Free Domain Names

Did you know you can get absolutely free domain names if you sign up with some web hosting services? In order to attract new customers, web hosting companies may offer inducements such as free domain names, free or low-rate basic hosting plans and even free online website creation software so you can do it yourself.

Some of these offers are better than others, so if you are tempted to take advantage of one of them it is worthwhile to take some time and compare offers. When doing this, make sure you check out the costs to upgrade your service to a paid plan with adequate bandwidth and other services that your website is likely to require as traffic grows.

There are advantages and disadvantages to obtaining absolutely free domain names from hosting services. The clear advantages are that you don't have to pay out any money to get started and you will save time. The disadvantages are more numerous. You will usually be tied to the one hosting company which can be a real problem if they are not providing adequate service and impeding access to your website. The bandwidth will be very low meaning that web pages can be slow to load and as website traffic increases this will increasingly become a problem.

One of the main disadvantages of getting absolutely free domain names is that you are usually tied to the hosting company and cannot move your website elsewhere. If you build your online business with a particular domain name which cannot be transferred to another host you can limit your choices. You are also likely to incur high costs to just get the services you need. Hosting companies that offer free domain names and low rate services are trying to get you to commit to them. Once you are committed, you may find that it is very expensive to upgrade to a plan that allows for decent website traffic and business growth. However, this is not always the case so it can pay to carefully check out the different offers. If you find a free offer that doesn't have these disadvantages you are onto a winner.

To find different free offers from hosting services simply do an internet search on "absolutely free domain names." You will find a number of links to hosting services as well as to articles recommending them. Although the internet has made finding information easier than ever before, it also throws up a lot of information to sort through. It is worth taking the time to do this, however.

While absolutely free domain names can be very attractive to people trying to get a small online business up and running, they are more suited to hobby and family sites which are unlikely to require high bandwidth or comprehensive services. These deals can be a great way to get basic, non-business websites up and running, particularly if they also come with online software that allows you to create your own website online. In these cases, you can be up and running with a basic website within an hour.