The Free Website Project

If you pay for only one thing on for website, make it a good top-level domain name. People can’t always tell if you’re using free hosting, or even a free template, but they have a way of forgetting those long URLs that come with your hosting plan. One way to fix this is to repeat your domain name over and over, until it becomes part of your brand (freewebsiteproject.com, freewebsiteproject.com, freewebsiteproject.com), yet another is to just go out and pay the $9.95 for a good domain name. If the first way won’t work for your domain, but you don’t have money for the second, there are a few rare services that offer real domains for free. Free TLD services are hard to find, but I’ve compiled a little list here. Before you do anything more, though, read these three caveats carefully:

Caveats:
1. Think you’ve got a good idea for a domain? WAIT! Don’t type it into the address bar. Instead, use a reputable whois lookup service. ISPs sell information about guessed domains to other companies, so the price could magically shoot up in just a few minutes. Be equally careful of posting a domain name you want in a public forum, or using a little-known whois lookup service.

2. Guard your personal information, it’s not worth the $20 dollars you might save. Be careful about using your real phone number, and never give out your social security number. In the immortal words of Dwight K. Schrute, identity theft is not a joke!

3. Be sure you know what your rights to your domain are once you’ve got it. Do you own it? Can you renew it yourself once you have the money? Can the TLD service steal the name once it becomes popular and hold it for ransom? These things actually do happen, so be aware!

Forum Supported Services:

• DNTemple - A forum that requires you to accumulate points called DNbucks which can then be traded in for domain registration and hosting. Don’t waste your time on hosting though, there are better options I’ve reviewed on this blog.
• DDBoard - Like DNTemple, but has more sections and thus more opportunities to earn ddPoints. It appears as though they are earned just for posting, while on DNTemple there are also more opportunities to complete offers.

Ad Supported Services:

• Domain-4Free - Free top-level domain service that is supported by a top-banner ad. They offer almost no information, but do assure you that there is no renewal price, only the forced advertising.
• Fanku.net - A TLD redirect service supported by a forced ad-banner on the bottom of each page. Appears to offer good support and a thorough, if short, FAQ.

Offer Supported Services:

• FreeDomainSite - This program looks somewhat iffy, but seems to require you to sign up for only one free trial offer. If you’ve got a credit card and are feeling adventurous… on second thought, better be careful with this one!
• Domain Lagoon - Looks more reliable than that last one. You complete free trial offers, and then they actually register the domain in your name for one year. If you’ve played your cards right, you should be able to use ad revenue to pay for the next few years!
• Another Free - Pretty much the same, but not necessarily as reputable as Domain Lagoon. All the offers are free, and it is estimated that it takes less than 20 minutest to complete the program

If you know of any others, or have experience with one of these, be sure to leave a comment on this page. Your help is greatly appreciated!