Creating an appealing, functional, and effective Web site is much harder than it looks. It's not simply a matter of taking a company brochure or catalog, converting the text to HTML, and throwing in a few pictures (although many sites seem to have been created using this technique!).

A Web site is a 24-hour a day advertisement for your company and should be treated as such. You wouldn't turn over the design of your next direct mail piece, newspaper ad, or TV commercial to an amateur, and the same should hold true for your Web site. Actually, more care should be given to your Web site considering the potential number of online viewers is much greater than the audience for any other communication medium.

We've redesigned Web sites for large companies that initially thought they'd save time and money by hiring a college student to design their site. They wound up with a site that looked like it had been designed by a college student, did not incorporate effective online marketing tools to draw traffic to the site, and the college student graduated and moved on, leaving them without ongoing support.

A Web site should not be static; it should be dynamic, offering the possibility of interacting with others in a way that traditional media can't. As Web sites become more sophisticated, so does the need for experienced developers. Web designers also need to be familiar with the peculiarities of this new medium. Your Web site will be viewed by different people from all over the world using vastly different equipment. How do you design a page that needs to fit onto several different size monitor screens, set at a number of different resolutions, using a variety of different browser software?

The answer is... hiring a professional Web development firm like WebSolutions. We develop Web sites for a living. Our clients are pleased with the results because we strategically plan the elements of their sites depending on each individual customer's needs. We expertly handle everything from securing the site's domain name to creating graphics and programming the Web site. The possibilities are vast and ever changing. You need a professional firm to discuss the options and work with you to find the best solution for your site.

Designing an effective Web site is part art, part science and a little luck. You need an experienced professional to get the best results. And, to some extent, the old adage applies, "you get what you pay for."

WebSolutions is a professional Web site design, development, and hosting company based near Chicago. Their expertise in Web design has been highlighted in print and television and their custom developed solutions have been highly successful for businesses nationwide. Jon Kee handles all sales and marketing related activities for WebSolutions and can be reached by phone @ 630.375.6833 or email @ sales@wsol.com.