3 April 2009
What should be discussed when talking with a web developer

For many businesses the Internet is much of a mystery, but business owners feel compelled to be part of it. With so many web site options being presented to the business owner it is practically impossible to make a confident educated decision without dedicating an immense amount of research time.

Many of my clients started out with so many questions regarding their web sites. They even had questions about what questions they should be asking about web sites. Typically one of the first questions is, “How much does a web site cost?”, naturally because cost is the only part they can really relate to. But that’s not really an appropriate first question, as it is impossible to answer without some understanding of your needs.

So where do you start? Well it comes down to communication. You need to communicate your business needs to a web site developer, and they need to be able to communicate solutions to you, in plain language. Like any other business service, the web site developer has to demonstrate their ability to get the job done right.

So you start by doing the exact same thing one of your potential customers would do. See if a friend or trusted business associate has a recommendation. Check the recommendation online and check out some other web site developers. Once you find some that interest you, contact them and start a dialogue. Talk about your needs.

An experienced web developer should be able to have a short conversation with you, listen to your needs, ask some questions and be able to give a ballpark budget. If that budget is within your means then continue the conversation and see if you can get a feel for what type of individual or company you are dealing with.

You should cover subjects like:
- Timelines … How long will it take to complete.
- CMS … Will they be using a Content Management System that will allow you to maintain and update the site content.
- Development … Will you be able to see the site as it is being created and approve it.
- Content … Will you have to provide all the content or can they prepare some.
- Hosting … what sort of options do you have in the way of e-mail, site statistics, parked domains and sub-domains
- Support … what sort of availability is there when you’ve got a problem
- Promotion … what sort of promotion efforts do they support
- Cost … How does any of the discussed affect cost?

These are just some of the issues pertaining to web site development. But after discussing these subjects you should have enough of a feel of the person, to be able to make a reasonably confident decision whether or not this person or company is the one for you.