Shopping for a web developer
There are many considerations
involved in shopping for a web developer including their
ability to produce the product that is best suited for you,
development costs, their development and artistic talents, their
ability to code in a way that facilitates search engine
optimization, and their ability to participate as a team member
with individuals who are outside the company.
A web developer who
won’t communicate with you, your staff, or anyone else who is
doing work for you, simply isn’t worth the bother.
Communication after the contract is signed is more important than
it is in the sales process. The development process can be
tough enough in good circumstances with people who are on the same
team.
If
you have to constantly track the developer down, make repeated
phone calls, the developer won't ask questions, and you are
generally feeling like you are pulling teeth, this process is
going to feel like a nightmare and you will end up with an
inferior product.
Ask questions, get lists of
clients and ask them questions.
Find out how the website developer is to work with personally, do
they come through on time and build over the expectation of
quality, and do they go the extra mile? Concentrate on
communications skills.
Don’t just take the couple
references that the developer gives you.
Go to their website and look at their portfolio to get
names and also do a back-links check to see what other clients
they may have that are linking to them.
To do this, go to Google.com
and use this formula below in the Google search box to find out
who else might link to their page.
Copy it just like this and replace their domain name:
link:http://www.theirdomain.com/
Shopping for a developer should
be done in the same way you would do it in looking for any
long-term business relationship.
This is a company that you will probably be with for a long
time unless one of you simply cannot stand the other.
If this is the case, you become the loser because the
developer can simply walk away.
You on the other hand, have a
website to protect and possibly to move over to another server.
Going with a second developer can also cost you a lot more
because the new company is often starting from scratch with some
of the graphic elements and if there is any coding involved, it
may require some study. If
it is coding that is proprietary to the developer, it could also
require some code changes.
Bottom line is that you simply
have to feel comfortable with the company doing your web design.
The more you understand each other and can communicate, the
easier it is for them to determine how you want to be presented
online. If they care about a long-term relationship with your
company, the more they will want to please you.
Use your best negotiating skills
when coming up on price. But
a word of warning should come in here.
Don’t beat your developer over the head with price.
They may do it out of desperation, but there are many
aspects of web development that they can take shortcuts on that
you will never see or know about, and these can make all the
difference in being found online.
It
can also come back to plague you when you need some work done
later. Like most
merchants, when crunch time comes, web developers will prioritize
their clients according to their profitability and how well they
like them. A threat
to take your $50 worth of work to his competition will only be met
with a fond farewell.
