A few months ago I had an old friend back round at the flat for coffee following a night out. We chatted about days gone by; the nights out we had, the films we saw and the gigs we attended. We discussed many of the albums we bought back in those days and we recalled one Saturday when we had both bought a new release by Ohio band Devo, my own copy being on funky blue vinyl.

Like most of my vinyl collection, the Devo album is long gone but talking about it had rekindled in me a desire to hear it again. As I waited for the kettle to boil I thought I would see if I could get my hands on a copy. It was almost 2.00 am but the Internet never sleeps and I ordered a copy of the CD there and then from one of the big online book retailers, and two days later it arrived. This is just one from what must be millions of examples of how the Internet has changed our lives.

And so it became that even the smallest of businesses wanted to get on board this 'we never close' train, where you could wake in the morning and discover that you earned money while you slept. It may be the case that a local window cleaner can still drum up new custom via a card in the newsagent's window but for most businesses an online presence is as essential as a phone number. So the skills of those who create websites are always going to be in demand.

But before looking at the immense benefits of having an online presence, what kind of image is projected by a business that has none? It immediately conjures up the impression of being behind the times and it leaves others to speculate as to the reason why no such presence exists. If it is down to technophobia then it suggests an unwillingness to learn new skills. On the other hand it may be because of a stubbornness to move with the times, an adherence to the attitude that the business survived long enough without a website so why should things change?

The answer to that one is that the world has changed. Businesses today have the opportunity to be effectively open twenty-four, seven but without having to pay out a penny in staff wages.

These days most people would expect a business to have its own website and a failure to create one could reflect badly on the owner. For example, giving out business cards at a networking event would attract very little new business if there was no website where follow-up information could be obtained.

A web presence does not just show a business to a worldwide audience, it is also possible to do business through it. Selling products or services via the Internet is easy and, these days, safe. In this environment, more and more people are happy to pay for the services of a web designer.

And at the forefront of web design applications stands Expression Web, Microsoft's web layout program that took over from Front Page. Expression Web software supports XHTML, XML, CSS accessibility standards and it has a SuperPreview feature that allows the user to test web pages on browsers that cannot be installed on the user system. Add to this a multitude of features such as an SEO checker and tabbed CSS flip cards and you get some idea of just how technical Expression Web is.

For if you found the above somewhat 'nerdy' then welcome to the world of web design. Expression Web is a professional application that is not for the faint-hearted; there are no comfortable drag and drop features here. But that is not to say that it is unapproachable for there is help and support in abundance and there are no fewer than nineteen pre-made templates to help get you started in the world of web design.

So even if you are not expert in XHTML or seasoned in CSS then Expression Web could be exactly what you need to learn how to develop professional standard websites.