Hiring a web developer is a huge step toward enhancing your digital presence. A strong website that is SEO-ready, visually impactful and full of functionality that makes the site easy to navigate will help your business grow and increase your brand awareness.
As we said, it’s a huge step. Big tick!
But what if you find that the web developer you have chosen isn’t actually a good fit for your business or how you trade? What if they don’t have the experience they implied they had in abundance? Or, what if their levels of communication frustrate the living daylights out of you, and you never know how much progress is being made?
To avoid the big tick from turning into a commercial nightmare, there are many questions you can ask a web developer before agreeing to hire them. Here, we’ve picked out a top 5 to help you on your way.
Project basics
How much will the web development cost, and how long will it take?
Web development is an ongoing process, so you must be clear about how the agency will charge. Is it a one-off cost, a monthly retainer or based on results? If your brief changes at any point you need to be clear on whether it affects the cost.
As part of the costing, you should be given an assurance on how long the project will take. Protracted projects can hit your bottom line, so if your preferred web developer can’t hit your deadlines for the agreed cost, you may need to consider looking elsewhere.
Web development experience and delivery
What experience do you have in developing my type of website?
Don’t assume that all web developers deliver all types of websites. Find out if the web developer you are considering has experience in delivering what you need or if their specialities lie elsewhere. As an example, if you need an eCommerce website you should only work with a web developer who has experience in that area.
Ask to see examples of websites they have provided to customers like you. Get the URLs and check out the websites in your own time to make sure the developer can deliver the quality of design and functionality you need.
Monthly deliverables
Under a retainer, what monthly deliverables will you provide?
If you plan on working with the web developer long-term, you need to understand how the website’s performance will be measured. What monthly reporting will you receive, what are the benchmarks, and how will the results be actioned? Do their proposed monthly deliverables meet your needs?
Communication process
How will you communicate with me throughout the project?
This is extremely important for the success of the web development process. You should be kept up to date with progress and feel able to ask questions at any stage. Any delays or challenges should be flagged up to you as they occur if they could potentially affect your budget, deadline, or agreed-upon deliverables. Working with your web developer should be seen as a partnership from both sides of the project.
Futureproofing
Will I be able to access and edit my website myself?
Once a project is complete, you might have to edit your website. If your website developer wants to do the edits on a service-level agreement structure, it may be difficult to access and edit your website. Some companies are happy for their web team to do any changes and updates, if you would prefer to access the website and make edits as and when needed to the content – make sure this is confirmed at the start of the project.
Choose Code Galaxy as your web developer
Code Galaxy is a website and software developer based in Lancashire. Contact us for further information on how we can develop your website. We’d be happy to answer all of the above questions and many more!
