Provide a clean digital version of your logo -
A vector-based EPS version is the best option: It's transparent and easily resized or integrated into a layout. If you don't have an EPS, a tiff would be second best, followed by a JPEG or GIF. JPEGS and GIFS are known as a "lossy", which means it can be saved in fashion which eliminates clarity and detail and is usually harder for the designer to use. If you don't have a digital logo and can't get it from the original designer, request that the web designer recreate it and provide you with a CD containing the redrawn logo (you will usually have to pay for the time it takes to recreate your logo). Scanning your logo from a business card or a inexpensive print will not usually reproduce well.

TIP:
Make sure if you have your logo reproduced, there are no copyright restrictions added by your designer.

Look at your competitors' websites to get ideas for content and marketing strategies –
You never want to duplicate someone's site or content, but evaluating their website's pages, strategies, and features will help you organize your ideas. Provide your web designer with the websites you feel are effective, conform with your marketing strategy, but also translate the website's weaknesses to the designer as well.

Look for websites that meet your business's style and has an easy to follow navigation system –
Jot down the URL's (website addresses) with pros and cons for each site you feel meets the style that would appeal to your customers. Find site samples that are easy to follow, loads quick, and makes practical sense for your type of customer. If you web designer has experience in your field of business, a hybrid of ideas may evolve in your initial planning phase.

Tip:
Remember the goal of the website is to meet your client's needs and expectations.

Tip:
Your website needs to be aesthetically pleasing. A dull site can make your business look questionable.

Organize Content –
Gather content for your site and organize content into categories. For example, if you want a mission statement published on your website, organize all the information you want on the Mission Statement page and staple or paper clip it together. Your notes do not have to be written in perfect sentence structure if you are not proficient in copywriting. They can simply be notes such as "in business 14 years", "minority business", and "member of Organization A for five years". Your web design firm should have the ability to convert notes into simple paragraphs as a service. Note can also be business brochures or a business card with highlighted information, newspaper ads, handwritten notes, handbooks, etc.

Consider where you need to market –
Does your business serve the immediate area, a region, the entire country, or the whole world? Local areas are lot easier to get ranked with Google, Yahoo and MSN because its less competitive. Make sure to translate this information to your client. A good example would be that a local electrician has little need to market his website to anyone outside of his service area.

Jot down about 10-30 words that address your business's services and/or products –
This can be used to help the designer gear your content, and hidden tags appropriately. Try to be specific about your services. One reason you need to be more specific and less general with your keywords are that customers make a purchase when they make specific searches. For example, an online buyer starts researching a product using a generalized term such as "shoes". As the customer continues to read, they find out that "Quantum X" are the shoes are the ones they want. The customer then searches for "Quantum X blue shoes on sale". This is where the customer is ready to make a purchase and where it's important for your site to have a presence online. Providing a list such as "shoes", "quantum X", "Alabama", "wholesale", etc. will help your web designer research key phrases that will add your chances or converting sales. A qualified person can make fairly accurate recommendations as to which key phrases need to be targeted.

Be creative –
Don't be afraid to write down ideas you have for your site that are "outside the box". Offering suggestions to your web designer on ideas, etc. often stimulate creativity in the conversation between you and the designer. The designer can guide and tell you what's feasible, what is not, and how your ideas can be adjusted to fit a budget.

Understand why you want a website –
The internet is single most cost-effective, and arguably, the most effective means of advertising today. You need to be sure to put thought into how your website can be utilized. Maybe your main means of marketing comprises of mailers, so your website could be a place to refer your customers to for more information on each printed piece; perhaps you want customers to find you by searching online, or maybe your site will be a combination of both. It's important to critically think how you will incorporate your website into your current marketing strategy so that your website can work for you.

Know the characteristics of your customers –
Can you target the characteristics of your customers in general? If you market to an older market, then the size of the copy on your site should be a little larger. Consider their age, beliefs, background, region, etc. Write these attributes down and consider what you can have on your site to appeal to your customers.

Stay away from too much animation (Flash) –
Animation is a great way to add interest to your site, but its not search engine friendly, often loads slow, and be cumbersome and frustrating to customers who revisit your site. Music gets redundant as well introduction scenes. This type of media should be used selectively.

Consider your domain name carefully –
A domain name is what someone types to find you online, for example www.PurchaseDesign.com is our domain. If you can add your product or service into your domain name it can help with site ranking. I recommend jotting down about 10 suggestions for domain names for your web designer to research.