So you need a web site for your business. You are even thinking of setting up a blog as well. You have an idea of how to go about it, but you need to find a web host to ensure reliable delivery of your data first. For many medium to big businesses, this is not a big deal. For businesses operating on a small scale, however, cutting costs as much as possible is more important.

Here’s good news for you: there are a lot of free web hosting options available. The question is this: is it worth saving so and so dollars each year and trusting something that is free?

The answer is not so simple. On the one hand, you do not have to spend any money on hosting costs. On the other hand, there are drawbacks for a service that does not cost you anything. Various web hosting companies rely on data center services for their infrastructure and this costs them money (among many other things). One way or another, they have to make up for the money they are not getting from the free web hosting packages.

One disadvantage can be the fact that your web site will be home to ads – ads that the web host company puts up. Now if you are running a business, those ads might get in the way of the user experience, perhaps ultimately negating your efforts in setting up a business web site in the first place.

Another disadvantage is the fact that free web hosting packages are not usually reliable. The last thing that you want for your business web site is to be regularly inaccessible because of down times. Worse, free web hosting packages usually come with inefficient support/customer service, if any at all. When you experience a problem, you might not be able to do anything about it at all.

Bottom line: if you need a web host for your business web site, you will be better off shelling out a little bit of money. It is worth it!