Hi I'm planning to make a directory and I'm planning to use a free domain name. Is it advisable to use one when you speak of SEO? And if it is OK, can you recommend where i could get it? Thanks
For under $50.00 you can have your own site and hosting for a year. If your directory becomes successful on free hosting I guarantee you will regret not getting your own site. I am assuming you wish to earn money, if so do it right.
Utilizing a free domain will not look as professional as utilizing a private domain. However, going back to your real question, yes, a free domain can do quite well in the SERPs. I know of one particular example where a free domain does well for a fairly competitive search term.
if you are looking to earn money quickly and are working on a short-term project, then the free domain may be good for you but if you are going for a long-term project, do buy a domain name. After all domains are quiet cheap these days
If you build your search engine rankings and page rank on your free url you will loose everything when/if you switch to paid domain. You will have to keep site at original host and if they don't have upgrade option you wouldn't have a chance to receive more visitors than your max transfer in mb. After all you can find lot's of free host that will host your site and domain name for free. I have this problem with my site http://www.eccentrix.com/members/chempics/ but lucky for me I can upgrade hosting and host another domain name besides free. From now on, I will alwaus buy domain names, you have my word on that.
free hosting is more for personal pages. if u want something serious you must go for paid domain and hosting. You dont gain that 'respect' with free domain and hosting.