Google Firebase offers a generous free tier that allows you to host a simple website at no cost. Firebase Hosting is designed to make it easy to deploy and host web applications. Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to host a free website with Google Firebase:

1. Create a Google Firebase Project:
   • Go to the Firebase Console (https://console.firebase.google.com/).
   • Sign in with your Google account or create one if you don’t have it.
   • Click on the “Add Project” button to create a new Firebase project.
   • Follow the on-screen instructions to set up your project, including choosing a project name and enabling Google Analytics (optional).
2. Install the Firebase CLI:
   • To interact with Firebase from your computer, you’ll need to install the Firebase Command Line Interface (CLI). You can do this using npm (Node Package Manager) if you have Node.js installed. Open your terminal and run:
   • npm install -g firebase-tools
3. Login to Firebase CLI:
   • After installing the Firebase CLI, log in to your Firebase account by running:
   • firebase login
   • This command will open a web page where you’ll be prompted to log in with the Google account you used to create your Firebase project.
4. Initialize Firebase in Your Project Folder:
   • Create a folder for your website project or navigate to an existing project folder.
   • Run the following command to initialize Firebase in your project folder:
   • firebase init hosting
   • Follow the prompts to set up hosting. Make sure to select the Firebase project you created earlier, and specify the public directory as the folder containing your website files (e.g., “public” or “dist”).
5. Deploy Your Website:
   • Once Firebase Hosting is set up, you can deploy your website with a single command:
   • firebase deploy [ for a specific channel (ex. staging) use this command firebase hosting:channel:deploy staging]
   • Firebase will upload your website files to its hosting servers. After deployment, you’ll receive a URL where your website is hosted (e.g., https://your-project-id.firebaseapp.com).
6. Custom Domain (Optional):
   • If you have a custom domain you’d like to use, Firebase Hosting allows you to connect it. You can configure this in the Firebase Console under the Hosting section.
7. HTTPS and SSL:
   • Firebase Hosting provides free SSL certificates, so your website will be served over HTTPS by default.
8. Monitoring and Analytics:
   • Firebase offers various tools, including Google Analytics and Firebase Performance Monitoring, to monitor and optimize your website’s performance.
9. Scaling and Usage:
   • Be aware of Firebase’s free tier limitations. If your website grows beyond these limits, you may need to consider upgrading to a paid plan.

That’s it! Your website is now hosted on Firebase for free. You can continue to update and deploy new versions of your site as needed using the Firebase CLI.

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