What do these photos of cars have to do with website design?  First, they are here to make the point that large, high-quality images can be placed on a web page without forcing the page to take three or four minutes to load. Second, in selecting a car, the main considerations are suitability, appearance, price and performance.

The same with websites. The first consideration has to be suitability...what its intended purpose is to be. That Ferrari above is way cool, but not very useful for hauling campgear or groceries. The Land Rover isn't going to win any appearance contests or road races. And just as there is no generic 'vehicle' that serves all purposes, there is no such thing as a generic website that works. Each website should match the particular mission it is to fulfill.

The next consideration is appearance. Your website need not win any graphics design awards (unless you happen to be a graphics design company), but it needs to be professionally done, well written, and it needs to reflect well upon your business. People are much more likely to be impressed with useful information and a simply done, easy-to-navigate site, than a lot of animated gifs, twirly things and bouncing text.

The most important considerations, though, are price and performance. If your website is not cost effective, and not something which will ultimately affect  the bottom line and/or customer service, then it is not something your business needs. And if the website is a poor performer, in terms of its findability by the search engines and the number of people visiting your site, then it is a waste of money at any price.