If I bought domain name through NameSilo, will any site still host me for free?

8427 Views 6 Replies 4 Participants Last post by ireaderreview, Mar 27, 2015

mel p

Discussion Starter · Mar 25, 2015

I hate to show how ignorant I am, but I've read a lot of the different posts regarding creating/setting up my own website. I know that purchasing the domains through some of the popular ones mentioned, like Wix and Weebly, are a bit more expensive. For example, it was $40 a year for my domain name on Weebly and only 8.99 a year on NameSilo. If I buy my domain name, then can I still use any free hosting sites or templates? I think Weebly takes away the "free" part, if you have your own domain name. If I can't find a free hosting site, what is the cheapest I might find?
Bear in mind, I don't really know what I'm doing but I don't need anything fancy. I mainly just want a simple author website (I haven't even published yet).

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Julie W

· #2 · Mar 25, 2015

I do not have any experience buying a domain name and then using free hosting.

However, looking into this further, it seems it is possible to do with Blogger which is powered by Google.

I've played around with blogger before (not when using a purchased domain though) and it's pretty easy to set up. Setting up your purchased domain through a Blogger account is something I'm not familiar with though.

https://support.google.com/blogger/troubleshooter/1233381?hl=en

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· #3 · Mar 25, 2015

Yes, it's possible. Don't buy it through a company that is trying to fleece you.

Wordpress charges $13 a year. You can point your domain to them. They have instructions.

You'd pay $9 per year for the domain and $13 per year to wordpress.com. So $22 instead of $40.

Some other blogging sites etc. host without charging you.

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ShawnaN

· #4 · Mar 25, 2015

Most free blogging/site platforms will let you use your own domain that you've already registered. Some allow it for free, while others charge.

If you can swing it, then getting your own hosting gives you more control.

I don't know your budget, but if I was cash strapped I'd get my domain from the web host - most offer a free domain for the first year (you can move it to NameSilo once it's time to renew the domain).

I always suggest web hosts that use Litespeed servers to my clients because they tend to offer faster loading web pages. Of those, the cheapest are probably Stablehost and Hawkhost. Always check for current discount offers, like STABLE40DISCOUNT gets you 40% off Stablehost. But either are great choices for a new author website. SH has really great support.

My favorite web hosts are MDD and Siteground, but they have a higher cost. Of the two, MDD has slightly better support.

I hope I haven't given you too much info here

I've been building websites for over 10 yrs and I'm happy to answer any questions you might have.

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JumpingShip

· #5 · Mar 25, 2015

Julie W said:
I do not have any experience buying a domain name and then using free hosting.

However, looking into this further, it seems it is possible to do with Blogger which is powered by Google.

I've played around with blogger before (not when using a purchased domain though) and it's pretty easy to set up. Setting up your purchased domain through a Blogger account is something I'm not familiar with though.

https://support.google.com/blogger/troubleshooter/1233381?hl=en

I bought my domain name through a host about three years ago. I had trouble getting my website to work so I pointed the domain name to my Blogger blog instead. When the year came up for me to renew, I was able to drop the hosting package, and just pay to renew the domain name through them. It probably was more expensive, but I was glad to be rid of the hosting cost, and I was still allowed to use the webhost to point the url to my blogger site. It sounds more complicated than it was.

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mel p

Discussion Starter · #6 · Mar 25, 2015

Thank you for everyone's responses! I'm definitely still learning and researching so I appreciate all feedback!

ireaderreview said:
Wordpress charges $13 a year. You can point your domain to them. They have instructions.

You'd pay $9 per year for the domain and $13 per year to wordpress.com. So $22 instead of $40.

I have bought my domain from namesilo for $9, but I don't see any $13 per year option under wordpress. What am I missing?

UPDATE: I figured it out! I was able to link to my domain for the $13. Thanks!

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· #7 · Mar 27, 2015

OK, great to know you set it up.

Wordpress is the de-facto largest blogging platform right now (to the best of my knowledge) so you get the benefit that everyone is making lots of free and paid themes and plugins and stuff for it. It's also the easiest to get help on.

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