

(A regular text message sent from a mobile phone gives you up to 160 characters). For example, you might only have 80 or 130 characters to work with, which isn’t a lot to get your message across. Free (or cheap) services can mean that SMS routing is of poor quality.Īlso, the character limit for text messages varies depending on which website you use. For one example, check out this thread on Digital Spy. There have been reports from users of certain SMS websites that the texts they send don’t actually get received. Therefore, it’s essential to check the SMS website’s privacy policy and see how the data you submit will be stored, processed and used. Unfortunately, some SMS websites are a bit lax on data privacy, so by using them, you could be putting your business at risk of breaching data protection regulations, like the GDPR (which covers the EU). As a business, however, you’ll want customers to know that their text messages are coming from you to build trust and encourage engagement.Īnother potentially huge data privacy issue to consider is whether your customer’s data will be adequately protected when uploading phone numbers to free SMS websites. This is where your IP address gets hidden. Sending SMS from websites can be done anonymously, depending on which site you choose. In addition, some will only send SMS within specific countries like the United States or Canada. Not all SMS websites support all mobile phone carrier networks, so you might not be able to reach all of your customers. And, some SMS websites don’t support bulk messaging at all, only allowing you to send one text at a time. More often than not, you’ll have to pay a fee if you want to send the same text to a group of contacts simultaneously. Many free SMS websites only allow you to send a single SMS for free. While there are advantages to using certain SMS websites (like sending texts for free), these sites often have limitations and may prove risky for your business. The risks and downsides of sending SMS from free websites Others allow integrations with your own website so you can encourage customers to text you. Some SMS websites enable you to create a phonebook to store your contacts and receive text message replies to an inbox.

Then you click a button to send your text. Typically, you’d visit one of these sites and fill in a short form with your subscribers’ phone number(s), your name as the sender, and your message. If you do a quick Google search, you’ll discover several websites that allow you to send SMS (many offer this service for free).
