Free Websites, Web Hosting and Website Builders

Geocities may not be the best way to publish a website these days but those of us that used it to build basic sites in the 90’s will be sad to hear that Yahoo has shut it down.

So, why did Geocities Close?

After paying almost US$3 billion for Geocities in the late 1990’s, it’s surprising to hear that one of the original free web hosting and website creation services will be closed down.

Although it was the leader in the free websites space during Internet 1.0, it just never really kept up with the times, with the intense competition from new blogging platforms, social networks and services to create free websites.

Here’s a reply from Yahoo! Help:

We have enjoyed hosting web sites created by Yahoo! users all over the world, and we’re proud of the community you’ve built.

However, we have decided to focus on helping our customers explore and build relationships online in other ways. Beginning on October 26, 2009, you can no longer use GeoCities to maintain a free presence online — but we’re excited about the other services we have designed to help you connect with friends and family and share your activities and interests.

Consolidation Perhaps

To keep up with the other Web2.0 sites, Geocities needed a major revamp to give itself a fighting chance today.

The other options were to sell it or channel Geocities customers to other Yahoo products, many of which offer similar services.

Since this is no time to be selling an abandoned digital neighborhood with outdated real estate creation features, the logical step was probably to shut it down and help the other Yahoo Small Business product lines.

Build Relationships with Yahoo in Other Ways

For Geocities Plus customers, sites will still be accessible, but to update them, existing customers will have to upgrade to Yahoo! Web Hosting. The good thing is you can upgrade at no extra charge for five years.

Alternatively, Geocities users can use their Yahoo! Profile as their free website:

As a Yahoo! customer, you can now use your Yahoo! profile as a central point to manage your identity, activities, and interests across Yahoo! and make it easy to connect and share with the people who matter to you most.

You can get started anytime by adding your picture and other personal details, then invite friends and family to connect — even start your own blog. You’ll be able to follow the online activities of your connections across Yahoo!, such as a recently Buzzed article, a new profile status, or a rating on Yahoo! TV.

Other Free Website Services

If you’re one of the Geocities customers affected by this closure, take a look at all the other choices you have to create a free website.

Update: For existing Geocities Plus customers wishing to upgrade to Yahoo! Web Hosting, just visit geocities.yahoo.com and sign in. There will be a Special Upgrade page with instructions to guide you. More details here.

Tags: Create a Free Website, Free Hosting, Geocities, Small Business, Yahoo! profile, Yahoo! TV

This entry was posted on Thursday, February 18th, 2010 at 7:00 am and is filed under Free Websites, Web Hosting. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.