Failing to formulate a clear purpose for your site.

Failing to define and execute a clear and concise purpose is one of the more common Web-site design errors - and one of the most costly.

Do you want a Web site simply to establish an Internet presence - a site that provides only a basic description of your practice? Or do you want to create a complete e-commerce site enabling viewers to search your inventory and place online orders for products or gift certificates? Or something in between these two extremes?

Precisely what do you want to accomplish? If you can’t state your purpose in two or three sentences, you’re probably not ready to do business on the Internet.

Cynthia Boccutti, owner of Body Basics in Glenside, Pennsylvania, is working with an outside designer to create a site for her practice. She knows exactly why.

"I’m not designing my site to develop new clients; I already have a full client load," she says. "I’ll use my site to keep in touch with existing clients. I’ll promote specials, explain the various modalities I offer, and just keep in touch."

Julie Potts, a massage therapist and owner of Sacred Space Therapy, Inc. in Greensboro, North Carolina, says, "Our clients often ask us whether we have a Web site. That’s what made us decide to go ahead with our site, which is now in preparation."