Now more than ever businesses need to get their message out in front of potential customers.

In these difficult times it is even more important to get your message across - and what better way than via a website that can highlight your goods and services 24 hrs a day. With more and more people using the internet as their first and only port of call when looking for suppliers, not promoting your company with a good website can be a bad mistake. Even existing customers are more likely to check your website for your number than look in a phone book.

Lets be clear about this - the purpose of your website is to sell your products or services. Whether you sell online, or give customers the information they need to choose your company, you want them to buy from you, not from your competitors.

When someone visits your website they have made a choice. The choice can involve not going into town, not picking up the phone, not browsing through a magazine. They have chosen your website because they think they can get their questions answered. Your website must provide the answers to those questions quickly and easily or they will choose to try elsewhere.

Like a supermarket or a fast food restaurant, the appeal of the Internet is speed and convenience. People using the Internet are impatient for results. They want to get in, find what they want, and get out again. If nothing happens in the first 10 seconds, they will hit the "stop" button. If they don't find anything they're looking for in the first 2 minutes, they'll go elsewhere.

At Depledge Design, we don't forget who the most important person is in designing your site - your customer.