A huge part of building traffic for your small business website depends on how customers and other businesses perceive everything. If another business that has a free website wanted to link to your site, would you allow it? Many small businesses invest time, money, and effort in designing and developing unique websites. Why would they want to link to a website that didn't?

1. Small Business Web Design
Business Blog Writing
Custom Graphic Design
“Quality Content Is The Key To Successful Content Marketing”
Is a FREE Website Best For Your Business?
When you started your business, you had a pretty clear picture of the amount of money you
needed to invest to get the business off the ground, right? You may have hired someone to write
a business plan in order to obtain a start­up business loan. You’ve probably hired a CPA or
bookkeeper to manage your business finances and have contracted with vendors or suppliers to
promote the success of your business. Now, you’ve found the need for a business website to
advertise and promote your business online. So, should you hire a web design service or make
an effort to do it yourself and create a free website? Is a free website the best for your small
business?
Consider FREE Websites And FREE Hosting Carefully
The Internet can sometimes be a strange and confusing place. On occasion, you can actually
find a white paper or a how­to guide that is totally free of charge. Many times the
advertisement of “FREE’ comes with a price in one form or another. So, why would any
company offer you the opportunity to create a free business website? In many cases, the free
offer allows a company to promote their own business by displaying links and advertisements on
your web pages. Sometimes the free hosting offer is only for a limited period with fees for
renewal later.
Specific Things You Should Consider Before Creating a Free Website
There are a number of things you need to consider before creating a website that is advertised
as “FREE” including:
You don’t own your website ­ Most of the time, the company making the offer will be part of
your website address. It will look something like – “http://thissiteisfree.YourCompany.com”. This
can sometimes create a very long and confusing web address. It can be very difficult to
remember to allow you to tell everyone how to find you online. It is very important to thoroughly
read and understand the company’s Terms of Service before creating your free website. Can the
agreement be terminated at any time for any reason? Are there fees involved after a free trial
period? What types of advertisements will the company run on your website?
You have our permission to temporarily download one copy of materials we provide as “Free Stuff” for personal, non­commercial transitory
viewing only. This is the grant of a license, not a transfer of title, and under this license you may not: modify or copy the materials;
use the materials for any commercial purpose, or for any public display (commercial or non­commercial); remove any copyright or other
proprietary notations from the materials; or transfer the materials to another person or “mirror” the materials on any other server.
This license shall automatically terminate if you violate any of these restrictions and may be terminated by us at any time.
Upon terminating your viewing of these materials or upon the termination of this license, you must destroy any downloaded materials
in your possession whether in electronic or printed format.

2. Small Business Web Design
Business Blog Writing
Custom Graphic Design
“Quality Content Is The Key To Successful Content Marketing”
Is a FREE Website Best For Your Business
You have our permission to temporarily download one copy of materials we provide as “Free Stuff” for personal, non­commercial transitory
viewing only. This is the grant of a license, not a transfer of title, and under this license you may not: modify or copy the materials;
use the materials for any commercial purpose, or for any public display (commercial or non­commercial); remove any copyright or other
proprietary notations from the materials; or transfer the materials to another person or “mirror” the materials on any other server.
This license shall automatically terminate if you violate any of these restrictions and may be terminated by us at any time.
Upon terminating your viewing of these materials or upon the termination of this license, you must destroy any downloaded materials
in your possession whether in electronic or printed format.
You have no control – A free website offers little flexibility for design and functionality. You
are normally using their templates, their graphics, and their site navigation layout. If 50
other businesses use your same template, you’ll look just like the rest. You have no control
over optimizing your site for search engines. There is absolutely no way to properly convey
the true individual personality of your business.
Search engine credibility – Major search engines must trust your website before it will be
indexed so people can find it. There is no doubt that search engines give more credibility to
paid domain names.
Advertisements – You may have pop­up or other annoying ads placed on your home page
and maybe all of your pages. You will have absolutely no control on the type or number of
advertisements on your web pages.
Public perception – A huge part of building traffic to a small business website is how
consumers and other businesses perceive everything. If another business that had a free
website wanted to link to your website, would you allow it? Many small businesses invest
money, time, and effort in designing and developing unique websites, so why would they
want to link to another business that didn’t?
There’s no doubt about it, the economy is tight and every small business must use every
dollar to best ensure the success of the business. The reality of small business web design
is that you can get a registered domain name for as little as $10 or less per month. You can
purchase a small business web design package for less than $500. So, your first year
investment in a custom business website would be approximately $620. The next year your
total investment would be $120 or less. Are you currently spending money on advertising
that isn’t effective? If there is just no money, a free website might be better than not having
an online presence at all.
Even if your free website offers you the opportunity to upgrade to a paid plan later, why
wouldn’t it be better to start with a custom web design in the first place?