Before you begin either designing the site or having it designed think about the purpose of the site. What do you want it to accomplish? Is it strictly an information piece (an electronic brochure), is it to sell something, is it a tool to build your database, etc.

Additionally, how will you promote your site. The challenge many people face is they get a website with no plan of promoting it or driving traffic to their site. That is similar to a brick and mortar business that opens its doors, does no marketing and then wonders why no one stops in.

You also want to think about what you will to capture people's attention once they are at your site. Some people go way overboard on this putting far too many bells and whistles up and slowing the loading time of your site.

Kathleen