Draw up a site map, collate the images and text, and start thinking about the sort of functions that you want the site to have such as mailing lists or message boards.

Now you're ready to start asking questions. Contact your shortlisted companies and supply them all with the same level of information. If they are proactive in finding out about you and your needs give them as much information as you feel comfortable with. A company who asks you to fill in the gaps and talks through the implications and possibilities of your future site will be more capable of fulfilling your requirements. They will be able to provide you with a higher level of customer service and usually be more cost effective than less communicative companies because they are more capable of tailoring their service to your needs.

This process should give you a clearer idea of what your site should and can do and help you to understand the pricing and timing structure of your web project. You should also end up with a refined shortlist of companies all capable of delivering the best site possible. From this point onwards its really down to personal preference and individual differences between the remaining companies, but you should be off to a good start with whoever you decide upon.

What should I include on my site and how should I present it?
The internet at its core is primarily a communication tool. Flashy animation effects, long introduction pages and slow downloading graphics are often counter productive, driving people away to competitor sites that are quicker and easier to access. The best sites look nice but don't rely on complicated effects to achieve it. They promote the information not the designer.

Information design is also a key issue, it is important to make a new site as easy to understand as possible. How quickly can a web site user find contact details? How will they be able to see what is on the site and find the information they are after quickly? This is a fundamental question, especially when translating traditional company literature into online content. Web site users will not be prepared to wade through pages of sales information to find out prices or contact the sales department. Services and products need to be clearly defined and easy to find as soon as people enter the site, and any additional functionality such as search boxes need to be clearly explained and deliver understandable results.

There are no hard and fast rules when deciding on content, but the most important consideration should be to communicate your message succinctly and clearly and always to focus your sites structure around your target audience's expectations.

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