Free Website Hosting: A Couple of Good Options

There are many free hosting sites out there; the first two that come to my mind are Tripod (www.tripod.lycos.com) and FreeWeb (www.freeweb.com). The major drawback of all such sites is that your website will be packed with ads and pop-ups (they do have to make money somehow). If what you have in mind is just a small personal web page mostly for your friends to look at, free hosting is probably fine. It can also work for a small business or something like an artist portfolio where you have samples of your work. Still, I would only recommend it for starters; as your business grows, you will probably want something more professional looking and ad-free.

Tripod, the first one of the two sites I have mentioned, offers several different packages. The basic hosting is free. There are some ads, but your website will not be overloaded with them. There are 3 Google ads on top of the page, and some occasional pop-ups that are blocked by most users, anyway. Also, Tripod has a nice site building tool that does not require any HTML knowledge. You can design your webpages by using their templates, change colors and fonts, write your own headings and text, add pictures and interactive features - all that without HTML. And if you do know HTML and want to use your own codes, you also have such option. Besides, you can always upgrade for their paid service if you want to get rid of the ads, get your own domain name and more disk space (starting at $4.95).

FreeWebs is very similar: you can register for free and start building your pages. "No design skill required, we do the work," says the front page of the site, and it is true. They have tons of very neat-looking templates and very easy to use web building tools. Within minutes, you will know how to add pictures, create photo albums, forms, guest books, and all kinds of visual effects. No HTML knowledge is required, they just guide you through it, offering option after option.

I had also tried Geocities several years ago, but I found their service rather limiting when it comes to designing your website. From what I hear, Geocities have added more options and become very much like Tripod and Freewebs, with a free ad-supported starter package that you can always upgrade later on to have your own domain name and get rid of the ads.