What Makes a Great Free Webhost?

[GalaxyBay.com]

If you could have the perfect webhost, what would it be like? Ofcourse this is in a reasonable realm. Also what would you expect from it in regards to what type of account you get (ftp, GCI, php, how much space, bandwidth..etc..etc).

Also the last question how can this "Free" webhost be able to support itself financially to stay afloat without annoying its clients/users?

Google Adsense seems like the best idea so far to me, but what size and what type of placement?

Many Questions for you Folks...Thanks in advance for any answers!

[talkhost]

Are you asking us successful free webhosts to reveal our trade secrets? :)

This is a cut-throat business son, work it out for yourself :)

[GalaxyBay.com]

Are you asking us successful free webhosts to reveal our trade secrets? :)

This is a cut-throat business son, work it out for yourself :)


Well, you don't have to reply if you don't want to, these questions are more geared towards those USERS/CLIENTS of free webhosting then the actual providers. But opinions from either end of the spectrum are welcomed :cool2:

[leatherchair]

i just need to know how to put ads on users pages. u know how?
i got cpanel and whm

well, i think for webhost they should have like...
1 of everything except maby 100MB space and 10GB bandwith. u know?
howbout that?

maby
;)

[VisionaryHost]

I think that reliability and customer service is the MOST important part of free hosting and I mean it!

[GalaxyBay.com]

So most people if they were given great reliability and support would not at all mind ads on their free webspace?

[themoose]

they would mind them a bit, but they would rather have great support than no ads.

[WideBand]

One important factor in customer service, IMO, is that the client isn't constantly reminded that "since we're providing a free service, it's not even supposed to be reliable", when contacting tech support with a problem.

I understand that sometimes there can be a human error or a hardware problem, but since the host has decided to provide free hosting, it's their responsibility to keep things running smoothly and to arrange funding to pay for the maintenance.

"If you want your site to be up more than 50% of the time, you can upgrade to this $X,XX/mo plan" is no answer to a complaint.

I've experienced a lot of this kind of arrogance when trying to find free hosting for my friends.

I think that most people who want free hosting are willing to have ads on their site in return.

[talkhost]

i just need to know how to put ads on users pages. u know how?

If you have root access to your server you can use mod_layout

I think that reliability and customer service is the MOST important part of free hosting and I mean it!

I could not agree more. Whether paying customers or free hostees, everyone expects a good level of support..

If you want your site to be up more than 50% of the time, you can upgrade to this $X,XX/mo plan" is no answer to a complaint

That does not wash with most folks.. If a host cannot provide a decent service for free then why should people assume the paid hosting will be any more reliable? Probably 99% of free hosts offer their paid hosting from the same server as their free hosting.. So it goes without saying. If the free host is sh*t then the paid hosting will be equally sh*t

I think that most people who want free hosting are willing to have ads on their site in return

This is also changing. Probably when your new free customers sign up, they do not mind the ads, but as time goes on and their site develops they tend to be pissed off by the intrusion of the ads..(and ads are an intrusion) Then they jump ship. It's easy to sign them up, but difficult to keep them.... If you want to run a successful free hosting company, then you will have a better chance if you do not enforce ads.. That does not mean you can't be successful if you enforce ads, most of the big players do it, but their users are increasingly running to guys like us..

There ye go, some free tips for ye all :)

[shaorin]

One important factor in customer service, IMO, is that the client isn't constantly reminded that "since we're providing a free service, it's not even supposed to be reliable", when contacting tech support with a problem.

I understand that sometimes there can be a human error or a hardware problem, but since the host has decided to provide free hosting, it's their responsibility to keep things running smoothly and to arrange funding to pay for the maintenance.

"If you want your site to be up more than 50% of the time, you can upgrade to this $X,XX/mo plan" is no answer to a complaint.

I've experienced a lot of this kind of arrogance when trying to find free hosting for my friends.

I think that most people who want free hosting are willing to have ads on their site in return.
I totally agree. I also add that free customers should be treated with the same respect as paid ones, because they are both your customers!

As for ads, I think google ads would be a good choice. But you should be flexible and let the user pick the colors to best suit their layout. And you can give them a range of ad sizes depending on how much space/bw they require.

[talkhost]

You are right.. Free hosting members are still customers of the hosting company. Although they do not pay the host direct, the host obviously benefits in some way by hosting them, otherwise, why would they bother? We are not doing you a favour out of the kindness of our heart, we want to turn a profit. But there are ways to treat people and ways not to treat people..
::shameless plug coming up:: Check out our forum to see how it's done properly. And if you become successful I want 5% :)

[Johnson]

Webhosts should be proffessional, yet be your friend at the same time.

[GalaxyBay.com]

Thanks for your tips guys, I'm in the process of attempting to build something from the ground up and I don't want to assume anything. I've had a lot of experience with paidhost's and they either don't last for too long or their UPtime and customer service just takes an extreme dive after a while. I wonder If people are experiencing the same type of situations in the FWS realm?

[WideBand]

I've had a lot of experience with paidhost's and they either don't last for too long or their UPtime and customer service just takes an extreme dive after a while. I wonder If people are experiencing the same type of situations in the FWS realm?

I sure have.

The main reason I brought this thread to life again was to show you this:

http://uploadfile.addr.com/upfiles/overload.jpg

Please, don't run any kind of hosting if your servers can't handle the load. :shame:

What really annoys me is that the above screenshot is from a paid host's CPanel. Running constantly overloaded servers and charging $25/mo for 2GB Disk/20GB BW is called ripping people off!

[mgbenz]

If a free webhost provider has been up for more than 2 years then I'll consider it reliable...

Most webhosts with great offers usually die out in less than a year...and I don't need to tell the reason why, just find it out yourself....