Why Free Website Hosting is Usually a Bad Deal

Yesterday morning, Fox News ran a story on a Islamic extremist website created by the 22-year-old son of Saudi Arabian immigrants. When I heard the website was being run by a resident of North Carolina, I immediately wondered if my website hosting company, based in North Carolina, was hosting the site. Here's why I should care.

(Note: I am not going to post the name of the website mentioned by Fox News. I am not going to be party to giving them more traffic.)

When determining your website's ranking, Google and other search engines take into account what other type of websites are being hosted on the same servers. If your website is hosted on a server that also hosts porn sites or extreme Islamist sites, it will affect your ability to garner better search engine rankings for your website.

In my case, a "Who Is" search at the Network Solutions website (www.NetSol.com) revealed that the site was being hosted by an organization called "Afraid.org". A visit to Afraid.org revealed it is a free website hosting service. Free website hosting services tend to attract more "scummy" sites, because (1) they are free, and (2) they do a poor job of policing the type of sites posted on their servers.

As you've probably deduced by now, hosting your website on a free website hosting service is not a good idea – unless you're posting a scummy site of your own. Then you'll be right at home.