You dont say what you want it for so lets assume you want to have a "web business on the cheap."
I have used freewebs. It's free, which is good, but this limits you to a few pics, some text paging blocks and a few simple add ons - plus ads selected by them, not you. No shopping carts, or RSS feeds or any of the now more common items on a pay-to-play website.
You will also rank lower on organic and Google search results with any of these free sites.
However, you can link to them if all you want is a domain name. Yahoo, too, can set you up for about $10-$20/month. You do all the work, but there are some decent features. A GoDaddy domain and a freewebs.com or yahoo hosted site, and you're up.
A new wrinkle on all this is the blog site. You wirte the copy in the form of your own ruminations and rambling. But, if you understand the use fo the advertorial as a marketing tool, then you can do much with these. There are many webeneurs that have stayed with the blog as their vehicle. Again, searches will rank your free site low, if at all, and they too are rather barren of features at the free level.
If you want just a simple site, to "express yourself" or maybe have a small doorway presence on the web, then freewebs.com, yahoo, or blog spots will work.
If you want to step up your game and have a real commercial grade site, you're gonna have to pony up the dough.
I want to use it for a small business....the only thing I really really like is the web store feature. I want to find a site that is decent that has a pre-built webstore option included. Go to my site and you'll see what Im using it for. That's all I'm really stuck on! I also want my own domain, and I'd prefer to not go above $100/yr. Freewebs is within my price range, has the web store, and the domain, but I don't want to go with a host that's not worth my money. I would just get the domain and leave it at that, but I need to add more items to the store and you can only add five with the free site.
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How much does it cost per year??? Does it have a shopping option, like a webstore? Can you link it to paypal??? Is there a limit on how many items you can put in the store??? I really wish the webhosting sites would make that stuff easier to find!!!!
I pay 12 a month for hosting. The domain name was free. The store is extra. (I don't know very much about the store I dont have one). You also get e-mail addresses. and a few extra stuff. I check out my site. I use site builder. I'm new to website makeing right now so its nto the best. O and i was looking there is a paypal button.