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	Overview Website design is an unregulated business. Anyone can set up shop and call themselves a web designer. That means that you are at risk for getting a website that is not professional, does not meet your expectations or long term needs. Often these sites are template sites or auto generated from software. Rather than choosing a web design firm based on sales pitch and price alone—we recommend selecting a web designer based on the quality of their work. Look for a firm that has built at least 20 professional sites. Ask if they built the whole website or just part of the site (graphics or technology). Check the websites to see if they look professional (compare with examples on our portfolio page »). Can you find information and complete tasks on the sites quickly and easily? Are the sites user-friendly and do they reflect what is unique about each business, their marketing message? Check the website designer’s company site to see if they list personnel and stand behind their work or if they are anonymous. Do they list credentials on their about page? Be wary of websites that use a lot of Flash—Flash is not being used as much because it takes too long to load and visitors don’t want to wait it is not user friendly it distracts visitors from reading the page text and finding information Flash should be used only sparingly and for a reason e.g. a product slideshow. John Alexander Cautions Search engine expert John Alexander cautions about individuals or companies that do not offer good value for the money. They may have excellent "marketing" skills in terms of writing a convincing pitch or have a great story to tell but they are mostly thinking about how much money they think they can make. read article » Team Approach with Diverse Skills Many small website development firms are founded by a programmer with technical skills, an advertiser with marketing skills, or a graphic artist with artistic skills. A well built website requires a team approach with technical, artistic, and marketing skills in addition to expertise in the organization of information, content, search engine strategy, user friendly layout and navigation, and required accessibility. Template or Custom Site? You will need to decide whether you want a template site which is typically less expensive or a custom site that incorporates your exact needs and provides more flexibility over the long term. There are many free or low cost templates on the web. Ask the firm if they use templates in their sites (it may not be easy to find out). A custom website has high quality custom graphics developed specifically for your organization with quality hand written code. A template site may be an option for you if the company passes along the lower cost of using a template to you your content consists of simple paragraphs that do not need layout or formatting you want a content management system CMS which enables you to update simple paragraph text you don’t plan on adding new kinds of content (videos etc) A custom built site is a better option if you want a flexible site that can be changed as your needs change over time or to incorporate new web technology you have complicated content that you want to have more control over 3 examples of different content layouts on one website content with product categories » complex content with descriptions, images, sketches, tables, and CAD files » content with product images » you have content that needs to be formatted for easy scanning—the way people read on the web you want to be able to change the layout of pages (moving images, text, videos, podcasts) you want to have the option of updating parts of the "look and feel" of your website you need quality To Update Your Own Site (CMS) or Not (HTML)? Blogging, Facebook, and Twitter have enabled users to update their own content (text and images) easily. Those websites actually have complex software, CMS content management systems, that work in the back end making everything look easy and seamless. It has taken them years to perfect their software. There are plenty of cheap CMS template websites that offer easy updates. However, typically it is difficult to make any changes other than very simple text changes and frequently they do not look professional (one person said a "coloring book" would be better than their template site). A poorly designed website can hurt your business and your credibility on the web. It is possible to have custom CMS on a custom website but it typically involves developing software and it can be a complex process. However, the benefit of custom software is that you get exactly what you want. One example of a small custom CMS is this news and events page » which looks deceptively simple. Typically, the CMS database pages behind a page like this requires: event categories, expiration dates, adding and deleting categories, moving categories up or down on the page, archived posts etc. Should you update your own content using a CMS or should you have an HTML editor update your site? It depends on your needs. A CMS site might be a good option if you need to update the content daily your content is just plain paragraphs of text and you don’t need it formatted the cost of the CMS site is not much more than the HTML site you have a large shopping cart or you need a powerful CMS and you want to use free Drupal or Joomla CMS An HTML website updated by an experienced content professional, a website editor, is your best option if you need a flexible website that changes as your organization changes you are a small to mid-size or large company and you need professional content that follows information architecture standards, is prioritized, and formatted for visitors to scan easily you want to be able to add new kinds of media as technology changes e.g. video, podcasts you have a limited budget and it is less expensive to pay for maintenance by the hour than to build a complex website One last note, Oprah recently redesigned her website and she is using HTML pages on her new site allowing her the most flexibility for future changes and content layout and updates. What is the Development Process? document website requirements develop art or graphics; revisions to artwork; sign off by client on artwork organize content develop intuitive navigation that follows content; sign off by client build first HTML page; test the page on several browsers, Chrome, Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari if project includes a database, build and test the database; build dynamic pages; sign off by client prioritize content; insert content, following web standards testing; review and sign off by client launch website update your content to keep your visitors coming back Avoid maintenance plans of $XXX/month. You will get more value by paying someone by the hour to update your site.