We know it's odd - putting that sort of comment at the top of a page about web design. But we know it's true.

People don't visit Yahoo, one of the internet's most popular sites, for its great graphics or clever use of obscure browser plug-in features, for it has none of those. They visit it again and again for its content - a huge hierachical listing of web sites.

Yes, with the web you can do all sorts of "interesting" things - which look great when you first see them. But to attract visitors to your site - and have them return - you need some great content.

Couple that content with clean, clear and simple design and you'll have an effective site that will work for you.

There's a lot more to it of course - for starters, a navigation system that is clear, obvious and easy to use is a must. Then there's colour schemes with blending, not garish, colours. And search engine optimisation and submission should also be considered right from the beginning of the project.

We bear all these things, and a lot more, in mind when we create web sites. We go into detail about just some aspects of web design in this section - use the links on the left to view.

However, we think that the best way to gauge a web design company is by learning about the sites they have already completed. You can do that in our portfolio section.