You could just trust us to walk you through the process. Or trust some other design firm. More likely you will talk to several firms, get referrals from people you trust, compare different prices and features. You may decide to learn as much as you can on your own, doing whatever you can in-house, leaving the web design firm out until the final stage.

While we’d be perfectly happy with the first option, the recommendation we make to people we like is that you do some research on your own first. Go to our get started page and you will find links to some general information links. Ask around. Try your local bookstore. If you know your way around discussion boards, you can ask the question there.

Hopefully you will come up with the right questions; questions to ask yourself, and questions to ask a potential web design firm.

Examples of questions to ask yourself include:

• What purpose or purposes will my website serve? Is it a marketing tool? Information resource? Does it serve my clients, potential customers, employees, or others? Do I want it to impress people visually or just be in the background while they get information?
• Who will have a say in the final look and operation of the website? How will those decisions be made? At what stage of development will these decision makers become involved?
• Who is paying for it, and what is the budget? Will it come out of advertising or marketing?
• Who will be providing the content and how often will it be updated? Is there a news section? Events? Is the information permanent or does it date quickly?
• How much expertise do we have in-house? Do we have people who cane work with html, or should we have some other means for making changes?

Your research will probably reveal many other questions and checklists you can use to prepare yourself. The more you have prepared in advance, the easier the process will be when you start identifying a firm to do the job.

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