have the type of business that would benefit from the social activity as created by Foursquare, this is a top option for you. Any business with high traffic, or a youth-centered atmosphere, is a good fit. Coffee shops, entertainment outlets, media stores, places that are hip and cool!
Free Websites
Here's a list of services to host a free website to get you started, in no particular order. Just please, as soon as possible, upgrade to premium features and get your own custom domain name! Most free hosts won't let you have a custom domain such as www.mysuperpetcollection.com, but instead will offer something more like mysuperpetcollection.someservice.com. To be more professional, upgrade to a custom domain name.
Free services also typically do some sort of advertising, such as sticking ads at the bottom of your site, or an occasional popup shown to your users. Another reason to upgrade as soon as you can!
Disclaimer: No links in this article are affiliate links.
Yola
You won't get your own domain name with the free package, and you only get three pages, but it's ad-free and the templates are fine. Try this if you only need a couple pages and don't care about having your own domain name yet.
When you're ready to upgrade, you can get a free domain name with purchase of the next package which is only about $4.17 per month for unlimited pages and bandwidth, and 2GB of storage.
Wix
One of the more highly regarded free hosts, Wix has nice templates, add-on apps, unlimited pages and much more. You won't get a custom domain name, and you'll see Wix advertising. The $4.08 per month upgrade gives you a domain but doesn't remove ads; you'll need the $9.25 per month option to get rid of those.
Here is an example of a few Wix templates:
DoodleKit
The free templates here seem a little aged, but their tagline is Free Website Builder
. For those who want to tinker a bit more on the default templates, they allow more customization. Their first upgrade path is for $14 per month to get a domain name, SEO tools, unlimited bandwidth and 3GB of storage.
Moonfruit
The free option allows 15 pages, including ads for Moonfruit. You'll have to upgrade to get your own domain, more pages, and remove branding.
This one has an addition of ecommerce features and allows you to build a shop and publish products to other networks. They have clean, minimalist designs, built with HTML5, and are mobile optimized. The first upgrade is $4.50 per month when billed annually, and it removes ads.
Here are a few examples of Moonfruit's themes:
Weebly
Another option with ecommerce abilities and unlimited pages. The first upgrade is $8 per month to get your domain added and remove branding.
This service integrates mobile features such as mobile management of online orders and analytics. There are some advanced features here worth looking at, including a drag-and-drop template editor and email with your domain.
WordPress
The granddaddy of all free hosts is WordPress. The company proudly declares that it powers 24% of the internet
, whatever that means!
You can build many types of sites on the free account, but you'll need a paid account to get into ecommerce and use your own domain name.
You wouldn't go wrong choosing WordPress, though its templates are still somewhat blog-centric, as it's primarily a blogging platform.
Tumblr
This is a special mention, simply because it's free. Tumblr is more for personal sharing or blogging than for businesses. If you simply want a website to share your favorite things and blog, check out Tumblr.
Continue reading %Best Free and Cheap Website Options for Small Businesses%
Source: SitePoint