Do some research. Know what the average costs for Web Design and other Internet marketing services are. Know what other businesses in your field are doing online. The more you know about what you want to do and the more realistic your goals are, the better your position will be for negotiating the cost of a design project.

Talk to your potential developer. Develop a good relationship with him/her. Make sure that they understand your goals and that they have a vision for how your Web site can grow over time. Setting up a good relationship at the outset is key to avoiding problems down the road. And remember the tired but true 'If what they promise sounds too good to be true, it probably is.'

Know your goals for your web site and plan for growth. Do you want the site for product information, online commerce (catalog), or customer service? Also know your target market and see what your competitors are doing online by going to the major search engines and doing a search for your products/services. See what they are doing well and get some ideas for your own site.

Web sites need to be constantly maintained and updated. If you have a very static and unchanging page, you won't get much repeat traffic. The initial development is just the first step with long term work still needed. You will either need the ability to update areas of your web site on a regular basis, or you will need to contract with a designer for a couple of hours of design work/month. You may event want to go with a combination of the two.

Look for consistency of design and work from the potential developer. Work does not need to be flashy to be very good. Good layout and design skills are more important than flashy pictures. Look at their portfolio and ask for references. Also, make sure that their portfolio shows several different page styles. Good designers have pages which don't all look alike.

Look for a developer that is up on current trends and ideas on the web. They should clearly know what sort of tools are browser and platform dependent and have a way to make sure that your information reaches the broadest possible audience.

Look to establish a long term relationship. You can sometimes lower your initial design costs if you enter into an agreement that keeps your designer on retainer for future site updates. Most designers love these agreements because it guarantees them an ongoing revenue stream and companies like them because they can spread the design costs out over time.

Be able to set clear, firm deadlines with which your developer agrees. Also, clearly define what work will be done for what price ahead of time.

Find out what, besides just web site design, they can do for you. More and more design firms are finding ways to add valuable services such as search engine registrations, site promotion, reciprocal link exchanges, and other ways for driving traffic to your site.

Keep in mind that if a price just seems too good or your getting an incredible deal, it just may very well be too good to be true. Not to say that you can't get lucky and this is where your relationship comes into play. You may have to trust your gut feelings a bit.

Be patient. Just like any other marketing tool, a Web site may take some time to pay off. Make sure that you have set realistic goals for what your Web site should do for your business.