First lets go over what exactly you need, do you need a new website or do you need to make changes to an existing site? If you are looking to make your already existing site more visually appealing then you a more likely to need a web design company, but if you are looking for more functionality and provide you with more integration than it already has, you will need a web development firm.

Web development firms typically specialize in web programming and functionality, while web design firms will specialize in making it visually appealing and usable for your visitors. There is a fine line between graphic design firms and web design firms because they both use similar techniques. Typically graphic design firms graphics will not be optimized correctly for Internet, so if you choose a graphic design firm, make sure they have experience with graphics online. Understanding difference will help you to choose right firm that will help you accomplish you online goals.

Here are some key points that should help you when choosing a web design firm:

* Price: Price is often largest key factor when choosing a design firm; unfortunately it is also one of biggest misunderstood key factors. When selecting a design firm be weary when you receive a quote that is cheaper than what it should be. How do you know what is cheaper than it should be? Compare, compare, compare. The only way to ensure what quotes are reasonable and what ones aren't, is for you to have multiple other quotes for you to compare it with.