My husband and I are starting a small business. We have a domain name and are looking for a good host. I know a little about web design and would like to have the flexability to insert my own backgrounds, pics, etc. We may need to be able to have an option in the future for our customers to pay invoices online via credit card, etc. We are looking for something affordable and preferabley with a free trial. Any suggestions would be great. Thank you!

Try http://www.terapad.com - can't get much more bargain than free! For small businesses its quite good, you have to pay $5 a month to remove the ads, but you get all the features of a business website, CMS, Web Pages, Shop, Forums, News, and easy integration with Google Analytics if you want to track your success. You can fully customise your layout as well, because Terapad allows you full access to your CSS. Worth a try .... Good luck :-)

there are hundreds of sits out there. i would recommend www.godaddy.com. I have used them for years and am very pleased with their service.

You can also look at www1and1.com

Why don't you check out http://www.godaddy.com web hosting. Also you can use PayPal to make your credit card sales. My wife does that and it's cheaper than setting up a merchants accout to accept cards. PayPal accepts 4 different cards and your customers do not have to have a PayPal account to buy from you.