Even the smallest business needs to have an online presence these days and creating one is far easier than it was a few years ago.

Off-the shelf packages complete with domain name and email facilities allow you to get online almost immediately although it does mean your site will look like many other ones created in the same way.

Alternatively you could ask a friend to do it for you but unless that person understands about usability, has excellent technical and creative skills and some precious time to spare for creating and updating the site, you could end up with something that will cause damage to your business profile.

"Getting a fantastic website should be an investment that brings you very significant returns," said Bernardo Carvalho, managing director at Bravo Media. "After all, your site is the face of your business on the internet and probably the first place people will look for information about what you are selling.

"So it is imperative that the visitor leaves with a positive impression, or even better: makes an enquiry or purchase there and then."

Bravo Media offers the following advice to small businesses looking to get online:

• Get your website designed by a professional. You wouldn't get your haircut done by the grocery storeowner that likes to do a bit of styling on his spare time

• Look at the web design company's own site. Is the site easy to use? Is the content and navigation well structured?

• Check where they are based, as it might be hard to get support by calling up your programmer in Hong Kong during business hours

• Ask which hosting company will be looking after your site, there is a lot of free stuff you can get and the support is generally far better if you use a well known provider

• Ask about their previous clients, and the links to their websites. Can you see any evidence the web design company actually has created those sites?

• Think about what you want on your website, only absolutely relevant material should be included. Try to keep the amount of text to a minimum; nobody wants to read pages of text on a computer screen. Keep it clear and simple

• Watch out for the colours you want to use; these should match your logo and brand, and should have good contrast with the text to make it easy to read. Also check if these are web-safe

• Get at least two quotes from separate web design agencies so you have an idea of what you are getting for you money

• Consider other technologies to go along with the site, such as email newsletters to stay in touch with your visitors

• Finally you could use the free Google Analytics, which will give you detailed information on who is visiting your site

For more information visit www.bravomedia.co.uk [1]