Cheap web design may seem like an attractive option for smaller businesses, but it can be dangerous. As in all things, you will get what you pay for in this case, a shoddy-looking, poorly-optimized Web site that will cost you more in the long run. Read on to find out what possible negative scenarios await Web site owners who scrimp on design, and you will realize that in the business of Web, cheaper is not always better.

Poor coding

Cheap Web designs are cheap because they are done in a hurry, which could mean that their backend codes are messy. How can you tell if a site is cheap? Go to the site and right-click on your mouse, and then highlight and choose the ""View Source"" link. If you see the string #BeginTemplate ""/Templates/site.dwt"", then the site was probably created from a template in Microsoft FrontPage not built from scratch as good quality Web sites are.

Most cheap Web designs are also plagued with coding mistakes. The pictures and texts ,ay load too slowly or may not be compatible across different kinds of browsers. Worse, the codes may be so disorderly that the site wont rank well in search engines, no matter how hard you try.

Poor service

Cheap Web designs are usually done offshore where labor is much cheaper. Some programmers and designers from such countries as India and the Philippines are good, but lets face it the language barrier can sometimes make the output less than satisfactory. You may not get clear and immediate status reports and layout discussion, among many others.

Pay for quality

The bottom line: a cheap Web design worth $200 or less is usually just a waste of money. Such sites are almost disposable you buy the, only to find out that they are ineffective, so you end up discarding them. If you are willing to spend on the standard rate for a professional designer (about $2,000), you can expect an effective custom-crafted Web site that will rake in more money for your business.