Nothing in life comes for free – we all know that. Yet most visitors find my blog via search terms such as ‘create a free website’ and ‘how can I create a free website’. That’s why, in this article, we’re going to explore whether a free website is really as good a deal as it seems.
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News, YouTube, courses, social media… We take it for granted that many things on the internet are free. But what about websites – can you create a free website? Of course! Is it a good idea? Rarely.
Sunk Cost Fallacy
There are plenty of platforms aimed at people who want to create a website for free, such as Wix and WordPress.com. Both platforms offer a free option that allows you to create a website quickly.
What’s more, they’re easy to use, so why would you still hesitate? Well, those platforms also stand to gain from converting you into a paying customer at some point. They do this by ensuring that you first spend a lot of time building your website, so that you’re more inclined to pay when you suddenly come up against a paywall.
We call this psychological principle the ‘sunk cost fallacy’, and these platforms cleverly capitalise on it. You’ve already invested so much time that giving up no longer seems like an option.
I’ve also launched a free website builder, and yes, I too hope that sooner or later you’ll sign up for my paid services. After all, building and maintaining a platform like this takes a lot of time and money.
Your website isn’t really yours
When you use a platform such as Wix or WordPress.com, you’re locked into an ecosystem.
- You usually cannot export your website in its entirety
- Migrating to another platform is difficult (or impossible)
- You are bound by their rules and prices
And what if the platform suddenly raises its prices significantly, or stops providing its service? Then you’ll suddenly have a huge problem.
So, technically speaking, your website isn’t actually yours; it’s more like you’re renting it.
No custom domain name
A website always involves some recurring costs, such as the domain name. Registering a domain name costs money and cannot possibly be offered as a free service. That is why, with free solutions, you use a subdomain provided by the website builder, such as mycompany.wixsite.com or mycompany.wordpress.com
Not only does this look less professional, but it also undermines your credibility and harms your search engine performance. After all, you’re helping Wix improve its ranking in search results, when you should actually be working on building your own authority.
Buying a domain name doesn’t cost much, but even so, you can’t simply link your domain name to your free website. This is because linking a ‘custom domain’ is only available as part of a higher-tier package, which also comes with a monthly fee.
From parcel to parcel
Website builders such as Wix and WordPress.com are masters at hiding essential features in more expensive packages. You start with a free website, but after a few days of building it, you realise you can’t add contact forms. That feature is only available in a higher-tier package, so you end up signing up for that package. After just a few days, however, you realise you can’t display a cookie banner on the website, even though this is mandatory. Once again, you have to sign up for a more expensive package. And so it goes on…
This is part of the strategy behind these free packages, and you need to be fully aware of that. Before you start creating a free website anywhere, you should therefore carefully check which features are included and which are not.
Advertisements
Advertisements on a business website are a no-go. It’s a sure-fire way to give your company’s image a negative spin. Yet with many of these free website builders, it’s part of the deal. A platform such as Wix or WordPress.com can therefore display adverts to visitors on your website. And you have absolutely no say in those adverts, so it’s just as likely that people visiting your website will see adverts from your competitors.
When is it actually a good choice?
Sometimes you just need a temporary website, for example for an event. In that case, a free website can be the ideal choice, as it usually doesn’t matter much that you can’t link your own domain name to the website. After all, it’s a temporary website that will only be visited by a small group of people.
However, as soon as you have long-term plans, it is important to realise that sooner or later you will have to pay. If you don’t pay for a subscription, you will end up paying through a loss of reputation by displaying adverts on your website
Conclusion
It’s perfectly possible to create a free website, but in the long run it rarely stays free. You always end up paying:
- Either with money (subscriptions, upgrades)
- Or with restrictions (on functionality or freedom)
- Or with your brand image (advertisements, subdomains)
For long-term plans, it is therefore often a better idea to opt for a proper solution straight away, such as a static website or a WordPress website. In the long run, this will save you a lot of money.
So how much does a website actually cost?
The final cost will always depend on your specific requirements and the features you need, but of course a vague answer like that isn’t much help. That’s why you can use this handy calculator to work out the average price for your website. That way, you’ll get a good idea straight away.
If you’d prefer a personalised proposal, please request a quote today.