Really good webhost (& cheap)

Actually, I did check them out. They provide exactly the same things as my current webhost, just for more. I also have very experienced internet geeks in my family and in my work, so I understand the necessity to have a webhost in the same country that you live in. I was with a webhost that had their servers in the US and were continually crashing; only to be told that their workers would not be fixing it til US Eastern Standard Time. Many of the US companies also only provide online customer service during their timezone hours - and with phone costs too expensive, that can cause problems. Yes, setting up a website is an important topic for those of us wishing to promote yourselves; I think our issue was that your post was a bit too much like spam, and not helpful to those people who don't know about setting up their own sites. For instance; you could have provided some info on what the host offers, and what those services could be used for. How easy was it to set up your website with them, what kind of customer service do they offer, do you have to know anything about html to set up the site or did it come with an easybuilder? How about explaining what info artists should put on their site, what stuff they shouldn't - there are *heaps* of do's and don'ts (those who think putting a flashy animated banner should rethink, as should those who have a zillion pop-ups, use frames, or have purely unfathomable navigation) on the design of a site. As for the 'easy to get ripped off thing'... My first host was a rip off. They crashed every 6 weeks. What I didn't know was that it is more important to read about other people's experiences of a host than to hunt for the cheapest host. But many people don't know that, just like I didn't. My new host costs about $2 a month more, but the customer service is 100% better, the servers haven't crashed once (and they're in Australia), and I've been very happy with them since the change. Besides, there are plenty of 'Web 2.0' sites that now offer their services free of charge, that are also for people who don't know how to set up a site. These are invariably easier to use than many of the 'proper' web hosts out there. (Freewebs for example). One other thing that you forget is that more and more people are turning to blogs (like Blogger, Wordpress, and other similar blog sites) or sites with a blog option, in order to promote themselves. Blogs are infinitely easier to use, you can update it very easily with your thoughts, and anyone with a bit of quick learning can make it look personalised. Blogs offer another asset; it is infinitely easier to get your blog listed/promoted on searches and other indexing sites, than it is to learn about metatags and improving your chances of getting a high ranking in Google. I agree - let's start a discussion. Anyone out there want to know how to start your own website, and what you should/need to know? Let's start a FAQ on the topic. Sticky Apple Legs www.freewebs.com/stickyapplelegs Puppets in Melbourne www.thepromptcopy.com/pip