So you need a business website? - It costs money right? And it's hard to find a local reliable web designer who can work within your budget? So you gonna do yourself (or get nephew Jimmy to do it for peanuts, afterall he is a computer whizkid at only 13 years old) ? Maybe you've seen those cool flash web templates with music for a few dollars - that will do nicely !

But what about registering the right domain name; setting up email accounts for all the staff; getting the right type of web space to host the site; how you gonna add a web form; have you got any decent web design software installed ? - Oops! that willl cost mega bucks! Erm so maybe web templates aint so cheap after all ? And you'll need to find a few hours/days to do this - maybe you'd be better selling your product/service ?

But Web Templates are so cheap !

Well, a good web designer is undoubtedly worth the money if you have the budget. He/She will build you a customised web site with your business logo, snazzy imagery in your brand colours, nicely laid-out text and menus. They may add a little Flash animation to create impact and a online form that helps your prospective customers contact you from the website. SOUNDS GREAT ! But your website needs to do a lot more that look pretty.

The more professional and experienced web designer will go a few steps further, beyond the bells and whistles. He/She will make sure the code is validated to W3C standards, it is accessible to the disadvantaged, it works in all modern browsers such as Internet Explorer, FireFox, Mozilla and Safari. They will ensure the content is optimised with keywords for Google and Yahoo, etc. They test all the links work. They'll submit the site to the search engines that matter. They will install a 'hit counter' so you can check how your site visits are coming on. And best of all they will give you honest and practical advice on all things web, stuff they have learned over the years. Because they're experts.

DIY web templates are just the begining and if looks got you to the top of Google then I'd say GO FOR A WEB SITE TEMPLATE. But the reality is the web is too big and competitive for you not to get the web designer in.

If you are serious about your website being a major part of your online marketing mix then my (maybe biased) opinion is get a web designer - it'll pay for itself. Yep, there are thousands of web templates very cheap but the Google and Yahoo top 10 don't seem to list them - enough said!

By Harry Alfred Spirali