A top notch website can be the one thing that tells customers that the company means business. High-end web design companies can charge quite a lot for a savvy, new look website, but if garnering customers and sales is the top priority it might be worth the extra expenditure to get it done right. There are numerous companies offering high-end designing, so one must be careful when discussing what exactly is needed. Be sure that when going with one of these companies they can offer well-structured placement on Google, Yahoo and Bing pages for maximum search engine optimization (SEO) results. Without this, it doesn't make a lot sense, or cents, to pay exorbitant amounts of money and not get your site out there to the world. Getting the message out in a high quality design is key for business automation and SEO visibility to create a market niche for your company. A lot of companies may say they are well-versed in design and content, but at the end of the day, be sure to research and understand what the company is offering. Check their client list and see what they have done for other sites. At the end of the day, going with a high-end web design company should mean the easing of a lot of pressure on you and your employees. The design company should take over almost all of the website's functions and allow you to focus on the most important thing: the business. If a web design company doesn't offer the following, think twice before hiring them: corporate identity and logo design; custom web site design; web development, maintenance and ongoing monthly website support packages; custom e-commerce development; open-source and custom content management systems (CMS); Flash web design and programming; assistance in domain purchase and e-commerce setup, SSL certificate purchase and configurations; email and web hosting; organic search engine optimization and Internet marketing. BM