How do I deploy my website for free?
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You've just finished creating your website, and now you're ready to share it with the world. But before you do, there are some things you need to know.
As anyone in the web design business knows,
the hardest part about building a website isn't the coding — it's the deployment!
You have to make sure that there is no broken code, that all of your links work correctly, and most importantly, you have to find a free hosting account!
In this blog, I'll show you how to deploy your website for free. You will learn how to publish your website on various platforms in a few simple steps from the comfort of your computer. There are many benefits to deploying your website yourself, one of which is cost savings. This method is not only free but provides you with full control over how and where your website is hosted.
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Hosting it on your own server.
First, let's get some things straight: there are two ways to publish your website: by hosting it on your own server and by using a platform like WordPress or Blogger.
Hosting means that you have an actual physical server (which can be expensive), while platforms like WordPress or Blogger require that you pay for their services (which can also be expensive).
So, which way should you go?
If you're looking for something simple, hosting may be best for you.
Hosting will give you more control over how your site looks and feels, but it also means that you'll need to do all of the work yourself when it comes to content management systems (CMSs), security threats, etc.
Hosted sites can also be slower than platforms because they tend not to offer as much bandwidth and processing power for their users—if this is important to you then hosted may not be the right option.
Host your website on GitHub or Netlify.
All you need to do is create a repository on GitHub. Create a branch on GitHub called GH pages, put all your code on that branch, and follow the instructions.
First, create a repository on GitHub to store your website files. To do this, sign in to your GitHub account and click on the "+" icon in the top right corner. Select "New repository" from the dropdown menu.
Give your repository a name and click "Create repository." This will create a new repository on your GitHub account where you can store your website files.
Next, create a branch on your repository called "GH pages." To do this, click on the "Branch: master" dropdown at the top of your repository page, type "gh-pages" into the text field, and click "Create branch: gh-pages." This will create a new branch on your repository specifically for hosting your website.
Push your website files to the GH pages branch. You can do this by uploading your files to the repository using the "Upload files" button, or by using a Git client like Git Bash or GitHub Desktop to commit and push your files to the repository.
Once your website files are on the GH pages branch, you can access your website by going to github.io and entering your username followed by the name of your repository. For example, if your username is "johnsmith" and your repository is called "my
Upload your media on GitHub. I would suggest using a CDN-like content delivery network, essentially, where you can upload your videos and images and then serve those media files through a CDN server instead of hosting it yourself. That has many benefits using CDN.
Netlify is one of my favorite tools. You can create an account for yourself, and there is an option to drop your website files. If you create an index relay stream and drop that integral HTML on Netlify in that toolbox, it will host it.
It will also give you an online URL. So basically, you can share that URL with your friends and family, and they can see what you've written on that index HTML, and that's it. Once you have your index, you need to build on top of that.
Using a web-based IDE such as CodePen
Many online apps allow you to add HTML, CSS, and JavaScript and then show the finished product as a website — all in the same browser tab. These apps simulate a website building environment.
In general, these tools are simple, excellent for learning, wonderful for sharing code (for instance, if you want to share a technique with or request debugging assistance from coworkers in a separate office), and free (for basic features).
Your rendered page is hosted there at a special web address. However, these apps typically don't offer hosting space for assets, and the functionalities are limited (like images).
Try playing with some of these examples to find out which one works best for you:
- JSFiddle
- Glitch
- JS Bin
- CodePen
To sum it up
As a whole, there are many hosting providers who either offer free hosting (or a very low cost) to encourage new users to try out their platform. The best thing to do is use an independent review service to find the cheapest and best options for your organization.
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