Frequently asked questions

Yes. The website design and build is free, and basic website hosting, SSL/HTTPS and a web address are all included at no charge — there's nothing you need to pay for to get your site live.

There isn't a hidden one. Free Website NI makes money from customers who voluntarily choose our optional Managed Website plan, plus separately quoted custom work — not from the free website itself. There's no requirement to take the paid plan, and we won't pretend otherwise.

You can, but it's usually a bigger, slower commitment: upfront design fees, a multi-week build timeline, and often a monthly retainer whether you need ongoing changes or not. We flip that around — your site launches free and fast, with no retainer tying you in from day one, so you only start paying if and when you actually want ongoing management. For a new or small NI business, that's less upfront risk and a faster route to actually being online.

No, it's completely optional. The free website — including hosting and SSL for as long as it's with us — doesn't require the Managed Website plan. It's there if you'd like us to make ongoing changes and actively manage things after launch. See Pricing for the full breakdown.

Yes — basic hosting is included free for as long as your website stays hosted with us, whether or not you take the Managed plan (subject to fair use and our Terms). Ongoing content changes, active monitoring, backups and priority support aren't included unless you take Managed. If you ever move your website away from us, your free hosting simply ends — no cancellation fee, no ongoing charge — and you can ask for your website files. Want to come back later? Just get in touch, though re-hosting isn't guaranteed — see our Terms for the full detail.

There's no set expiry date — basic hosting and SSL are included free for as long as your website remains hosted with us, subject to fair use and our Terms. If you decide to move your website away from us, your free hosting simply ends — no cancellation fee, no ongoing charge — and we'll give you a copy of your website files on request. If you'd like to come back later, just get in touch; re-hosting isn't guaranteed and depends on availability and our terms at the time. Prefer us to actively manage things instead of just host them? That's what our optional Managed Website plan is for.

Yes. SSL/HTTPS is included as part of the basic website hosting, at no extra charge.

Free gives you the website itself, plus basic hosting and SSL for as long as it's hosted with us — but it's a one-off build, not an ongoing service. Managed means Free Website NI actively looks after it for you long-term — monitoring, backups, maintenance and small content changes — for a simple monthly fee.

Tradespeople, cleaners, gardeners, beauty and wellness professionals, shops, consultants and other independent businesses across Northern Ireland — from brand-new businesses to established ones replacing an outdated website.

We don't set a fixed page count. Your website is structured around what your business reasonably needs — a small service business might need a handful of pages, while a business with several services or locations may need more. We'll talk this through with you.

No — your free website comes with a web address included at no charge, so there's nothing to buy just to get started. If you'd like your own custom domain instead (e.g. yourbusiness.co.uk), that's optional: if you already have one, it can normally be connected to your new website; if you don't, we can guide you through getting one. Either way, domain registration and renewal costs for a custom domain are paid by you, not Free Website NI. Note that a domain is separate from business email — see below.

If you already own the domain, it remains entirely yours. If we purchase a custom domain on your behalf, we'll manage it for you, but you remain its intended owner — you can ask us to transfer it to a domain account of your own at any time. The free web address included with your website is provided and managed by us as part of the free hosting.

Yes. It's your website. If you decide not to continue with our optional managed plan, you're free to move it elsewhere — and if you've added your own custom domain, that's yours to take with you too.

Not as part of the free website build. Ecommerce is a larger project and can be quoted separately once we understand what you need to sell online — see Custom Apps for the kind of thing we mean.

Not as part of the free website build, and it depends what you need. Where an established booking platform already does the job, we'd usually recommend integrating that with your website rather than building a replacement — it's normally faster, cheaper and more reliable. If your process genuinely needs something bespoke that off-the-shelf software doesn't cover, that's quoted separately as its own project. See Custom Apps & Business Software for more on how we approach this.

No — we don't provide, host or manage business email/mailboxes (e.g. hello@yourbusiness.co.uk). You're free to use any provider you like, such as Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace. If we're managing your domain/DNS, we can add the records your email provider gives you (MX, SPF, DKIM and similar) so it works — but that's not the same as ongoing email support; see the next question. And you don't need business email just to use your website: your contact form delivers enquiries to whatever email address you already have, Gmail or Outlook included.

No. The Managed Website plan covers your website and its DNS/domain records — it's not a general IT support, email hosting or Managed Service Provider (MSP) contract. Mailbox setup and administration, PCs/laptops, printers, Wi-Fi/networks, general Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace administration, ongoing Outlook troubleshooting, password resets, MFA, device configuration, email migrations and general software/remote support aren't included.

Not as an ongoing service — the free build covers the design, build and launch, not updates afterwards. Larger or one-off work can be quoted separately regardless of plan. Routine ongoing changes — text updates, opening hours, swapping a few images and similar — are part of the Managed Website plan as occasional small content updates, not unlimited changes. Prefer to make changes yourself instead? We can provide your website files.

No. The Managed Website plan includes basic on-page SEO and analytics, but no one can guarantee search rankings — and we won't claim otherwise.

Yes. We're based in Belfast and work with businesses throughout Northern Ireland — Derry~Londonderry, Lisburn, Newry, Armagh, Bangor and everywhere else. See the areas we cover for more.