1) What are your credentials?
You need to know how long the company has been in business and their track record of delivering the same type of site as you require. When assessing their portfolio use a checklist for the things that you need. Good developers will be willing to put you in touch with credible references.

It might seem like a good idea to get a family member or an acquaintance to do the work. Consider whether they will have committment in the longer term and whether they have all the necessary skills. There is a world of difference between designing a website that can sell on line and one that can grow to be a productive online business. It is not just about knowing some basic tools like Photoshop and Dreamweaver.

Ensure that you get a demonstration of how easy the website will be to use. Ask for some hands-on, e.g. to create and edit a new product for sell.

2) How will you deliver me what I need?
The developer should explain how the website will progress. You need to know what to expect at each point in time, what you need to provide and when and what they will deliver. You should agree a statement of work (aka a specification). Know the terms and conditions of  contract.  Understand the consequences (delays and cost) of changes you make along the way.

Agree the criteria by which the website will be deemed complete.

Empower yourself by choosing a dynamic website with a content management system. This simply means that you can make changes to the words and pictures on your website and they automatically get generated according to the design theme of you have chosen. It means that you do not need to work through the developer for every site change e.g. of telephone number or pricing.

3) What happens after the site is launched?
Are they likely to cut-and-run? Your website should be visible to search engines. This is more than submitting to search engines. It involves implementing the website in a way that is easy for the search engines to look at. This is very difficult to tell from just looking at it. We can advise you here.

Any website needs to be properly promoted on- and off-line to succeed. Despite what many people say, success does not 'just happen' and it does cost money. Agree in advance what promotion will be done, who will do it, how much it will cost and how you will measure the results.

Envisage changes you may require later and ask how much these would cost.

4) How do I ensure my website gets results?
You need to know how many unique visitors your site is getting and how this is changing with time. Ask your developer how you will know which products/designs the visitors are interested in. You will need good reporting on sales. Find out what tools will be built-in to the website to do the following:

* stay in good communication with customers
* convert a visitor to a customer
* motivate the customers to return
* increase the average value of sales-per-visit

5) What if things go wrong/finish?
You need to be sure that you will maintain access to important business information such as product information, customer details and orders. This may be provided to you as spreadsheet so that you can easily access it. Have a contingency plan in case you need to change to another provider of web services.