To get the development of your web site off to a faster start, spend some time thinking about it before we meet. These are some of the questions we may ask you before we start our design.

* How will you use your website?

Will you want new customers to find your site in search engines? Or will you use the site to provide additional information to customers who see your ads, business cards, and brochures?

Will you use the site for customer transactions? Or will you provide information and have customers contact you in person or by phone or email?

Are you providing information to members of an organization? Is the content the most important factor?

What kind of information would be useful to your customers? Descriptions of products and services, specifications and warranty information, special events and sales, information about using your products, background information about your industy, maps and directions to stores?

With a web site, you can deliver large amounts of information for a relatively low cost. And on the Internet, full color images are as cheap as black and white.

Along with your web site, the Internet makes it easy to send email newsletters and stay in touch with customers.

* What will you name the site?

Try to think of several names that you might like for your site. We will verify that they are available and discuss other factors before you make your decision.

Do you have a well known name that your customers would expect to find on the site? Is there a natural way to shorten the name that would be easy to remember?

Are there words that customers would use in search engines? These are good words to include in your site name.

What suffixes do you want to use? Everyone is familiar with "dot-com" but other suffixes may be good also. "ORG" is the best choice for a non-profit group. "BIZz" is catchy, though less familiar than "COM."

Do you want to get control of more than one name? You may want to make sure that someone doesn't use the same name with a different suffix and confuse your customers. You may want to have similar site names point to your primary site so that customers who get close to the right name also find your site.

* What contact information do you want to use for your site registration and hosting company?

You will need names, addresses, phone numbers, and emails for a technical contact (which may be Panhandle Technology), the owner, and an administrator. The owner contact should be an easy choice. The administrator may be the person who will handle billing for the domain registration and hosting.

* What will be the content of your site?

Do you have brochures, ads, data sheets, mission statements, testimonials, maps or other materials that you use in your business? Are these available as computer files?

Do you want to provide information like links to vendors and manufacturers web sites, employee photos, product information, or industry background? Who will create that content? Will you want help with editing and format?

Is there information that will attract customers? Reference information generates repeat visits which improves your standing in the search engines.

* What are your esthetic requirements?

Do you have colors that you use in your place of business or advertising? Do you have color combinations that you just happen to like?

Do you have a logo that would give a direction to the design?

Do you have fonts that you use regularly that would be identified with your business?

What mood or image do you want to convey? Energetic and stylish, restful, sporty, stable and dependable?

Do you have web sites that you like that might help define your taste?

* What to ask yourself before design process starts?

Do your customers have special needs? Large fonts? Ease of navigation?

What is most important to the customer? How will they use the site?

If they use search engines to find your site, what words will they use in the search?