The majority of these sites are enhanced with a link to a free forum board and other free online tools. It is also important to note than most of these sites are for personal use and are generally inadequate for ecommerce.

For some individuals these sites are often sufficient to get them going. However, for ecommerce this approach will not likely provide the flexibility and growth you need.

Why do they offer it for free?

For service providers who offer a few web pages free of charge they are hopeful they can recoup the cost for those pages by placing advertising on the page that is relevant to the keywords they encounter. If you are a netrepreneur this is not helpful. Having links to online companies that provide the same products or services that you do is not conducive to sales and actually minimizes trust in your company. Besides if you own the site you can link to Google Adsense or other PPC companies and receive residual income if you feel advertising may play a role in your site function.

By paying for a web host that can help get your site functional you have technical support and a means of developing a site that is truly yours – one that is customizable and can grow with you as your company grows.

It's not surprising that many online businesses may look at low cost or no cost alternatives to developing a website, but there is truth to the old adage, “You get what you pay for.”

Many web-hosting solutions also allow you to access their knowledge database and work to define solutions to the problems you may encounter along the way.

A web host can provide a level of comfort in that they can register your domain name and may be able to provide web development and/or a self-guided template service to allow you a convenient and personally developed website. Some sites may offer exemplary tech support to assist you with any snags you encounter.

The primary service a web host can provide is essentially everything you may need to get your website off the ground. They may have additional expertise available to clients. Make sure to read through their Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ's) or visit with them directly.

Above all, make sure to review as much material about web hosting and design as possible to allow familiarity with the good, the bad and the ugly when it comes to this important online service for ecommerce.