Do I need a website?You are the best person to know about your business and your business objectives. It is just matter of asking yourself few simple questions to work out if a website can help your business:

• Are you looking to expand your business?

• More and more people in UK are now going to internet to look for products and services they need, do you wish to approach all those customers looking for your products/services online?

• Do you think it will be a good idea to provide your customers a facility to find details about your company, products/services, contact details, business hours etc available 24×7 and at their convenience?

If you answer YES to any of the above then probably your business needs a website.

What type of website is right for me?There are so many different website options and it could be hard to decide which is the right solution for you. The table below tries to put various options in a simple matrix to help choosing the right one for you.

How to go for a website?Like any project some initial ground work and research is important to get the best solution for the need.

• First of all decide your business objectives, what you want to achieve by having a website.

• Think about what all features/facility you would need in your website.

• Look at the websites of your competitors to find what you like and what not. Also shortlist some other websites you like and why.

• Think about how much you want to spend on the website, be realistic, as cheapest solution could be tempting but might not be right for your requirements and most expensive ones could come with loads of fancy features which you might not ever need.

• Explore few options available in market before you decide.

How to decide on a web design company?There are so many web design company in the market, finding the right one who could provide the right solution, good customer service and value for money is not easy. The list of parameters below could help you make the right decision:

• Are they willing to meet in person and understand your requirements.

• Do they charge for initial or further consultations.

• After consultation do you feel informed and educated or bombarded with technical jargons.

• Were they open to listen and understand your business requirements and build a solution to meet your specific needs.

• If they try to fit you in a template or one of their existing solution then make sure you are getting what you need and not what they have to sell.

• Ask who will own the website, you or the web design company.

• Are you allowed to take your website away from them and host and maintain wherever you want.

• If you are tied to stick with them, work out the ongoing support and hosting charges. Initial setup cost might be cheap and lucrative but over the years you might end up paying a large amount of money.

• Do they show their work and willing to provide references.

• How good is the proposal. Does is include details like specifications of what you will get, complete project life cycle, deliverable, after sale support, technology used, time and cost estimation.

• Do they give consideration to user friendly and Search Engine friendly design.

• Are they open about all the costs involved.

• Can they deliver on time, have they enough resources and skills to deliver.

• What about after sales support or when things go wrong. Is there a free support period after delivery to ensure solution is good and stable.

• Are they approachable during normal working hours.

Hopefully information above will help you making the right decision while considering a website for your business.