Any business, newly created or already operational, must have a website. This will allow him to make himself known to his potential customers. It facilitates communication, business transactions, and relationships with institutions.
From this perspective, some companies think that to start, you have to opt for a free site. However, this is a solution that risks costing them dearly. It is recommended to have a quality website to mark your presence on the Internet. Here are the disadvantages of a free site.
Bad user experience
Imagine that you are creating a cafe. You don’t paint the facade of your patio. You don’t put a tablecloth on the tables. You make your customers wait too long since you are the cook, the cashier, and the waiter at the same time. You tell yourself that when you get a lot of customers and make a lot of money, you make it all better. Fault! You won’t get as many customers as you expect because passers-by are not interested in your business. And those who have tasted your croissants will not come back because of the long waits.
This is what happens with a free website. Whether it is a showcase site or an e-commerce site, the customer experience is essential. However, a free site is not the one that will allow you to take care of your visitors. Such a site is often inundated with unwanted ads, annoying banners, pop-ups that launch each time they are opened. Its interface also lacks fluidity. All this only discourages visitors.
Visibility problem
One of the major objectives of a site is to gain visibility. However, a free website goes against this purpose. This one will lack originality. It is a mundane looking site that will drown in the crowd. A free site does not allow you to get your own domain name. Indeed, yours would be a subdomain attached to that of your host. Already, it harms your brand image and your credibility since it is unprofessional. But in addition, it causes a lot of inconvenience to your visibility.
First, search engines find it difficult to reference such a site. Second, your visitors will have trouble finding you with the name of your platform associated with that of the platform. In addition, the site is inaccessible all the time. This is not the case when you opt for a paid site that entitles you to your own domain name. As soon as a user types in the name of the company, the web address and the link to the site of the latter are displayed on the SERP. In addition, you cannot configure everything that can make you visible (URL, page title, meta description, etc.).
The possibilities are limited with a free website
All the resources allocated to a free website are very small, or even some resources are completely absent. There is not enough disk space. Databases and the space allocated to them are reduced. This reduction in storage space also prevents you from storing enough content. However, these contents (texts, images, videos…) are vectors of communication with your prospects.
Sooner or later you have to customize your site and add extensions and new features to it. In this case, you should hire a web developer with the necessary technical skills. And it’s going to cost you money. In the end, the free website is not as free as it sounds.
