1. Is it really free? Sure, the basic personal version is free. Did you consider you may want more space, add on a domain, a different look, and oh did you want email as well, we can do that but start adding on the fees. Sorry guys, but the free is part is usually just to get you in the door and signed up thinking you found a great deal.

2. Who are you really promoting? So you think you are promoting your products or services, but really you are also promoting their services and interests as well. I’d say %99 of free sites have either advertising or pop-ups that they throw onto your site. So when your visitors visit and get side tracked by the add they stuck in your margin and click-off, did the free site really help you get a sale or did they just get a sale for one of their advertisers? Not to mention, its just annoying to see when trying to shop!

3. Unprofessional. When I go shopping for a product I may have hundreds of choices for where to buy it. I’m going to ultimately buy from a site that looks secure and trust-worthy. If they have ads or are using a free template seen on 20 other sites I’ll probably pass them up. I’m going to buy the product from the site that put more effort into their storefront. Would you rather buy a new computer from a reputable store or from someone selling from the trunk of their car? Which one are you going to be more willing to turn your credit card information over to?

4. Personalization. On most free sites you are stuck with templates, templates that half the other sites they host will be using. What is going to set your site apart from the next?

5. “Dirty” code output. With all the different internet browsers and computer configurations out there now, you need a site that will display the same for everyone and still be accessible to those with special accessibility needs. Sure, you can see the site fine, but how will it look on a different browser. Will someone who is blind be able to use a screen reader to navigate your site? The code that some web builders use to make the free site manageable for its users outputs code that is not W3C compliant in most cases. Its not going to display right across the browsers and can be downright non-functional.

6. Slow bandwidth. Do you think these free sites are going to care if your site runs fast and without errors? Probably not. They want to make money too, its a business. Your site will probably have limited bandwidth, which means it probably will run slow or completely shut down once you have reached your limit for the hour (or day). You want to run an awesome sale? Lets hope you don’t get too much traffic because if it shuts down your customers aren’t going to even get to see your amazing products. Or if it runs too slow your customers will probably get frustrated and find a different site to shop on. The reason people shop online is for that instant gratification, they want it now! If they have to sit around and wait for a site to load or come back up, chances are they’ll just go somewhere else.

7. What’s web address again? Most likely your site’s web address is going to be something long and harder to remember. You’ll also display your affiliation to the free web service you’ve chosen. http://yoursite.yourfreesiteservice.com is going to be harder to remember and less professional than http://yoursite.com Even if you are allowed to use your own domain, chances are you wont have full control over how its used.

8. Oh, did you want a blog too? Most likely, once you get a web site you wont stop there. As your business grows you’ll be looking at other things that will help your new business retain customers, gain SEO, help your customers shop efficiently, and offer more information or education to your visitors. There are many different software applications that website owners utilize to help in these areas. Help desks, blogs, forums among dozens of others are all examples of tools site owners utilize. If you are using a free site its a good possibility that these are completely unavailable or extremely limited. So what you start with is what you have, limited potential for growth… oh, unless you want to pay a fee for it through them. Again, then its not really free is it?

9. Its free, but for how long? Or How long will this company be around? Reputable pay-for hosting companies are making money and running a service people want and will continue to use for the long term. Free website companies are benefiting from the people who are not web savvy and looking for more short term. As our population becomes more tech savvy these free web companies start to dwindle because the demand isn’t there. One day your free web site provider might decide its not worth it anymore and poof, your site is gone. Hey, don’t believe me, where do you think GeoCities went? (GeoCities was one of the first free web site hosts on the web, owned by Yahoo.)

10. Who is really in control? On free sites you generally will not have control of all the files on your site or how things are stored. You might be able to load them, but how private are they and how are they organized? Will you have control over your 404 page or how web spiders read your site? How about access to the databases that run it? Will you have FTP access or limited to online file transfers? These might not be things you are worried about now, but as your business grows (and that’s the ultimate goal right?) you’ll want more control over your site and these are things you’ll need access to. (or at least your web designer will)

I hope this partial list helps you understand the reasons why I highly recommend not using free sites to start your web business. While they may look appealing, the cost you pay to use them may be more than you realize. Want more information on starting your web business? Send me an email via my contact page for a custom quote and my suggestions on hosts that may work for your specific business venture!

How fun would it be to accent a blog post with words like this? Who knew typography could be so easy? Check it out for yourself and see what you can can up with! A heads up, if you do use any part of the created Wordle a link back is required, don’t forget to add that to your site if you do use it.

Try Wordle

Why is a blog so important for my website?
Blogs are an excellent way to bring readers and potential customers to your website! Its an easy way to keep your content fresh and up to date. Blogs are also a great way to highlight a product that may not normally get noticed or to announce an awesome sale you plan on having! Want an easy way for visitors to stay up to date on on your site’s activities? Add a blog. Want to share a find you found on the internet your customers may enjoy? Blog about it! Maybe you want to do a link swap with another person in your niche business area. A blog post is the perfect way to announce your affiliation or show your love of the other shop.

Above all, blogging on your website increases your textual content and gives a medium for you to post your desired keywords and link to your products. Search engines love blogs and when your blog is indexed, so is your website along with all those valuable keywords and content!

What blog platform should I choose?
Web Savvy Mama has a soft spot for WordPress. I love the flexibility, the integration and the enormous amount of plugins available. WordPress is also FREE and can be hosted right on your website with your domain.

How can Web Savvy Mama help?
I specialize in custom matching WordPress themes. If you have a website, chances are I can create a theme to match it. If you have a Web Savvy Mama designed theme even better, just tell me you want a blog theme added to your design package. Matching blogs from an existing design start at just $80! Feel free to contact WSM to get a quote for your blog project.

Adobe has an online color picker called Kuler. When I first saw it I though, “Oh, another color picker. What’s the bog deal?” Then I started playing around with it! The color picker part is like most you find online, the feature I liked the most was the “create from image” option. I popped a picture of my daughter in and ta-da! Color palette! It lets you select a mood which will change the colors it grabs from the picture. How cool is that?!

As someone who takes inspiration for web design from every day objects I can see this handy little site getting a lot of use. Have a favorite printed skirt? Snap a picture and ta-da, instant color palette! Go play and let me know what you think!