In order that you have a solid idea of what the requirements of your new website is to be, it is important to evaluate how you really want the website to look, and it's functionality. 

The items under consideration are:

• Loading time: Do all your favourite pages load quickly. Ideally this is between 6 -10 seconds on a 56K Modem. You can check the page here at Netmechanic. People begin to leave your site after 6 secs, after 12 seconds, less than 10% of those that first came to the site will wait for your page to load.
• Will it be financially more viable to create the pages yourself or call on professional help?
• Do you need special scripting for e-commerce sections? If so, will you need a developer as well as a designer or can your chosen design company handle it all.
• International viewers: Are the needs for your international viewers catered for. Perhaps your website will need to be available in more than one language. 
• Viewers browsers: Not everyone uses Internet Explorer, A growing number are using WebTV and AOLTV, even pages that pass validation may need to be checked for TV viewing compatibility.
• Cookies: Will you need cookies for access to certain areas. Cookies are small text files put on your web browser from sites you visit that save you having to go through several registration processes time and again. Unfortunately, They are occasionally used for more sinister purposes and 30% of experienced surfers have cookies disabled in their browser.
• JavaScript: Many simple web applications are run by a client-side script called JavaScript. Do you require JavaScript on your website? Many surfers (18%) surf with it disabled to prevent pop windows and other malicious scripts from taking over their browsing habits.  

The following pages contain 101 details of do's and don'ts for your web presence. 101 dos and don'ts