Free Company Website: What’s the Catch?

A free company website sounds appealing when you are watching every business expense. You can get online, show what you do and keep your money for other priorities. The catch can appear when you discover what you need to pay for to use the website as intended.

You might finish building the pages before finding that your own website address requires a paid plan. A feature you need could be an extra subscription. Or an included service could become a separate renewal bill later.

A clearly explained optional upgrade is different from a charge you struggle to find. The important thing is understanding what your business needs, what the offer covers and what it will cost to keep that version running.

1. What is actually free?

Start by finding out exactly what the word covers. A free template gives you a starting layout. Free setup may describe the initial work. A free plan may let you keep a basic website online, while a trial gives you temporary access under its own terms.

Those are different offers. Ask whether you can publish the finished site, keep it running and use the features you need without making a payment.

If the design is free provided you take a hosting package, check the package price and commitment. Hosting is the service that keeps the website available online. Include it in the total even if the design itself has no charge.

Also distinguish a free trial from a money-back offer. With a money-back offer, you may need to pay first and request a refund within the stated conditions. Read what happens at the end of the offer before entering payment details.

2. The extras to check before launching

Imagine a florist preparing a simple website with photographs, opening hours and contact details. They have finished the pages and want to put their business name on the website address.

That is the point to check both the cost of registering the address and whether the chosen website service charges for connecting it. Buying the address and paying for a plan that lets you use it can be separate expenses.

Check business email too. An address using your business name may have its own subscription, even when the website package includes other services.

Look at the finished page as a customer would. Does it show the provider's advertising or branding? If you want that removed, find out whether it requires an upgrade.

Write down the extras you need before spending hours on the design. You can then compare an offer that includes them with one that charges for them separately.

3. What happens when the introductory offer ends?

The starting price may apply only to an initial period. Ask when that period ends, what the next renewal will cost and how often you will be charged.

Check services described as free for the first year. A website address, for example, may need a separate paid renewal afterwards. Its renewal date may also differ from the website plan's billing date.

Read the payment schedule as well as the headline price. A monthly figure could describe the average cost of an annual or longer subscription that you pay upfront. Check the amount due today and the length of the commitment.

If automatic renewal applies, find out when payment is taken and how to turn it off. Do the same for separate email services and add-ons.

A higher renewal price and a new price increase are different things. Keep the quoted renewal amount and check any later notices so you understand what has changed.

4. The upgrades your business might need later

Check the website against what customers need to do, rather than judging it only by the opening page.

For the florist, a gallery and a phone number might be enough initially. If the owner later wants customers to order bouquets online, they need to check the cost of that particular selling setup.

Ask which plan supports it, whether an extra service is needed and which charges apply when a customer pays. Keep regular subscriptions separate from charges attached to each sale.

The same approach applies to storage, forms and other features. Try the actual feature you need and check any limits. If it requires an add-on, find out whether that add-on has its own paid plan.

Focus on the functions your business expects to use. Buying a larger package for features you will not use adds another avoidable expense.

If you want a clearer picture of what your business website needs, contact BuildMyApp. Tell us what customers should be able to do, and we can discuss the work and ongoing services involved before you decide how to proceed.

5. Who pays for changes and support?

Find out who will build the pages, write the wording, prepare the photographs and check that everything works. Access to a website-building tool still leaves those tasks for someone to do.

If you plan to do them yourself, allow time to learn the tool and put the content together. If you need help later, ask what that help would cover and how it would be charged.

For an offer that includes someone building the website, get the included work in writing. Clarify the pages, number of revisions and responsibility for the content.

Then ask about ordinary changes after launch: replacing a photograph, adding a service or changing opening hours. Check what you can edit yourself, what support is included and what would need a separate quote.

Our guide to making your website more useful to customers can help you decide which parts of the work matter for your business.

6. What happens if you want to leave?

Before committing, ask what happens if the service no longer suits your business.

Check who controls the website account and its address. Make sure you understand how to get access to the accounts and materials you need.

Ask exactly what you can take with you. A copy of your written content is different from a complete working website with its layout and features. Depending on the service, moving elsewhere may involve rebuilding part or all of the site.

Get any export, transfer or rebuilding costs explained before you need to make that decision. Also check what happens to the live website, its address and email if you cancel or move to a cheaper plan.

Keep the subscriptions separate in your notes. Cancelling one service may leave another active. Check each service's cancellation terms, renewal date and any refund conditions.

7. Get the complete cost before committing

Before accepting a free company website offer, ask for the cost of the version your business actually needs. Use the same requirements when comparing it with a paid service.

• To launch: what must you pay before the finished website can go live as you want it?
• During the first year: which plans, address registrations, email services and add-ons will you need?
• At renewal: what will each service cost after any included or discounted period?
• For changes: what can you edit yourself, and what help would cost extra?
• To leave: what can you keep or move, and what work or charges would be involved?

Ask for required costs and optional extras to be listed separately. Keep the answers somewhere you can refer to when a renewal notice arrives or your needs change.

For the florist, this means comparing the complete website they want to run: the pages, address, contact options and any selling features they need. That is a more useful comparison than the headline offer alone.

If you are still deciding what to put online, our guide to getting a start up business online can help you prioritise the essentials.

BuildMyApp provides website design services for businesses that want a clear explanation of what is being built and what it will need after launch. Tell us what you need the website to achieve, and we can discuss a suitable scope of work.