Then the judges ask those all-important questions to give us insight into the personality and mind behind the fa?ade. The first, prettier girl mumbles, mutters and cannot string a sentence together, let alone answer the question. The second girl answers clearly, concisely and with a sultry voice yet in an intelligent manner. For all her extra assets Girl number 1 is relegated to First Princess and never heard of again, while Girl number 2 goes on to win the competition and become a spokesperson for the UN.

Now let's compare that scenario to your website. Of course looks matter ? but words are what will get your site discovered by Google and words are what will convert your visitors into buyers. Looking at an attractive site will only hold the potential client's interest for the first few minutes, but if s/he starts reading and finds nothing of value, and is not persuaded by the words to make the call or click on the ?contact us? or ?buy? button, your time and money spent on paying the best website designer is flushed away.

Worse still, without those vital key words and phrases incorporated into the content your site will never be found by Google and the other search engines, and will end up being a beauty queen locked in a tower away from the world.

Now if you work with a web designer and an SEO (search engine optimization) expert who are battling to convince you that their skill is the more important of the two for making your online company a success, you might feel caught in the middle and be unsure of where to spend your money.

Web design focuses on aesthetics while SEO focuses on the quality and quantity of the text. Some web designers find text creates a clutter and prefer a clean look with minimal text with eye-catching images. Conversely, SEO agencies may find images a waste of space that could be better used for optimisation strategies.

Brains and beauty are both required here. As in the beauty competition scenario, one without the other won't cut it in the highly competitive online arena.

What to do? It makes sense to work with one company that has both web design expertise as well as SEO know-how, so that you can be sure of an holistic approach to your online marketing needs.

Be sure to choose a company that has a proven track record showing their ability to design to W3C standards, and who demonstrate a clear understanding of the current online trends and environment.

Employ both brains and beauty and your website will start giving an excellent return on investment in good time.