To build your own website, here's what you need:

* A domain name
* Web hosting
* Email
* Your website completed
* Blogging facility and RSS feeds
* Image hosting and video support
* Secure contact form (to avoid spam)
* Title, description, and keyword META control (to customise for SEO)

For a one-time set-up fee of $299.95 with flare9.com's Website Builder, you get all of the above and more. Domain name hosting is extra at $24 for 2 years. That's pretty alright considering I pay $13.50 a year for mine. They offer 3000MB worth of hosting and a maximum transfer of 1500MB with a monthly maintenance of $39.95.

It is a deal if you have a medium to large business website you need to set up with constant uptime, a need for support services, and medium to high traffic. What I like are the professional templates that you can use. It gives you a sense of control over how your site looks without the need for a designer (which would, really cost more than the $300 you are paying).

However, if you are an individual or a small business (on your own or with a couple of partners where you don't expect a whole lot of traffic and need for constant uptime), you can consider saving the cost for now and set up something on a free platform and ask techies like myself for help.

TechBot's post on building your own website was kindly sponsored by flare9.com and SponsoredReviews.com.

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