NOOB FRIENDLY: How to setup a BASIC website for FREE

[Michael 21]

*EDIT* Thank you guys very very much for all the information. I will definitely consider making an update video to add onto this with a cheap alternative that is more secure, rather than this free hosting plan. I will also add into the description with a disclaimer stating that any sensitive information SHOULD NOT be stored on these sites. Have a happy and healthy new year everybody :)

 

Hello Raid, I have not been active lately due to my disinterest in Call of Duty 4 and really gaming in general at the moment. I logged on today to share this tutorial I made, but if any admins disapprove, then feel free to remove this post. 

 

This tutorial is VERY easy. Anybody that is half familiar with computers can do this... Blindfolded. 

 

Video:

 

If you need help just reply to this topic, I'd be more than happy to help :)

[jwofles 1009]

You should've mentioned some of the downsides of 000webhost but good tutorial for some out there. I mean a website isn't expensive but I guess it'll help somebody.

[Michael 21]

You should've mentioned some of the downsides of 000webhost but good tutorial for some out there. I mean a website isn't expensive but I guess it'll help somebody.

I have never experienced any downsides with 000webhost and I have used this method for as long as I can remember. What are the downsides? And thanks very much for the feedback.

[Lossy 1968]

000webhost has been hacked in the past and sensitive data got leaked. If you get too much traffic or use a lot of data they'll close down your site and make you pay and some other stuff that i forgot.

[siikdude 240]

adblock is free i suggest you get it

[Lossy 1968]

ublock origin is better

[Synd 309]

QUIT DERAILING TOPICS OR I WILL DERAIL YOUR LIFE

[atrX 426]

I have never experienced any downsides with 000webhost and I have used this method for as long as I can remember. What are the downsides? And thanks very much for the feedback.

Aside from terrible server performance... They store passwords in plain text. Their entire user database was dumped some time ago with everyone's password in it. They clearly can't be trusted to handle proper security and should therefore be avoided at all cost. Hostinger is their parent company and should therefore also be avoided along with their paid service Hosting24. In general free webhosts are either illegally run or poorly run. In most cases your website will be taken down after receiving minimal traffic.

 

You can get basic webhosting for literally $2 or less per month ($4/month can get you some amazing plans) and this way you're certain you're actually getting decent quality hosting (as long as you check some reviews on webhostingtalk.com and not one of those fake review sites where people pay for good reviews).

 

If you want, I could compile a list of some of the webhosting companies I know and trust to give good service at a good price.

 

Edit: You should also consider buying a domain. Free tld's have a tendency to get blocked by major search engines due to them being used by malicious websites a lot.

[BosnianArmy 517]

What Imagine said is true, shit hosting.

 

One of the best or better hosting is OVH. You can litteraly buy for 30 euro per YEAR! That's is quite cheap for only paying per year the 30 euro. And the speed is really fast and they have good support and the security is quite good.

 

OVH: https://www.ovh.com

OVH webhosting webpage for the webhosting part: https://www.ovh.nl/shared-hosting/

 

If you use the Personal option for € 1,99 per month, that's more then enough. You get 100 GB of storage and 1 free domain. So 1.99 multiplied by 12= 23,88 per year, so not even 30 euro! And to setup a website is very user friendly with OVH because they setup automaticly a SQL database for you and the only thing you need to do is to setup a system where the theme can be installed and with system I mean like IPB etc.

[atrX 426]

What Imagine said is true, shit hosting.

 

One of the best or better hosting is OVH. You can litteraly buy for 30 euro per YEAR! That's is quite cheap for only paying per year the 30 euro. And the speed is really fast and they have good support and the security is quite good.

 

OVH: https://www.ovh.com

OVH webhosting webpage for the webhosting part: https://www.ovh.nl/shared-hosting/

 

If you use the Personal option for € 1,99 per month, that's more then enough. You get 100 GB of storage and 1 free domain. So 1.99 multiplied by 12= 23,88 per year, so not even 30 euro! And to setup a website is very user friendly with OVH because they setup automaticly a SQL database for you and the only thing you need to do is to setup a system where the theme can be installed and with system I mean like IPB etc.

I wouldn't recommend a company like OVH for shared hosting. Their panel is quite limited and they impose too many limitations IMHO. Apparently their customer service isn't too great either (from personal experience I can tell their billing department is great, or I might have just been lucky, don't have any experience with their support or any other departments), which is a must for shared hosting because you control practically nothing so you have to be able to communicate with them to quickly resolve issues you're facing.

 

OVH is focused on unmanaged dedicated servers mostly, which is what they're known for and good at and it shows with their other services. They're cheap and that comes with compromises which on the shared hosting side of things... You simply can't afford to make.

 

Don't get me wrong, OVH is amazing... But there's better solutions out there for shared hosting.

 

I'll edit back with a list of some reputable hosting companies later. ;)

 

 

Edit: Some of the best offers from companies with great reviews on WHT. Don't have personal experience with all of them but WHT know what they're talking about. :P

 

THCServers

Cheapest plan: $1.95/month

Most expensive plan: $5.95/month

Disk space: Unmetered on all plans

Bandwidth: Unmetered on all plans

Number of domains: 1 for the cheapest plan, 5 for the mid-tier plan, unlimited for the high-tier plan

Money back guarantee: 30 days

Control panel: cPanel

Includes free domain: No

Notes: E-mail accounts are limited on the cheap and mid-tier plan, prices increase when you choose a shorter billing period, free nightly off-site backups, SSD based, basic SSH access can be requested if a good reason is provided

 

Have been using these guys for the past year and they're great. Support is quick to answer tickets and server performance is top notch.

 

StableHost

Cheapest plan: $4.95/month*

Most expensive plan: $8.95/month**

Disk space: Unmetered on all plans

Bandwidth: Unmetered on all plans

Number of domains: 1 for the cheapest, unlimited for the rest

Money back guarantee: 45 days

Control panel: cPanel

Includes free domain: No

Notes: Prices drop with longer billing periods, free nightly backups, SSD based, basic SSH access can be bought

 

* Cheaper plans available with stricter limitations on their "older plans" page.

** More expensive enterprise plans also available.

 

GeekStorage

Cheapest plan: $2.99/month*

Most expensive plan: $6.59/month*

Disk space: 10GB for cheapest, 20GB for mid-tier, 40GB for high-tier

Bandwidth: Unmetered on all plans

Number of domains: 3 for cheapest, unlimited for the rest

Money back guarantee: 30 days

Control panel: cPanel

Includes free domain: Yes, but only for annual or biennial billing

Notes: Prices increase with shorter billing periods, free nightly off-site backups, SSD based, basic SSH access included according a post they made on WHT, free 1 year SSL certificate included with high-tier plan for annual or biennial billing

 

* Only when billed biennially.

 

As you can see, I don't put unlimited next to disk space and bandwidth unlike advertised on the websites. This is because unlimited disk space and bandwidth does not exist. Your hosting provider will take action if you're clogging disk space and bandwidth for no good reason.

 

There's plenty more but these are the ones currently featured on WHT I personally would trust or already have experience with. You can find plenty more here: http://www.webhostingtalk.com/forumdisplay.php?f=4(check for reviews first if you're going to pick one of many advertised here)

 

Additionally, if you prefer VPS performance but would rather not have to configure a server yourself... I can get a VPS for quite cheap and set it up for you for no additional fee. I have these servers sitting around unclaimed and unused anyway. Just PM me if you're interested and I'll send you a price and specs chart.

 

AVOID ANY HOSTING COMPANY AFFILIATED WITH EIG (Endurance International Group) AT ALL COST! This includes but is not limited to HostGator, Arvixe, BlueHost, JustHost, iPage, Site5. A more complete list can be found here: http://researchasahobby.com/full-list-eig-hosting-companies-brands/ EIG has ruined a dozen amazing hosting companies and seems to continue doing so with newly acquired companies. They ran HostGator into the ground completely, have ruined Arvixe (a company I used to have a hosting account with until a month or so after EIG took over) and did similar things to many others.

[jwofles 1009]

I'll edit back with a list of some reputable hosting companies later. ;)

yes pls.

Maybe prices/plans and pros+cons?

 

thanks!

[Michael 21]

Thank you guys very very much for all the information. I will definitely consider making an update video to add onto this with a cheap alternative that is more secure, rather than this free hosting plan. I will also add into the description with a disclaimer stating that any sensitive information SHOULD NOT be stored on these sites. Have a happy and healthy new year everybody :)

[BraXi 753]

Nice tutorial :dave:

 

but:

I'd rather not want a noob to host a website due to fact that this particular person will be unable to secure my personal data on his/her web server :dave:

[Michael 21]

Nice tutorial :dave:

 

but:

I'd rather not want a noob to host a website due to fact that this particular person will be unable to secure my personal data on his/her web server :dave:

Thanks! And I hear you, but this reaches out to the people that just want to experience the surface of owning a website. To the people that would just make a personal website, not really towards businesses at all.