There are as many urban myths about web design as there are old wives' tales about treating hiccups. Many of these myths can either harm your site or simply don't add value. So, if you're a client, keep an eye out for the following – whether you hear it from your own team or the company you're about to hire.

First – let's clear up the difference between shared and dedicated hosting. Shared hosting is usually the cheaper option, and one preferred by many small businesses and personal sites. With shared hosting several (sometimes hundreds) of sites are hosted on the same server. If that server goes down or a site on the server experiences high traffic volumes, then all of those sites could go offline or run slower.

So, you've commissioned a new website from a nice, experienced website design agency. The briefing process went well and after a few weeks the first drafts have landed in your inbox. They look great. But, as with all larger projects, there are a few aspects you would like to change.

Dirt-cheap digital cameras and easy podcasting software have made Spielbergs and DJs of us all. While not everything produced is Oscar-worthy stuff, thousands of companies can now create decent quality media explaining products, services, ideas – or anything they choose.

Words are woefully inadequate at explaining visual design. “It was a dark and stormy night” doesn't capture mood quite so fast as a photo of pelting rain and distant lightning.

Does everyone in your company know the purpose of your website? The CEO says it's to make more money. But, the marketing department thinks it's to create a platform for new promotions. Ask the sales team and they might say the website backs up sales calls with extra product information. Of course, the design and creative team think it's to build a recognisable brand.

Website design falls under the “creative” category - but that doesn't mean designers can't learn from some hard stats now and again. Here are ten statistics that could help improve your website development

When asked the question “who is your website targeting” do you answer “everyone”? Well, as the saying goes: if you try to please everyone, you delight nobody. For example, an online computer store could theoretically cater for anyone that wants a computer.

You might be surprised what you can accomplish using free tools and software available online. Follow a few basic steps and you could have a site up and running in a day.

Website design suits freelancing. You can work anywhere, any time and send all of your work over the web. Today, more quality freelance designers offer their services than ever before.

At first glance, every website design company seems to offer the same basic thing: website design. However, look a bit deeper and you'll see that not all designers and developers work to the beat of the same drum. One such difference is that some companies specialise in .NET development.

When discussing a design brief, most website design companies will cover all the usual bases: budget, basic requirements, type of site, colours etc.

Typography is the Cinderella of professional website design. It's consigned to the basement, scrubbing floors while all the fun happens upstairs.

Anyone with a camera phone can put video online these days. Of course, these low production costs mean lots of businesses are getting in on the action. Companies now use videos for many different reasons, from introducing product features, to showing seminars and talks.

Over 23 percent of all UK mobile phone users access the internet through their handsets, according to the communications authority Ofcom. That means that if you don't make your site accessible to mobile users, you could miss thousands of customers.

Contact form simplicity is a fundamental part of effective web design. However, sometimes a basic contact form just doesn't give you enough information about a potential client. And, it may not help you tell the difference between a genuine enquiry and a casual one. Particularly if you're a professional website designer or developer.

Remember the tale about Hansel and Gretel, the two little kids who get dumped in the woods? The resourceful Hansel decides he better leave a trail of crumbs so they can find their way back home. (More about what happened to them later.)

Wouldn't it be great if a flag popped up on your site to let you know it was time for a redesign? Well, in the absence of such a useful signal, here are five things you can do to test if your site is due for an overhaul. If you find your website doesn't perform well on any of them, then it's time to call in professional website designers.

Designer. Developer. If you're hunting for someone to build your website, you probably see these two words used almost interchangeably. But what's the difference? And does it matter which type you work with?

Let's answer the obvious question first: what on earth is a content audit? Websites are made up of content. Product descriptions, videos, blogs, PDF terms and conditions, annual reports...and whatever else lives on your site.

First the good news: CSS3 has a simple command for rounded corners. Hurray! Now the bad news: only Google Chrome currently handles CSS3. (Although Firefox and Safari have some limited support and most browsers will handle CSS3 in the next few years).

If you're new to web design, or lack the experience to code an entire site using a text editor, then you might consider using WYSIWYG software.

Savvy businesses have used technology to train their workforces for years. But now the rest of the working world is switching on the possibilities of e-learning and web-based training.

There are few professional website designers who'll alter their approach based on one new piece of fashionable hardware. However, the early success of the iPad might well be a signal for a new direction in computing, and hence website design. After all, tablet PCs, with their touch-screens and interactive content, are very different from classic PCs.

Recruitment used to be an expensive process for employers. Paying agencies, paying for newspaper ads, paying for exposure – it all adds up.

Website design isn't always about the big, impressive things like animated intros and bold new logos. In fact, the little details can be just as important to the success of your site.

It's a rare website design company that doesn't refer to one of the above. Yet, like all buzzwords, these terms are frequently misused. Can a design really be called custom if it uses the same form and template as another site?

Ever notice how many finance and insurance websites are mainly blue in colour? Or how environmental sites tend to use greens and browns? The colours you choose for your website can define your business identity before a word has been read or a sentence uttered.

Photos can inject colour, action and appeal into any web page or blog post. The right image can even make people more likely to read your content, or link to your site.

Icons are part of the fabric of the web. They're used for everything from contact links and "buy now" buttons, to social media tags and URL graphics.

YouTube, Metacafe, Google Video and a dozen other sites have made it incredibly easy to upload and share video content. (According to YouTube, 20 hours of video are added to the site every minute). These videos can be embedded in your site with just a simple line of code.

Some say that social media is only for small companies. Others say it makes no difference to hard sales. Some say its influence is on the slide, others point to social network horror stories to justify why they won't get involved.

Good website navigation is like good city planning. Make the infrastructure easy to use and visitors can quickly find their way around. However, without clear signposts and well-built paths, people will get frustrated and be unable to reach what they need.

Talk to web marketers and SEO companies and they all say the same thing: fresh content matters for your website. But is it really so important? Wouldn't a few well-optimised static pages do the job?

So, maybe you've launched your new site and it looks fresh and professional. Your traffic stats are healthy – with hundreds of visitors per day. You've got great products and are happy with the copy.

Have you ever abandoned a site just because it took too long to load? Poor load times can have a big negative effect on customer conversion, and there's growing evidence that it can harm your performance in the search engines.

Who can blame businesses if they sometimes choose the wrong designer for the job? After all, there are thousands of web design companies out there. Quite a few of them have very nice looking sites.

The web has made publishers of us all. And RSS has so far proved one of the most useful ways to syndicate our content. Yet, some say its time may be over.

Maybe you've decided your business needs a new website. So far, so sensible. You might even consider a few extra features, look up some developer sites, then discuss the project with colleagues.

What if you decided to map out a detailed five-year plan for your career? Maybe you'd start with the overall goal. Then, perhaps break it down to what you need to do by next year, next week, tomorrow, today – the next fifteen minutes?

There are thousands of web design companies out there - dozens with decent looking sites. So, how do you know if you're hiring the right company when it comes to your website design? Here are 10 questions you should ask to ensure you make the right choice:

Remember dial-up modems? Remember the dotcom bubble? Remember when someone told you about this new start-up search engine called Google?

It's a question most businesses face at some stage: Rely on off-the-shelf software or commission bespoke tools for the job? Often, it comes down to a matter of cost. But does packaged software really save you money in the long run? Let's take a look at some of the reasons to consider getting tailored software:

Have you seen the Microsoft Certified Partner badges on some web development company sites and wondered what they mean?

Content management systems can free your business from having to phone up the web developers every time you need a website change. They can empower your creative, editorial and marketing teams. Yet, there is a bewildering array of CMS options out there – and it's hard to know what to look for. At the very least, your CMS should let you:

Sometimes it seems like there are more web designers in London than there are traffic wardens. Yet, it can be harder to find the right agency than it is to grab a decent parking space.

Business + social media. Is that a hard equation to make work? Well, companies as diverse as shoe retailers (Zappos) wine sellers (Stormhoek) and news sites (The Telegraph) have found ways to expand using online social networks. It's not about jumping on every latest fad. It's also not about shoehorning in social tools that don't fit with your business style. Some methods will work for you, some won't.

Sure, Flash can look stunning. For certain businesses (like media companies, games sites etc.) it's a brilliant way to show off animated content. For other organisations, Flash clips can inject movement and life into otherwise static pages.

Most successful shops freshen up their front window display regularly. Yet, many businesses don't change their website until it's absolutely essential. And by that time they may have lost out on countless new sales and opportunities. But how do you know when it's the right time to change?

It may sound like something out of The Terminator films, but in fact a robots.txt file can help you streamline your site for the search engines. The robots in question are the various programmes that search engines use to crawl and index sites. These are sometimes called “bots”, “spiders” or “crawlers” - and different search engines use different versions.

Is it just a coincidence that a lot of popular websites get loads of traffic and have an active, engaging blog?

Imagine you're settling down with a reference book or newspaper. You want to find a particular article. But, in the reference book there are no chapter headings or index. The newspaper has no headlines. You'd probably struggle to find the most relevant content, right?

A website without good content is like a shell without the oyster. It may be nice to look at – but where's the nourishment? Web content refers to all the useful text, video, audio or images on your site. So what do you miss out on if you don't have good content?

So, you're thinking of commissioning or updating a market research website? It pays to consider some of the functionality and features that could help you attract many more users and delight your client brands.

Training and assessment websites are excellent ways of filtering job candidates, developing staff skills, or offering tutorials for new software systems. But what's the right way to approach training website design?

What makes a successful eCommerce site? No matter what your product or market, some core website development principles apply.

Pay Per Click advertising (or PPC), can be one of the most powerful and cost effective ways to get traffic to your site.

Thousands of websites are putting themselves at risk of litigation in ways that are very easy to rectify. Instead of wading through mountains of paperwork and guidelines, here are five quick areas where your business website could be falling short of the law.

Have you ever clicked a link or search result and arrived at a webpage – only to leave quickly when you realise it doesn't have what you need?

As much of the web continues to move from static to dynamic content, many automatically generated URLs result in clunky strings of numbers and script parameters.

Credit crunches, recessions, depressions, bank collapses, job losses - the papers have made for pretty gloomy reading lately. In fact, you'd be forgiven for thinking that the economy has rewound to the 1930s.

Whether for registration, site login, newsletter signup, contact or buying products, forms are everywhere online. However. many webmasters don't consider the effect that their website forms could be having on their customer conversion rates. And of course, the more people that are completing your forms (whatever they are) – the more profitable your business can become.

Understanding intellectual property and copyright is tough at the best of times. On the internet these issues can be even more confusing. However, it's important to get a grasp of key IP rights online to protect your business, and avoid any possible legal trouble.

Your website is the online face of your business – so it's important to look your best. However, it's not enough just to look nice. Business websites, particularly e-commerce driven sites, need solid, reliable and secure coding and development under the hood.

According to AdMob, the iPhone has an 8% share of the market in terms of handsets sold – yet their users generate 65% of mobile web traffic. Make no mistake: Apple's latest baby is changing the face of mobile web access.

You've probably seen RSS icons on all kinds of websites, from the BBC to personal blogs. But, have you ever considered how RSS can be used on your own website? RSS can be a great business tool – even if you're not a media portal or news site with endlessly updated content!

Accessibility is one of the big buzzwords of web design. But, how many businesses only pay lip-service to the idea and don't implement standards that make it easier for disabled visitors to use their site? Maybe you're wondering how you go about performing an accessibility audit?

If you could take your website to a virtual mechanic, would it fail its MOT? W3C standards effectively help you measure the “road worthiness” of your website. While you may not face a stiff fine for operating outside W3C guidelines (though there is that possibility), compliance can make your website leaner, more efficient – and much better for your business.

Customers love to hear from other customers. Yet testimonials are an under-appreciated way to build trust and credibility online. They can even help you tell people how great you are without sounding like an arrogant bore! But what's the best way to go about featuring testimonials?

Imagine a man arrives at the door asking to check your gas meter. So far, so normal. Except that this time the man isn't wearing overalls, he's wearing jeans and trainers. He isn't carrying a clipboard. He doesn't have an obvious identification tag. In fact, when you ask for ID, he looks through his pockets and says he can't find it. You ask him his name and he won't even tell you that.

How do you go about building a site that fits with your brand and your business goals? Here are a few things to consider before you get started on the design and development

With a web development project plan hurdles can be foreseen, targets can be met, and the best possible website delivered. Any professional web design company should have a tried and tested method to follow. (Usually, the longer a company has been around the longer they've had to refine this process.)

Every website has a purpose. In the case of an eCommerce site, it's to make sales. A news site may exist to make content readable and searchable. Facebook allows friends to share updates online. Whatever a site's purpose, its design should focus on allowing users to achieve the stated goals.

Many businesses still view their websites as digital brochures - just static marketing pages summarising their great selling points. However, while the branding may be the same, websites and brochures are fundamentally different beasts.

Love it or hate it, Twitter is now well and truly part of the mainstream. However, as with every new social media darling, it's left marketers scratching their heads and wondering: “how can we use this thing for our products or clients?”

User-generated content has changed the way companies do business forever. The top-down marketing of twenty years ago no longer works. Customers now expect interaction, community – and to be able to give their own opinion on products and services.

Are we in the age of the spam avalanche? Some reports suggest that up to 85% of all emails are spam related. California legislature claims that spam cost US organisations over $13billion in 2007 alone.

This is a pretty simple question – but one that most businesses don't consider until asked by their designer.

Are websites like clothes? Do they start to look tired after a few years? There are some sites out there that seem stuck in a time-warp. Designed with tables, big blocks of text and no interactive functions whatsoever.

We're now seeing the first generations of teens and young adults that have grown up with the internet. For them it's an essential way to do homework, find music, play games, connect with friends, read up on sports teams, find relevant news, read up on issues which affect them, and buy a wide variety of goods.

Web design is not solely a creative or a technical skill – it's a combination of both. The best web design agencies have the ideas and the visual flair to make your website look fantastic.

You've paid to have your website designed and it looks great. Your message is clear, you're getting plenty of site visitors, your CMS is working smoothly and your e-commerce functions are all set up.

Some industries fit perfectly with the way the web works. Recruitment companies, with their need to reach a wide audience fast, post regular job opportunities and target specific regions and markets, are one such industry.

When 70% of internet users are non-English speaking, it makes sense to have a multilingual website. Even in developing countries internet access is booming. China now accounts for 20% of people on the web, and the rate of growth for Arabic web users in the last eight years is over 2000%.

Compared to today, the internet of five years ago was a dinosaur. Connections were slow and technology limited. Online video was a luxury that few websites could afford – and few users could successfully view.

A content management system offers several benefits – but is search engine optimisation one of them? After all, if your website isn't being found by internet users, then the ability to easily add and arrange content counts for nothing.

Your website designed for a few dollars a page. On the face of it, that sounds pretty tempting, doesn't it? Cheaply outsourcing web design overseas (sometimes known as offshoring) has become a much more common practice in recent years. But the question remains, do the financial benefits outweigh the drawbacks?

The golden rule in any tender process is: information plus communication. For clients, this is crucial to selecting the best agency for the job. For designers it helps to ensure the most accurate quote. Even if you're about to start a project, following this principle could mean the difference between smooth, successful delivery and a headache for client and designer alike.

Why should you avoid launching your website on a Friday? It's not because everyone wants to leave early to go to the pub (or at least, not entirely). It isn't because people slack off work more on Fridays (though maybe that's got something to do with it). It's not that Fridays are innately evil or unproductive.

Google “UK web design company” and you'll turn up almost 30,000 hits. It's now possible to find agencies and designers from Truro to the Isle of Skye. The web has made it easier to work with anyone, anywhere. So, does it matter where your agency is based?

If the word “launch” has associations with countdowns, spaceships and Cape Canaveral – what about as far as a website is concerned? Whereas launching a new site might not be quite as grand as pressing the button to send a rocket to space, the principles are the same: is this thing good enough to fly?

Is your content fresh, or is it stale? It's no longer enough to simply throw up a few static web pages filled with keywords, then hope for the best. Search engines adore regularly updated sites. While a stale site tumbles down the Google results, a site with fresh content climbs the rankings.