Should I hire a website developer?
If you feel that building a site from scratch is not going to be the best route to take, there's a good chance you should check into hiring a professional web developer / designer. Your web person can walk you through the many steps involved, handling technical aspects of setting up your site, design, functionality, SEO and the many other areas. An experienced designer/developer will also be able to make suggestions about your site that cover areas like usability to security, and will try to get a thorough understanding of what, exactly, your site should do for you and your visitors.
How do I find a developer?
Finding a web developer for your site is easy; find the right developer for your website is the hard part. Like many other areas, you need to shop around to find the person/company that will be best suited to work with you, your project and your budget. With tens of thousands of potential developers to hire, you obviously can't screen them all, but there are ways to narrow down the field, with some suggestions below.
- · Talk to friends, coworkers or acquaintences that have websites, and ask about the developer they used, the cost, time to finish, and if they are happy with the end result.
- · Contact local developers by phone to get a "feel" for the person and the company.
- · Browse through business websites, web development sites and programming sites to find potential designers and developers.
- · If there is a website that you frequent, and like the design/layout/functionality, contact the developer; there link is often at the bottom of websites they have put together.
- · Contact your local Better Business Bureau for recommendations, or look through their online directory of member businesses.
Keep in mind that it is not necessary to hire someone that is in your local area. With today's online communication abilities, you can hire virtually anyone, anywhere in the world. The downside to this, though, can be potential miscommunications due to language barriers, differences in currencies, and working across different time zones. Also, if legal issues should arise, pursuing legal action may be difficult.
How do I decide on a developer?
Once you narrow down your choices, there are several things you should look at to help you decide. Visit their website to get an idea of what they do, what they've done, and if you get a positive feeling about them and their company. You should contact each developer you are interested in, talk to them about the project you need done, and obtain the following information from each of them to aid in your decision.
- · Browse through their online portfolio. If there isn't one on their website, ask to see some of the websites they have created for other customers. Also, contact those customers and ask about their experience with the developer.
- · Find out when they are capable of building the site you want.
- · Find out their estimated time line for starting and finishing your project. Note that this can often change during development.
- · Determine things like who will write/provide content, images, and other elements that will be in the website.
- · Get an estimate of the total cost; again, this can change if you decide on altering your site from your original idea. Also, see what is required for a starting fee, and other terms involving finances.
- · Make sure they fully understand the concept of your website, and what you want to achieve with it.
Once you select a developer, they may ask for some things from you before they start, for example any special requirements you have for the site, logos or images that may be needed, textual content if you are required to provide it, even the type of layout and color scheme you want, among other things. You should make sure that you provide anything the developer needs when they ask for it; by the same token, you may ask for the developer to follow developmental benchmarks or time lines, ensuring that the site is progressing as needed.
Although you will probably have a good idea of what your site will be, your designer/developer will often give you suggestions of additional things that should be implemented, for example certain layouts, types of navigation, or even informational pages. They may also tell you that some of your ideas, no matter how much you like them, shouldn't be used, and tell you why. By hiring someone, they will use their experience to let you know what works and what doesn't, so don't take these suggestions personally. Their goal is the same as yours: to make your site as successful as possible.
It is essential that you and your developer agree to the finalization of your site before you start; when it is considered "finished" by both of you, transfer of the control of files and site itself, control of the domain name, final payments, etc. After the time and finances invested by both of you, the last thing you want is to have a technicality or dispute bring it to a halt.
Is this my best option?
Following are the benefits and drawbacks of hiring a designer/developer.
- · Your site will be professionally designed/developed by someone experienced.
- · Possibly finished much faster than building it yourself.
- · Saves you the time involved in learning many of the design and technical aspects yourself.
- · Pricing may be high and/or out of your budget.
- · Possibility that the designer/developer may not totally understand what you want.
- · You may not have control of your site/domain until contractual agreements are met.
- · Potential issues with language barriers, currencies and time zones depending on locations.