I am going to print this article and submit it along with my proposals.  The web was invented to be a democratic medium allowing anyone to express themselves. As a web designer I appreciate this concept and I was first attracted to the web for this reason. However, there is a big difference between self expression and having a professional site as a tool to market a product or service.

One of the reasons web design is undervalued is because anyone can actually publish a half decent web page for free or for pennies. Countless "hobbyist" flood the want ads with cheap web development and even larger companies are falling in the trap that web design is a cheap commodity. It is not. Often non designers (and some designers as well) judge a site by how "pretty" it is. Google cares not how pretty or how smart the graphics  are. Even users will care far more how easy it is to find a telephone number, a map or the product they want to buy. When is the last time that anyone spent time admiring Amazon's graphics?

If you value your business you should budget and hire the best you can afford, listen to them, value their input and ultimately live with your decision.

Every single one of my clients has previously hired a "drive by" web designer, often spending far more in various stages than what would have cost to hire a serious professional the first time around. The result is that their site is still a stranger to the Search engines, it reflects poorly on their business and if they didn't find me, or another conscientious developer like me, they would be throwing money away one more time.