If exposing your business to an unlimited number of potential customers interests you, you need a web site. It's your 24-hour virtual salesperson and your competition probably has a site. Whether you use your site for sales or simply a tool you can point customers to for credibility and information, a web site can increase your client base.

Not typically. With the technology of email, phone and the Internet, sites can be successfully created and launched, even when the designer and client are thousands of miles apart.

Step One: Domain Name (URL) Registration -- This is the address people will use to access your Web site (www.yourcompany.com). Once you have determined that the URL you wish to use is available, the cost to register a name is anywhere from $8.00 to $35.00 per year. A domain name needs to be renewed every year.

Step Two: Design of the Web Site -- This is where the look, feel, and content of the Web site are determined and created.

Step Three: Hosting Your Web Site on a Web Server -- This is basically where you rent space on a computer that is always connected to the Internet. Price will vary, depending on the amount of disk space you will have and the connection to the Internet.

Step Four: Marketing Your Web Site -- You should be thinking about the marketing of your Web site as it is being designed. The content of the site needs to reflex the search terms if you want your site to appear on search engines.

Site maintenance provides regular minor changes to your web site after the initial launch. This includes the addition of new pages or major changes, such as an entire page revision. Site maintenance is billed $25 hourly, If your web site will require at least one change a month, a maintenance agreement is more cost efficient.