So you need a web site. You have been looking for a way to get you business, organization or personal information out onto the World Wide Web. Well you no doubt have found that there are literally thousands of options all with varying price tags available to you, ranging from full blown design companies down to the cookie cutter site options.

The problem is that most people that need a site fall into one of two categories, they lack the knowledge to build a site them selves or they cant afford to pay someone to do it for them. When I was in school learning to be a Webmaster I found that there was a growing number of these types of people, organizations, and businesses around. Sure being a Webmaster is a great thing but there are so many that just can't afford my services.

In the last few years there has been an explosion of on-line web based web site design options. Most of these provide a large number of features that were not available in this format only a few years ago. These services go way beyond the old cookie cutter services and are a fraction of the cost of a full-blown design service, yet you can produce a web site with a surprising array of options and features with professional results from many of them.

There are things that you, as customer needs to look for. Make sure that the service you are looking at gives you enough information about what they offer up front. Make sure that the options you need are available and what they cost. Many service entice you in with a great price and then you find out that there are options you need but there is an additional fee to get it.

You need to look at how much server space you get, what options are included in the price, if there are templates how many and can they be customized, does it include email if so how many addresses, domain registration, shopping cart, does it include a secure server certificate or will you need to get your own, how many items can you put into the catalog, can the catalog be expanded if you need to and how much will it cost, make sure it has great documentation and offers help if you need it. You need to sit down and make a list of what you want to do with your site, and the features you need to have before you start looking and then find a service that has what you need. There are so many out there that you will with out doubt find one that offers you everything you need just make sure there are no hidden price tags to get what you want.

Some final thoughts, first there are no services that you are going to use to build and maintain a web site your self that will not have some level of learning curve, the services that don't usually have the least number of features and options (the cookie cutter services). If that is what you want and don't mind looking like the thousands of other sites they produce, then that is the service you should choose. If, however you want a more professional site, one that provides a higher-level image, then you will have to do a little work for it. Options like www.novaewebs.com have done 90% of the work for you but you will still have to learn to use their builder system, and customize the content. You will have a base website up and running in only a few minutes with any service, but there will be weeks of changes, and tweaks yet to do. The down side you have to do the tweaking, and updating your self. The up side is that you would still have had tweaking and updating even with a Webmaster but you wont have the aggravation of trying to communicate what you want to them and then find that it didn't turn out the way you wanted, a cycle that tends to repeat its self until you either give up and settle for what you have or they get it correct. Bottom line, take your time find a service that fits your needs and then learn to use it.