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Hosting Services for Zero-Investment User Testing and Detailed Site Statistics

Started by nonstickbasics, Aug 09, 2023, 12:02 AM

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nonstickbasicsTopic starter

Hello! I have been dedicating over a month to my project, and it is reaching its final stages. As evident from the information provided, I am working on this project individually. I am interested in conducting user testing at zero cost, by simply launching it and observing their reactions.

I am wondering which hosting service would allow me to launch my project without any expenses and provide detailed site statistics such as visitor count, page visits, direct and social media referrals, and other additional features. I hope there are still hosting services that offer such capabilities.
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fattyhamster

It's great to hear that your project is nearing its final stages. There are several hosting services that offer free plans with basic site statistics and features. Here are a few options you can consider:

1. GitHub Pages: It allows you to host static websites for free and provides basic traffic analytics through GitHub's built-in features.

2. Netlify: It offers free hosting for static websites with detailed site analytics, including visitor count, page visits, and referral sources.

3. InfinityFree: This hosting service provides free hosting with limited resources but includes basic site statistics like visitor count and bandwidth usage.

4. 000webhost: It offers free hosting with basic site statistics and features such as visitor count, disk space usage, and bandwidth usage.

more hosting services that offer free plans with some level of site statistics and additional features:

1. Heroku: It provides a free tier for hosting web applications and offers basic analytics features to track your site's performance.

2. Firebase Hosting: It offers free hosting for static websites and provides basic analytics through Firebase Analytics, including user engagement metrics and referral sources.

3. Vercel: Formerly known as Zeit, Vercel offers free hosting for static websites and provides analytics features to track visitor count, page visits, and more.

4. Google Cloud Platform (GCP): GCP offers an "Always Free" tier that includes hosting services like Google Cloud Storage or Google App Engine, which can be used for hosting static sites. While detailed analytics may not be included in the free tier, you can integrate Google Analytics for advanced tracking.
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juigich

Initially, I had the intention of launching a website on hosting platforms such as Heroku, but then I made the decision to invest some time and understand the inner workings myself. It took me four days to configure the server according to my requirements. If you are looking for a recommendation, I suggest using DigitalOcean. They offer coupons that allow you to use their services for free for one to two months. Their platform is user-friendly and efficient, and I appreciate their minimalist approach and fast performance.

Speaking of Heroku, when I began adding additional features like databases and various components, the cost started to rise. However, setting these things up on your own should not be too challenging. If you are working with django + uwsgi + nginx + postgresql + redis, I can share my best practices with you. I have developed a script that can set up both the development server and production environment smoothly. Additionally, I conduct local testing by deploying the server in Vagrant.
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Ecstacy

Typically, startups face a common problem: it's not so much about choosing the right hosting, but rather whether there is an audience for their project. There are several key considerations in this regard:
- How can people become aware of your project?
- Is there a demand for your project within this audience?
- How large is the potential audience?
To answer these questions, startups often drive traffic to their website and analyze the conversion funnel to determine if their efforts are worthwhile. For instance, if you write a post with a link to your site and it reaches 1000 people, resulting in 100 visits and 10 targeted actions (such as subscriptions), then it suggests that continuing your work is sensible.

However, if only 2 people perform the desired action, it indicates either a mismatched audience or a lack of interest in the project. At this stage, hosting services become mere technical details. While details matter in a startup, without an audience, no startup can survive. It's possible for a project to be flawlessly executed after its launch, but without proper audience identification and product promotion, it may go unnoticed and fail to attract visits.
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