Getting a Web site designed professionally can be expensive. If you want to create a basic presence on the Web without any bells and whistles, free Web page design can be a cost saving option. Free Web page design is the facility provided by many Web hosting providers and other sites that allow their customers to download and use free Web design templates to create a Web page or a Web site.

Some sites provide standard designs and all a customer has to do is to enter the text content and upload images. An example of such a site is GeoCities.com. Some sites also offer free tutorials that teach the various steps involved in the design process.

Web sites like APlusTemplates.com, TemplateMonster.com, Jimworld.com and CabanovaXL site builder offer free Webpage templates, which can be downloaded and used. Homestead.com is a Web site that allows the user to choose from a gallery of Web templates and other features to design the entire Web site. It allows the user to choose a template, guides them in pasting the contents and including images in the design. This makes it possible for even a novice to create a Web page with very little effort.

Creating a free Web site has its own disadvantages. Free Web sites are provided limited Web hosting space, may have pop-up advertisements or banner advertisements on the Web pages, long Web addresses and poor help options. Another risk is the termination of services by a free Web site hosting provider. Since you do not pay them anything they are under no obligation to continue the services and may shut down if they find the business to be financially unviable. Visitor can easily identify free Web sites and using these to promote professional service is not such a great idea because they do little to promote the credibility of a business.