QUOTE(fashionnugget @ 16 Dec, 2008 - 07:38 AM)

Remember that people don't care about the design, they want the information that you have.
Well, here I don't agree with you. People care about the design, it's true that not in the same way as they care about the content, but they care. An easy-to-be-read website, with a professional design, or a design which is pleasant to the eye attracts the people and offers them the guarantee of a high-quality, organized and accessible content. Content is the king, but it matters how you expose it. This is my optinion.
It's not necessary to spend money on your own domain and hosting, but it's more civilized and more credible to visitors a domain like dresise.com thant dresise.webs.com.
And if you want traffic optimize/organize your content, read something about SEO (Search Engine Optimization) , and if you even want fast results without work start investing some money in advertising your site on Google AdWords or similar programs.