Despite the massive growth of the Internet over recent years, it's still surprising to see the number of small companies that do not yet have an internet presence. I often wonder why this is the case - is it simply lack of funds? It may be reasonable to assume so.

There are so many companies offering "affordable" web design solutions, from as little as 99. Yes, it gets you on the web. Yes, it gets you exposure.

The question to ask is whether bad exposure, a misrepresentation of your companies professional image, is actually better than no exposure at all?

So many of these budget web design companies are still using old hat methods, be it tables for construction, in line styling, HTML 4.0.. the list goes on. Even tacky animated gifs are a major personal bug bear of mine, and I'm sure most others with an appreciation of design and modern web standards will also agree. And despite all of this, we haven't even began discussing XHTML validation, CSS validation, standards compliance or search engine optimisation.

There is hope though. There are web design companies that exist who will happily listen to whatever your requirements are, design you a very tasteful, fresh and contemporary website, hand code it in standards compliant html and css, and even add basic search engine optimisation as they go along.

This will give your company image such a massive boost, and really shake the cages of your competitors.

And for not much over 400 as an initial outlay, this can only be seen as nothing other than a fine investment.

Of course, it's possible to really extend it as far as you want, using advanced search engine optimisation, pay per click advertising, email mailshots - you may find that your website is (and should be) your primary marketing tool for driving customers to your company.

So what are you waiting for? Get one step ahead of your competitors and establish yourself on the largest stage in the world - the internet.