if you want to have good traffic and page rank, you must focus on backlinks building. if the free host uptime is good, it will effect nothink
I would just spend the money needed to start a paid site, that way you have more control over your project and it is more reliable. Nothing is worse then spending all this time developing your site with link and advertising and your free host is shut down for maintenance with out notifying you. Waste of time and energy. Good luck
Yes, Guppyman, you can. What I'd advise you to do is to first investigate the freehosts out there (easy enough if you Google with query "Listing of free webhosts" or whatever wording that you feel comfortable with). OR, search here @ DPF and find all kinds of hosting offers that originate from those in the community who're trying to get their hosting service off the ground (I'll recommend one of our members - AfterHim.com - as I just got a GREAT hosting package with him and there are other members that I established free hosting packages with that are also super). After that, do the same things that you'd have to do to promote your paid site; work the PageRank playing field - there are more than enough listings of PR going around DPF for free, so there's no excuse not to copy/paste a custom list for yourself based on the criteria of the links you're looking for. Anytime you have the chance, find free promo sources available all over the web, but I'd also suggest you investigate some low-cost advertisement options. Don't be afraid to investigate, text ad sites, traffic exchanges, and other safelist directory categorizations (and, PLEASE, don't let anybody tell you they don't work, because if they didn't there wouldn't be 100s of 1000s of people joined up and advertising like promo lemmings - my inbox is SORE from all the hammering - lol!). In fact, I personally know of 2 freehosts myself who go above and beyond what even PAID hosting provides, and lemme tell ya, I am HAPPY. If you need any pointing to resourcing I alluded to, email me from my profile and I'd be more than happy to point you in your needed direction to begin utilizing these resources.
Dukes, if you don't have anything constructive to add to the discussion to illuminate ways that the membership can find solutions to their various barriers, don't waste our time - think my sig's too long - DON'T VISIT! If I listened to every 'tard that opened their pieholes off-subject, I'd be drowning in stupidity. Don't like my attitude - don't post crap to a constructive conversation. . Any replies will be promptly ignored, go play with a meatslicer.....
Yes, i believe they can. With just a proper link building and targeted KW, they will rank with good SERP.