Free Trials and WordPress Hosting: Use Them!

Some WordPress webhosting companies use free trials as a way of convincing new customers to sign up. There are a few different types of these programs that are typically available. You’ll have to shop around to find out which ones you might be able to take advantage of at any given time.

The Classic Free Trial

These are trials that are offered as a way of showing the customer what the host has to offer. They usually go for a limited amount of time—a month is popular—and allow you to cancel without obligation if you don’t want the service. The trick to this is acting in time.

The way that hosts get people to stay is by getting them to sign up for services that are complicated to transfer. For instance, you might end up with a secure server and other advanced services from the host and not want to move all of it again. If you want to use one of these services just to give a host a try, load up a site that you can abandon to just try everything out before you transfer your real domain, site and other content to the trial host.

The Free Account

Free accounts are available from a huge number of different hosts. Sometimes, seeing whether or not the free version of an account impresses you is a good way to determine if you’d be interested in a paid account from the same provider. You’ll at least get to look at their administration interface. Again, it’s a good idea to use a site that you’re not attached to for trying out a free account in this way. You won’t end up creating extra work for yourself by transferring all your data to a host you end up not liking .

Free Add-Ons

Sometimes, a host you have will offer an additional service for a limited amount of time. Traffic tracking software and other administration features are commonly offered in this way. If you want to see if there’s something out there that you’d like better than what you’re currently using, this is a good type of an offer to take advantage of. Make sure you remember to cancel the service before you get billed for it if you don’t want it.

Free offerings from webhosts allow you to try out new features and new hosts. Even though you may have had your WordPress site at the same host for years, it’s a good idea to check out different hosts now and then to see if they offer something different and better than you’re used to. If they do, you may end up wanting to move over to that host on a permanent basis. If not, you’ve lost nothing for having given them a try!

Remember that some of these hosts will require a credit card number. Be sure to write down when you have to cancel the service if you don’t want to buy a month or sign up for a contract with the company.