Alright, so you want to create your own website, but you don’t want to spend very much money. Well, your best bet is to choose a free web hosting provider. While you may believe that all free web hosting services are the same, this could not be further from the truth. There are going to be specific amenities you want to look for before choosing a service so that you will have the most flexibility with your website. Sorting through the many options out there can be a bit overwhelming, but fear not, this article will help guide you through the things you want in a web hosting service. Read on and learn the basic features that you must have in any web hosting provider you choose.

The first thing you want to look at is how much disk space and bandwidth is offered to you. The amount of disk space is how much storage you are allowed to put on your website. Any sort of text, picture or video you place on your site all takes up storage space, so make sure to get as much as you can, especially if you plan on using a lot of visual media on your site. Bandwidth, on the other hand, deals with how much Internet traffic your site can safely support. Ever wonder why some websites crash when too many users visit at the same time? It is because the bandwidth allocation has been exceeded. Generally speaking, if you are just starting out a personal website, you are not going to need too much bandwidth. However, if you plan on letting your visitors download content from your site, bandwidth becomes extremely important. When choosing a web hosting service, try and make sure that you are provided with enough bandwidth to do whatever it is you are trying to do.

The next requirements of your hosting service has to do with website creating and FTP (file transfer protocol). If you are just beginning your first website and don’t know a whole lot about scripting, you are going to need to use a web hosting provider that allows you to create a website by simply choosing a template and building from there. Also, FTP allows you to transfer files from your computer to your website, so it is extremely important that your provider give you unlimited FTP access so that you’ll be able to edit and update your website whenever you want.

The last, and in some cases most important, requirement you want in a hosting service is good support and uptime. Naturally, you are going to run into problems and/or have questions while building your website. It is very important that you find a web hosting service that has a positive track record of customer service. You want reliable telephone support and fast responses from any emails you send them. You are also going to want to find a web hosting service with minimal downtime as this will mean that your website is online as much as possible.

No one said choosing a free web hosting provider was going to be easy, but if you use the tips mentioned in this article, you will be well on your way. Just make sure you are comfortable and confident in any choice you make, and good luck on your new website!