In order for a website to reach the Internet, it needs to be hosted on a server. Running a server costs money, so most companies charge you money to host your site. “Most” is not all, though. There are web hosting companies that will host your site for free. Depending on what you want your website to do, this might be a viable hosting option that can save you a lot of money. Here are some important points to consider:

Do you want a custom domain name? The difference between “www.mysite.com” and “www.webhost.com/mysite” can mean a great deal to some webmasters. If you’re running an online business, for instance, you want the professionalism connoted by a custom domain name. Be aware that relatively few free hosting services can do this for you.

Do you need a lot of storage space on the server? As you might expect, the amount of hard drive space made available for a free web hosting account is minimal. Given the rapid pace with which computer hardware advances, though, “minimal” is getting bigger every day. Unless you have a very large amount of data to store and share, a free hosting service may be capable of meeting your storage needs.

Are you comfortable with someone else’s ads on your site? Making use of the advertising potential of your website is one way that a lot of web hosting companies justify giving you hosting for free. Not all of them do, but it is a common enough tactic that you should be prepared for it. It’s also a policy that a hosting company can put into practice on short notice, so you need to decide whether or not seeing ads that you don’t control on your site is tolerable.

How important are reliability and uptime to your website? Every web hosting company prides itself on providing the most reliable service possible. Not only is there a wide range of performance between different companies, you’ll find that most companies deliver different levels of reliability to their different customers. As a free customer, you need to be prepared to consistently draw the shortest straw when it comes to reliability.

How much support do you need? There are really two separate issues addressed by this question. One has to do with customer service. It’s only reasonable to expect minimal assistance from your hosting company if you have a free account. Ask yourself if you have the skills to solve website problems on your own. The other issue at stake here is integrating advanced features into your website. You may have elaborate plans for your site that require specialized server settings and software, e.g. SSL security for online transactions or PHP coding for a forum. The services you get for free may not allow you to follow through on those plans.

As you can see, while free web hosting is available, it often comes with plenty of restrictions. It’s still possible to meet all of your hosting needs without paying any money, but first you need to have an excellent grasp of what those needs really are. If you invest the time and effort to define them and then devote an equal amount of care to picking your hosting service, you just might get your website online without spending a penny.