A small business is often run on a shoestring budget, with one person multi-tasking and wearing many hats. As such everything you do needs to be effective.

A small business is often run on a shoestring budget, with one person multi-tasking and wearing many hats. As such everything you do needs to be effective.

In this situation it is vital that you are as effective as possible. Same goes for your website. This cannot just be some fancy branding exercise. It needs to produce measurable results

* The principal job of your business web site is to get you more business *

You need a web site that will do this, or its just not worth the bother

So going to a web design company that deals with multi-million dollar corporations might not get you what you want.

A better solution is to go to a web designer who runs their own, small business. They are more likely to understand your needs and limits

When you are getting your web site designed make sure it covers these 5 vital areas

1. Keep it within an affordable budget. watch out for and try to avoid monthly charges and fees. There is nothing worse than getting hit with hidden expenses

2.It must look professional. It doesn't need to be an award winning work of art though, so skip the expensive graphic designer stuff for now

3. It should include everything you need to get online. This means things such as hosting and domain name. This not only saves you time it will probably save you money

4. Know how much it will all cost before signing anything. It's interesting to note how many web design companies don't even put a price for their services on their own websites.

5. You website should be well optimized for the various search engines. Specifically you want page one listings in Google, Bing and Yahoo.

And the last thing...

6. If you don't understand ask questions. You might feel silly doing so but any web designer worth dealing with will be able to explain it all in lay terms.

And really finally this time if you want to read some more about what makes for a successful website I'd recommend the eBook mentioned in the resources box below. It's free. Plus I know the author well (it's me). It's called Web Designer Secrets

thanks

Richard Law

Web design Australia

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