If you decide to hire someone to design and build your business's website you will still need to know what content you want to include and have a general idea of how you would like the website to look and flow. Talk to several companies before hiring one. Prepare a list of questions or topics that you want to discuss. You should also have a general idea of what you're looking for in the person/business that you want to hire. For instance, do you want your web designer to be knowledgeable about the type of business you run or the industry that you're in? See the sidebar for more tips on choosing a website designer.

If an outside party develops your website you have two options when it comes time for your site to be updated. You can hire them to perform the updates or you can have them train you on how to perform updates. Consider the complexity of your website, your time, budget, and computer skills when making this decision.

You may decide to hire someone to initially design and build your website while you plan to develop your skills (or an employee's) to eventually take over the updating and maintenance. Again, local colleges and universities often provide training for developing and maintaining a website.