Yes — you can publish a functioning site without paying hosting or development fees. But "free" often means trade-offs: subdomains (yourname.platform.com), limited SEO control, ads, restricted templates and slow support. This guide helps you pick the right free option, avoid common traps, and prepare a painless upgrade path when your business needs more.
If you run a trade or service business (plumber, electrician, beauty therapist, etc.), a free site can work short-term — but local SEO, professional branding and reliable performance often require a managed solution. Congero offers a flat $49/month managed website with domain, hosting, SEO and unlimited updates — a predictable option when you're ready to scale.
These platforms are the best starting points in 2025. Pick based on your technical comfort and long-term plans.
Free static site hosting with custom domain support and fast global delivery. Best for developers or those willing to learn static site generators (Jekyll, Hugo).
Quick blogging or small site setup with a free subdomain. Easy to use, large ecosystem — but many features locked behind paid plans.
Fast, drag-and-drop site builder tied to your Google account. Great for simple internal pages, events or basic portfolios.
Use a static site generator and deploy to free CDN (Netlify / Vercel free tiers). Fast and free for many projects, with custom domain support.
Create single-page landing pages quickly. Carrd has a generous free tier for simple, attractive one-pagers.
Design-first builder with free staging subdomain. Excellent for design control but paid plans required to publish custom domain and avoid Webflow branding.
Follow these practical steps to publish a simple, discoverable website without paying hosting fees.
Pick a free platform that matches your skill level: Google Sites or Carrd for no-fuss pages; WordPress.com for content and blogging; GitHub Pages or Netlify for faster, code-driven sites with a custom domain option.
Free plans usually give a platform subdomain (yourname.platform.com). If you want a professional domain (yourbusiness.com), you can often buy one separately and connect it to platforms that allow custom domains (GitHub Pages, Netlify, some paid tiers).
Map essential pages: Home, Services (or What I Do), About, Contact, and a simple FAQ. Keep headlines clear and write short, benefit-driven paragraphs. Use a consistent call-to-action on each page (call, WhatsApp or booking link).
Choose 3–6 strong images of your work or team. If you don’t have original photos, use free stock images that look authentic. Compress images for fast loading and add descriptive alt text for SEO and accessibility.
Write one clear H1 per page, include your primary keyword and location (e.g., "Emergency Plumber in Melbourne") in the title tag and H1, and add a short meta description (≈150 characters). Use structured headings and include your NAP (name, address, phone) on the contact page.
Publish your site, connect analytics (Google Analytics / GA4) and Search Console, then verify ownership. Submit a sitemap.xml if your platform supports it to speed up indexing.
Add clear contact options — call button, WhatsApp link, or a simple booking link. Share your site on social media and add your website URL to directories and your Google Business Profile for local visibility.
Track which pages attract visitors and where they come from. Improve content, add customer reviews, and replace generic images with real photos as you get them.
If the time sink, technical maintenance or SEO limitations are costing you leads, a managed site ($49/month) can save hours and get better results fast.
Search engines reward helpful content and local relevance. These practices are doable on most free platforms.
Include your service area and city names naturally in pages and meta titles.
Claim and optimise your Google Business Profile — it drives local searches much more than a free website alone.
Compress images, enable lazy-loading where possible, and use lightweight themes or templates.
Fast pages improve ranking and conversion rates.
Prioritise useful content: clear service pages, FAQs, and before/after photos. Write for customers first, search engines second.
Aim for 500–1,000 words on main service pages with helpful subheadings.
Add LocalBusiness or Service schema when possible to improve rich result eligibility.
Many free platforms don't expose schema; a managed site can add it automatically.
List NAP consistently, show reviews, and add a concise privacy policy — these increase click-through and trust.
Get listed in local directories, and ask satisfied customers to leave reviews. External citations help local rankings.
Congero builds SEO-optimised websites instantly, includes domain & hosting, and handles local SEO and unlimited updates for $49/month. Perfect if you’d rather focus on customers than CMS settings.
TRY THE 60-SECOND DEMOIf you outgrow a free site, migrating is usually straightforward if you plan ahead.
Free platforms sometimes limit SEO features or produce slow pages. Fix by improving content, compressing images, and ensuring your Google Business Profile is fully optimised.
If local search is vital, consider a managed site that adds schema, meta optimisation and faster hosting automatically.
Booking systems or payments often require paid plans or third-party services. Exporting content and moving to a managed platform is usually the fastest solution.
Some free platforms support custom domains (GitHub Pages, Netlify), others require a paid plan (WordPress.com, Webflow). Check platform docs before buying a domain, or choose a host that allows easy domain connection.
No. Google evaluates content quality, relevance and user experience — not whether the site is free. Focus on helpful, unique content, site speed and proper metadata.
Costs vary: buying a domain (≈ $10–25/year), hosting (free → $5–$20/month for basic), or managed services (Congero provides a full managed website for $49/month including domain, hosting, SEO and unlimited updates).
Most platforms let you export content in some form. Static sites are easiest to export. If portability is important, use a platform that allows exports or maintain content copies offline.
A local electrician launched a Google Sites page to test demand. After 3 months they had steady leads but poor local ranking and no online booking. Migrating to a managed site improved page speed, added local schema and gave them a simple way to accept bookings — enquiries doubled within 6 weeks.
When you need reliable performance, local SEO and ongoing updates without the hassle, a predictable managed service can be the fastest growth lever.
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