trouble getting started

[joost1977]

My dad asked me to build a website for him which would allow him to rent out a vacation-house he has in Sumatra and I'm having trouble getting started...(and am wondering why I even agreed to help out...)

My biggest fear is that I'll find myself signing up for web-hosting or registering a domain-name only to find out a year later that I'm stuck with lots of subscription costs or something...

So I want to go with free web hosting which I think shouldn't be a problem because the site I want to build will be very simple (just a few pages of text, pictures and maybe a guestbook or something) and traffic will most likely be light...

Now I have 2 questions:

1. Is it the case that when you go for free web-hosting that you lose control over (part of) your domain-name??? For instance if you build a simple site at google than you domain-name would be something like: sumatraholiday.google.com and that you can't get something like sumatraholiday.com...

2. If you go for free web-hosting does this in any way affect your ability to be near the top of search results? Using the above example, would the sumatraholiday.google.com somehow be less likely to show up in search results than the sumatraholiday.com -thing?

I apologise if these questions are too 'nooby' or ignorant, any help given would be greatly appreciated...

 

[XeHSean]

1. Is it the case that when you go for free web-hosting that you lose control over (part of) your domain-name??? For instance if you build a simple site at google than you domain-name would be something like: sumatraholiday.google.com and that you can't get something like sumatraholiday.com...

It depends on the hosting service that you use - most services will allow you to use your own domain name (and you will not lose any control over it)

2. If you go for free web-hosting does this in any way affect your ability to be near the top of search results? Using the above example, would the sumatraholiday.google.com somehow be less likely to show up in search results than the sumatraholiday.com -thing?

I don't think that this really has an effect on your search results - that depends on your SEO

 

[joost1977]

It depends on the hosting service that you use - most services will allow you to use your own domain name (and you will not lose any control over it)


I don't think that this really has an effect on your search results - that depends on your SEO

Thanks you very much for the quick reply, it's been very helpful.


Are there any links/sites that you (or someone else) could recommend that offer information/tips on how to compare and pick a good free hosting service (and/or domain name registration services)? Something like a starter guide for nooby's like me?

 

[XeHSean]

Are there any links/sites that you (or someone else) could recommend that offer information/tips on how to compare and pick a good free hosting service (and/or domain name registration services)? Something like a starter guide for nooby's like me?

To be quite honest, I'd advise against looking at websites that recommend hosting providers as most sites just recommend providers that pay for the recommendations.

If you are looking for a free hosting provider, google tends to be very reputable. I'd recommend that you look into a paid hosting provider though - you will get more features, reliability, and security. Most reputable providers offer plans starting at only a few bucks a month