Wednesday, August 26, 2020

Building websites for FREE !

 Disclaimer: I am obliged to inform you that there are affiliate links in this article; I will get a commission and there will be no extra cost for you if you choose to click on these links, in fact, you will also get discounts provided by the companies that you reach through the affiliate links in this article. 

 

This is a unique service that I discovered recently: building simple websites for free (using Wordpress).


There are many other services that offer free Wordpress setup if you buy hosting through their affiliate links, this service goes extra steps forward; they not only setup Wordpress, they also build you a website and upload its content for free!


They target those who need a simple website; a professional website, yet a simple one at the same time, they believe that you shouldn’t pay much for such a website.

This includes websites for blogging, for business, personal websites … etc.



Main components of a simple website



1-Your own domain name: e.g. www.mydomain.com instead of myname.somedomain.com


2-Home Page: A page that the visitors will see when they head to your domain name (when they type in your website address in the browser), which displays recent articles, or an introduction to products, services, or your business.


3-About page: this page has more information about the business, the team, the website owner, the story of the business … etc. 


4-Contact us page: where potential clients can contact the website owner through a contact form, where the communication will be through a dedicated email for your website, that matches your domain name, e.g. info@yourdomain.com. 

You can add to, or replace, that with your contact information; such as your telephone number, mail address … etc. 

 

Of course, it’s up to you, you can plan your website the way you like, with the pages and elements that fit your desires and needs; the above elements / components are suggestions.


In addition to that, the website should be open to future additions and adjustments, as any professional website, and unlike website builders, such as Wix and others, where the website owner is bound by what those companies provide.


Wordpress however, is perfect for building such websites, it’s open source, which means the amount of additions that you can add, and the adjustments you can perform on your website, are limitless.


Wordpress also has a huge community, so you can find help, or you can find a freelancer, a company that can do any job you might need for your website. 

Such websites are perfect for small business owners, freelancers, bloggers, professionals, such as dentists, lawyers … etc. and other similar cases.



Let them build a website for you!



What this new service does, which is called Simple Site For Me (SSFM), is that they build you such a site for free in exchange for buying your hosting through their affiliate links.


This is a good deal; you have to pay for hosting, and the domain name anyway, so why not get your website built for free?

Of course you also need to buy a domain for your website, but you can do this from any company you like, or use a domain that you own.


They also don’t limit you to one hosting company, currently they offer three good choices: SiteGround, A2Hosting, and BlueHost.


I personally use SiteGround and they are amazing! 


Now of course, they have a limit for you can get for free; you can check this on their home page under the title: “HERE’S WHAT YOU’LL GET FOR FREE”. 


But even if what they offer for free is not enough for you, you can still contact them and ask for more, they do offer additional (paid) services, and you can still either add what you need by yourself or hire someone to do it for you, both ways they will do most, if not all of, the work for you, and save you a lot of trouble and money.


Besides, with the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak, everybody is going online, and even if things were normal, you still need a website for your business, practice, side hustle … etc.



Cost of domain and hosting



The domain can cost you any where between $9 and $16 a year (mostly), hosting shouldn’t cost you much, you can pay monthly or annually, annually is more practical of course, if you’re starting out, you can find a good hosting plan with a price that ranges from $8 to $25 a month.


(most hosting companies gives you a discount for the first year, or the first sign up period, for example, SiteGround gives you a %70 discount on the first year, but of you pay for 2 or 3 years up front when you first sign up, you’ll get a %70 discount for the 2 or 3 years that you signed up for. Of course, like most hosting companies, they give you a 30 days money back guarantee, in case you changed your mind or didn’t like their service).


So yes, it won’t cost you much to have your own website.



Conclusion


Again, it’s a good deal, worth giving it a shot, and of you’re not satisfied with the results, the service is free.

And if you need a professional email (an email that matches your domain), then it will be mostly for free (I personally use SiteGround and they provide free emails with their hosting packages. 

Check the plans of the hosting company that you intend to buy hosting from; if they provide free emails that matches your domain for free or not).


It’s definitely worth checking out; pay them a visit at simplesitefor.me