Free Hosting Site Where I can use my own Domain?

wd2crv · #1 2014-02-02, 6:12pm

Is there such a beast out there?

Can you help me? Do you know of a free website that will let me design my own site and then use my already purchased GoDaddy domain?

I had thought that Weebly would let me do this but they want monthly payment now - not Wix either...

Any suggestions will happily be researched!!

wd2crv · #2 2014-02-03, 8:51pm

Hmm, does this silence mean that this does not exist? Do I need to bite the bullet and pay?

MistyCherie · #3 2014-02-04, 1:54pm

I could be wrong, but am 99.999% sure that if you wish to use your specific domain name for a website then you'll need to pay a hosting company to host it. (Unless you have geek friends who can/will host it for you?) Otherwise, you could find one of those freebie build-it sites and go from there. Those can be somewhat limiting in capability though, all depends on what you plan to do?

You could also do the freebie build-it site thing and have your domain name point to it, via redirect, that way if someone entered in your domain name they'd still end up at your site. I'm not sure if you can do this without a hosting company though. (My host allows me to redirect the .net/.org versions to the .com site.)

Someone more currently tech savvy would need to truly respond. =)

wd2crv · #4 2014-02-04, 4:50pm

Thank you for your response MistyCherie...

It does look like I need to pay! LOL

shawnette · #5 2014-02-04, 5:04pm

I don't know of any free ones any more, but there are several that cost $10 per year, which is less than $1 per month. Even less if you pay for more than 1 year at a time. I've used Dayanahost for years.

mewkittie · #6 2014-02-04, 7:07pm

I don't know of any free ones anymore. There is wordpress.com but you have to buy the domain name from them. Since you didn't, your domain name would have to be forwarded which I believe now costs $17.00 a year.

Another way is if you have a high speed connection and don't expect your website to get over used, you could request a static IP from your ISP and host it on your home computer. If you're going to get tons of traffic though your ISP will shut you down.

shawnette · #7 2014-02-04, 7:32pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by mewkittie

I don't know of any free ones anymore. There is wordpress.com but you have to buy the domain name from them. Since you didn't, your domain name would have to be forwarded which I believe now costs $17.00 a year.

Another way is if you have a high speed connection and don't expect your website to get over used, you could request a static IP from your ISP and host it on your home computer. If you're going to get tons of traffic though your ISP will shut you down.

Godaddy doesn't charge for forwarding domains.

mewkittie · #8 2014-02-04, 8:06pm

They don't but Wordpress.com charges to use your forwarded domain name. Else, you get the standard xyzname.wordpress.com name.

Quote:

Originally Posted by shawnette

Godaddy doesn't charge for forwarding domains.

shawnette · #9 2014-02-04, 8:18pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by mewkittie

They don't but Wordpress.com charges to use your forwarded domain name. Else, you get the standard xyzname.wordpress.com name.

If you forward with masking, you'll see your domain name, not the wordpress domain. There are always ways around the system...

mewkittie · #10 2014-02-04, 8:30pm

wordpress.com does not work well with masking. Not sure if it does now. When I set my website up, they don't recommend it as their software doesn't play nicely. Things could have changed.

Quote:

Originally Posted by shawnette

If you forward with masking, you'll see your domain name, not the wordpress domain. There are always ways around the system...

Damselfly · #11 2014-02-04, 8:58pm

If you are ok with a blog setup, tumblr will let you point a domain name.

wd2crv · #12 2014-02-10, 6:20pm

Thank you so much for all your responses....wow you all know a lot more than I do about all this....I will have to look to see what masking is.

I set up a website at weebly. I don't think I am up to the challenge of hosting on my home computer (and I hope for tons of traffic)

GoDaddy will direct the traffic to weebly easily but weebly now wants money for this.

$10 a year is doable - I will check out Dayanahost....

Misty Cherie - what host company do you use?

Damselfly - I think I want more than a blog

Thanks everyone!

MistyCherie · #13 2014-02-17, 10:21am

I use mediatemple.net - have had them for years and am grandfathered in for a nice rate. ~7 bucks a month. I think typical hosting is around 10 a month?

Damselfly · #14 2014-02-17, 4:42pm

If you're willing to pay for a few years up front, I know two businesses who use Westhost. Westhost has a sale going on right now, so if you pay three years up front for the basic plan (which is pretty substantial for a personal website), you get the cheapest rate ($4 a month) and they'll extend your hosting by an additional 18 months. So for $144, you get hosting for 4 1/2 years. That comes out to $2.67 a month.