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The Web isn’t just for a business that has a product to sell online. It’s also a promotional vehicle for anybody who wants to sell themselves and wants their business to be taken seriously. Nowadays, when consumers want information about a company, the first thing they want to know is their website address.

Even if you’re self-employed or a small company, a website shows current customers, potential customers and possible business partners a professional face, outlines your services, can display testimonials and provide contact important information. With the expected growth rate of online consumers gaining 25 to 35 percent every year, even the self-employed landscaper, part-time writer and struggling actor can benefit from their own site.

Now that the motivation is there to build your site, where do you get the materials? There are two options. Do it yourself or hire a pro. And that all depends on two staples of the economy. Time and money.

For those who have the time, there are plenty of options when building your home website. There are dozens of Web-based providers, including Yahoo, that offer easy-to-use templates and guides to get started. There’s also companies like Homestead.com that offer low-cost services to host websites, keeping them up-to-date and providing marketing services as well. Homestead.com also provides a higher-end template gallery for those who want to build their own site.

For those who don’t want anything to do with creating their site, hiring a designer is the option to go with. You will have to do some homework, however, to find the right one at the right price. There are hundreds of companies and freelance designers out there, and the Internet allows you to choose one in Indiana or India. Three solid high-end companies are networksolutions.com, ingenux.com and genacom.com. You can also post your job on freelance sites like Elance.com and Guru.com and have providers bid on your project. You’re bound to get a better rate with freelances, but make sure they provide references and a written contract that includes the graphic and text content, milestones and deadlines, and when payments will be made.

Whomever you choose to do your first website, make sure the site is complete with the basics. The home page should include a logo in the top left-hand corner of the page and a one sentence tagline that identifies what your business does. You should have links to the about us information, privacy policy and, if you’re selling products, a link to your shopping cart. And by all means, don’t forget contact information that’s easy to find and is included on every page of your site.

If you are going to hire someone to design and maintain your site, there are a few planning details you should make clear with the designer. Define the purpose of your website and what your target audience is. You want to fulfill the needs of potential customers, so make sure the site is built for them, and provide content, graphics and images to fit their needs.

Both design and content are important when creating a website. The design draws customers in, but the content keeps them. Make sure the site copy is fresh, brief and to the point. You could go nuts with flash design and impressive graphics, but if the content is boring, poorly written, irrelevant and out of date, then potential customers won’t be sticking around.