1) Choosing web designer without the technical expertise to do what you want

We've just spoken to someone who's spent more than 6 months trying to get his e-commerce site live! What a waste of time and money. His mistake was to go to a web designer who said they could do what he wanted, but actually didn't have the necessary technical knowledge. How do you avoid this mistake? It can be difficult to assess someone's technical strength if you're not an expert yourself. There are however some simple steps we'd recommend. First, take a look at the web designer's work. You should be able to see pretty quickly if they can handle complex sites or if they really focus on simple sites. Then, have a detailed discussion about the scope of your website project. If the web designer truly understands your technical needs, they'll be able to advise you on the possibilities and help you to understand the choices you need to make.

2) Focusing on design and neglecting functionality Even big companies can make this mistake. A beautiful website that doesn't meet your users' needs is actually useless. Studies have shown that people are really impatient on the web. If they can't easily find what they're looking for, they're likely to give up on your site and go to someone else's. Make sure you think through how a new or existing customer will use your website. Then, make sure you have the ability to adapt and change your website as you discover what really does work.

3) Going for the cheapest option without calculating the total cost The cheapest option you'll find from a web designer is a static website with pages that you can't change. If you go for this option, make sure you think about the costs of changing your site. You'll want to price in the cost of going back to your web designer for every change. The other option that looks cheap is doing it yourself. If you head down this route, make sure you factor in the time that you'll have to spend. It might not look so cheap after all.

4) Not commissioning a site with built in SEO A common evolutionary path for a website seems to be 1) start with a static website, 2) realise that you're not appearing in the search engine results, 3) pay for SEO which means re-doing your website to make it SEO compliant, 4) notice that after a while you've slipped down the search engine results as there's no new content and 5) pay for a website that has built in SEO capabilities and a content management system. Why not skip the first 4 steps and go straight for the website that works?

5) Not having a long-term support relationship with your web designer As your business grows, your web needs change. A good web designer should be able to advise you on how to use the web to grow your business. Your relationship should be a partnership, like the partnership you have with your accountant.

6) Not having a plan for content and promotion Everyone knows they 'need a website'. And it's true. But how are you going to use it? Content and promotion should be part of your web strategy. It's best to think about these upfront, so that your website helps you to follow your strategy. An interesting website needs lots of content to get visitors to stay on it and to come back. You'll need to promote your site to get visitors to come in the first place.

7) Going live and forgetting about your site! It's all too common. Once the excitement of the site going live dies down, other things take priority. Don't forget to continue to invest regular time in your website. That's the way that you will make it work for you!