"Free website": what it can actually mean
The phrase "free website" promises a lot. In practice, what you can get without spending anything is a free website built from a template: a site built from a professional template, which you customise in an online editor and show through a preview link. That is what ServOrbit's “Build my website” service offers, described in detail in our launch article.
This website is a genuine starting point: it presents your activity, your offer and your contact details, and it can be shared in a single message. But it is not published at your own address, and it is not a place to leave your content sleeping for months. If you are hesitating between the two options, our comparison free website or full website: which to choose? helps you decide according to your project.
What your free website is, and what it is not
- It is a website created from a professional template, already laid out: you never start from a blank sheet.
- It is an online editor, in your browser, to change the texts, images, colours and sections.
- It is a preview link to send to your clients, your members or the people close to you to gather their opinion.
- It is not an address in your name: for that, you need a domain name and web hosting.
- It is not a storage space: a website whose editor is not opened for 30 days is deleted, with no backup.
Prepare your content before opening the editor
It is tempting to pick a template straight away and fill in the boxes as you go. Yet preparing your content in advance is what saves you the most time, and what makes your website look truly finished. A professional template brings a structure, colours and a layout; it does not know what you do, for whom, or how to reach you.
So gather your material in a separate document, on your computer or your phone. That document will serve you twice: to fill in your website without hesitating, and then as a safety copy, since your free website is not backed up. Think about your readers too: who will open the link, on which screen, and what should they be able to do after reading it — call you, visit you, write to you? The answer to that question decides what must appear at the top of the page.
The list to prepare
- A headline that says clearly what you do and for whom, for example "Made-to-measure joinery workshop for households and shops".
- A short introduction: your story, your approach, what sets you apart, in a few lines rather than several paragraphs.
- Your offers or services, each with a short title and one or two sentences of explanation.
- Sharp, recent photos: your premises, your work, your team, your products, ideally taken in daylight.
- Your full contact details: phone, email address, physical address if you receive the public, links to your social networks.
- Your opening hours and, if needed, your closing days or special periods.
Create your free website, step by step
Choose a template
Go to “Build my website” and browse the templates. Pick the one whose structure is closest to the content you prepared, rather than the one whose colours you like: colours can be changed, the structure guides everything else. Then click « Choose this template ».
Sign in and confirm your email
Sign in to your ServOrbit account, or create one. A confirmed email address is required: if you have not already done so, confirm it from the email you received. An account can hold up to three active websites, which lets you compare two templates or run two projects.
Customise texts, images, colours and sections
In the online editor, replace the template's texts with those from your document, change the images, adjust the colours to your identity, add the sections you are missing and remove the ones you do not need. A short, complete website is worth more than a long, half-filled one.
30 days without opening the editor, and no backup
A free website is deleted after 30 days without the editor being opened. Every time you open it, the deadline is pushed back: a website you work on, even now and then, stays in place. On the other hand, a website forgotten in a corner ends up disappearing.
A deleted website is gone for good: no backup is kept. That is the trade-off of a free service designed for getting started, not for archiving. This rule is nothing to worry about if you know it from the outset: it simply encourages you to move your website forward, then to publish it on your own address once it has proved its worth.
Your content stays with you
Keep the document you prepared before starting, update it after every significant change, and store your original photos in a dedicated folder. If a website were ever deleted, you would only lose a layout, never your work. For a website that matters, put a monthly reminder in your calendar to open the editor.
The editor's language, and your clients' language
The online editor is offered in French, English and Spanish. For other languages, including Arabic, it is displayed in English. This concerns the interface you work in — the menus, the buttons — and not your content: the texts on your website are the ones you write yourself.
Many businesses address clients who read French, Arabic, or both. Ask yourself the question before writing: in which language do your clients look for you, in which do they write to you? Choose a main language, stick to it across the whole website and proofread carefully. For concrete content examples by trade, see our guides for a restaurant or a café and for an artisan, a consultant or a coach.
Moving to your own address: .ma or .com?
The preview link is enough to show your website and get it approved. For a lasting presence — on a business card, a shop window, an invoice — you need an address in your name, in other words a domain name and web hosting.
First decision: the extension. The .ma is the Moroccan extension; the .com is a generic extension. The right choice depends mainly on your audience: clients mostly in Morocco, or a wider public. Our article .ma or .com domain: which one to choose? details the criteria. As for budget, a .ma is billed from 118 DH/year, a .com from 141 DH/year, and web hosting starts at 199 DH/year (indicative prices, excluding promotions and renewal terms). You can compare extensions on the domain names page and plans on the web hosting page.
Publish your website on your domain
Order a domain and hosting
Choose your domain name and a web hosting plan, then wait until the hosting is active.
Paste it into your site's editor
Open the editor of your domain's site and paste the share code into it: your website is copied there.
Publish
Go back to your client area and start the publication. Your website is online at your address, and the free version is then deleted: it has done its job. The whole move is explained in from your free website to your own domain.
Open your website on a phone as much as on a computer, check every number and every email address, make sure your opening hours are up to date and that no sample text or image from the template is left behind. Have it read by someone who does not know your business: if they understand at a glance what you do and how to reach you, your website is ready.
