The initial client-developer discussion is an integral part of the Web design process. This article will take a look at both the client side of the development procedure, as well as the best practice methods for Web developers to employ when speaking to their potential business partners.

Your business is ready for a Web site...
Or so you think. Before you take any further steps, let's take a quick look at the simple reasons why you may want to invest in a Web site in the first place.

• Sell products over a greater range than you currently do
• Offer your services over the internet
• Consolidate or begin advertising through the internet
• Get your brick-and-mortar location out to the masses

All of these reasons can really be lumped into the super-category titled Increasing Business - the prime goal of any worthwhile advertising campaign. Generating authentic business and receiving solid leads is virtually money in your pocket; and in this day and age, the internet is the best domain for advertising your products and services. People turn to the internet to look for information like no other. In fact, it seems as though the internet is even replacing God in today's search for answers.

Do some research on a few of the longer queried Google keyword-phrases. Chances are you'll come across some gems like What do I do if my boyfriend is cheating on me? Or how do I get my children to enjoy Vegetable X?

For driving traffic to your soon-to-be Web site, you need to give users the potential to stumble upon your domain with their search engine queries. After all, what good is your Web site if nobody can find it?

Forget everything you know about Web development.
To achieve the seemingly simple goal stated above, you need to look for a Web designer who stays on the cutting edge of the technological market while being up to date in their development practices. You want them to employ certain Search Engine Optimization tactics, and if they don't offer such services, you at least want them to make sure your new Web site is SEO ready. Further down the road, you might want to contract an exclusive SEO company to do your internet marketing or even do it yourself; but if your new Web site is not configured properly at its nuts and bolts, you're going to need a comprehensive ground-up redesign. And let's not try to waste any money in this endeavor.

First thing's first: After you browse the internet for local developers or even check the regional phone directories; you must get to know your developer. And when I say get-to-know them; I mean get to know the quality of their work. At this point in the game you shouldn't even have made a phone call or sent an email inquiry. It is imperative that you take a close look at their Web sites and portfolio (if available). If what you see is visually appealing, consider it an added bonus, because, chances are, you're looking in the wrong places to measure their worth.

Key point: Know what you're looking for. The face of the site is actually not that important. Don't be influenced by sites constructed solely upon Flash, or sites using a little too much dynamic Javascript. This after all, can only hurt you in trying to get your Web site indexed by the major search engines. Your best bet is to right click on the page and check out their source code. And when you're done with that, if you're using FireFox (which you should be using), go to View on the top toolbar and choose to view the page without style. This is a close representation of what search engines are seeing. Try running a spider simulator on the page to really see through the search-bots' eyes.

When viewing the source code, if you don't see a DocType Declaration in the first line, let that be your only red flag and move onto the next developer. Another item of interest for you is standards compliancy. To check for this, run the page through the W3C's Page Validator Tool. While search engines don't necessarily see valid XHTML as a requirement, the closer the page comes to standards compliancy, the easier it will be read by search engines. It's a correlation-not-causation type of relationship. Also worth noting is that if Web pages are produced by a company, check and see who your developer is and their relationship to the pages that you were viewing. For example, if you like Page X in their portfolio and it was developed by Designer Y, don't settle on having Designer Z do it in the same way unless they work on the same team or were trained in the same vein. One more thing to scan for is a comment which may or may not exactly be . Remember, you're paying a good chunk of money for a custom page, don't settle for a recycled template. You want a unique design for your unique service proposition. If you specifically want your designer to use a template, make sure they design using the same conventions that appear throughout the template.

Next up: Say no to Flash, nested tables, and all dynamic content other than CSS and basic Javascript. Checking for nested tables in design is really just keeping an eye out for a few too many tags that start with < tr >, < td >, etc. If they start nesting within each other in a recursive cycle - steer clear. This is an old convention for design that mimics the printed page, yet it is still a popular development practice. While developers still get away with such design, mainly because it has the capability to construct beautifully looking pages, sites built with these conventions will ultimately fail and break down as browsers and search engines move toward a more standards compliant approach. So, unless you are displaying tabular data, don't use tables or ask for them in your Web design. Whatever tables can accomplish can also be done with CSS.

Enter Cascading Style Sheets
An in-depth knowledge of CSS, or Cascading Style Sheets, should be the one qualification you look for in a Web developer. CSS can provide powerful, accessible, and aesthetically beautiful design in the right hands whilst replacing messy and bloated code. If you do require some dynamic or user-behavior delegated content, make sure your designer is comfortable with Javascript as well (this is mostly used for form validation, calculators, or complex image galleries).

Now that you know the criteria for choosing a Web developer based upon principles of design; let's move onto extended and comprehensive service. While it's not a traditional component of a single Web designer; maybe you'd like to hire a developer or development team that offers a complete Web hosting package including domain registration and email setup. While they're at it; wouldn't you like a few guaranteed site modifications and some technical support, to boot. Be wary of designers who design-and-drop. What happens when the next version of IE comes out (certainly guaranteed to break more than a few Web sites)? Or when you no longer offer Product X or you change your address, phone or fax. Do you really want to hire a new developer or draft one of your administrative assistants to decipher somebody else's code?

In so far we have taken a look at what to look for when contracting a Web developer. Say no to nested tables, Flash and messy markup. Say yes to standards compliant CSS and XHTML.

In the next installment of this article we will further discuss the interlocution between contractor and client in Search Engine Optimized Corporate Web Development.

I think the biggest mistake many of us make when we set out to build a website to make money is not to think out clearly how we are going to achieve this under our given set of circumstances.

We immediately jump on whatever bad wagon promises the best opportunity and hope to be able to achieve the same results. While hope is always nice it is action that will bring results. This is why it is imperative at the outset for you to figure out what you are prepared to do and how you are going to go about doing it.

For example list your strengths and what you are comfortable doing. Then you are going to look for ways and opportunities that will compliment your strengths.

If I had done this years ago I would have been a lot more successful. What I did instead was jump on the latest greatest opportunity, then when I would get the material I would be disappointed because many of the techniques listed where not in my field of expertise.

For example it would involve me having to cold call people to make sales and this is something I hate to do. So your first objective when setting out to build a website is to build it around a subject that you have some relationship with. Basically something that interests you.

Start out broad and be prepared to be taken down different paths that may yield more positive results in other words do not be too ridged.

Research is critical the more time spent researching the better your chances of success. Visit forums relative to your topics of choice and see what people are looking for - then with this information start to structure your site.

There are many site builders out there that can help. The one I used took care of the hosting and also helped me to market the site. This was very helpful especially starting out.

To conclude figure out what you want to do then be prepared to be adaptable based upon what the market demands. Then build a site that addresses their needs and provides solutions and you will make money.

Whether you prefer developing in ASP, PHP or Colfusion, Adobe Dreamweaver and the WebAssist Super Suite extensions can turn an ordinary website into a dynamic database-driven workhorse that rivals those from professional developers costing tens of thousands of dollars.

Super Suite extensions for Dreamweaver

Just like a professional carpenter, the right set of tools can make all the difference in the finished product. In Dreamweaver, having the right set of extensions can not only allow you to build more extensive, usable websites, but they can also save you an immense amount of development time and frustration.

WebAssist Super Suite gives you The Power to Build Anything

The Super Suite extension package covers everything from website security, user administration, user login, site cookies, sessions, database administration, email processing, dynamic dropdowns, a full ecommerce shopping cart, a website import tool, Eric Meyer's CSS Sculptor, a full-featured text editor, dynamic Flash charts, dynamic Google map integration and a whole lot more!

Database-driven websites, e-commerce and more

The Super Suite set of extensions gives Dreamweaver users the tools to create every facet of a functional content management system, full featured forums with access-level rights, complete website database administration tools including search, add, edit, update and delete fuctions, full digital file upload and download features, and a complete ecommerce shopping cart system with fully customizable storefronts. All this is achieved through an extremely easy-to-use wizard interface which walks you through each step in simple, intuitive fashion.

Easy-to-use Dreamweaver wizard interface

Super Suite can be easily integrated into your current site Dreamweaver template. The wizards take you through the steps needed to configure your options, you choose your template, and Super Suite creates all necessary pages, navigation, recordsets, CSS and javascript. You simply upload the new pages and files to your server, and the new functionality is live, with the look and feel of your existing website.

Create advanced Dreamweaver websites without knowing any code

WebAssist Super Suite extensions are perfect for Dreamweaver users who are hesitant to dig into the code. The extensions create all the code for you, and you can easily return to the wizard at any time to make changes. Super Suite has some similar functions to Adobe Dreamweaver Developer Toolbox, but it includes one-of-a-kind extensions like the iRite WYSIWYG editor for integrating FCKeditor into your Dreamweaver websites, CSS Sculptor which allows you to create complete standards compliant websites in one easy operation, and Site Import which allows you to import complete websites including all HTML, CSS, script, Flash and image files onto your local drive.

Advice from a Super Suite user

As a Super Suite user, I have used all their extensions extensively in my client websites. The ease-of-use and the Dreamweaver integration make them a must-have extension bundle if you want to develop websites faster, create more intuitive and complex websites, and make more money as a website designer or developer.

Adobe Dreamweaver Compatibility

The WebAssist Super Suite package is an all-inclusive Dreamweaver toolkit which provides developers with all the necessary tools to make dynamic database-driven websites in Adobe Dreamweaver. The extensions are compatible with Dreamweaver 8 and Dreamweaver CS3 on both PC and Mac. PHP, ASP and ColdFusion are supported by all the extensions.