If you are looking to have a website designed and programmed then you should first spend sometime researching a few different companies to find out a) what price they will quote for the work and b) what the quality of their work is like. You ideally what to try and contact a few of their current clients to have an informal chat as to how they are finding the company on the whole.

Most web design companies will be more than happy for you to do this.

Be wary of basing all of your expectations on reviews and testimonials on the web design companies website unless they can be backed up with proof, i.e. number one ranking for x keywords on Google etc., as these can often be selectively chosen.

Many web design companies will also offer online marketing ranging from Search Engine Optimisation to Google Adwords This is something that should be consider during the build process as often if SEO is required at a later date it may be more expensive than it would of if it had been included in the build.