So it’s now time to contact your list of web developers. It’s important to ask the right questions and remember your check list of requirements.
Part 5 – Before you contact a developer
- Give the web developers on your shortlist a call
- How do they respond?
- What are your first impressions?
- Did the business sound professional and helpful – it is vital you can establish a good working relationship and feel you can approach and talk to your web developer
- If first impressions aren’t good change your short list
- Arrange meetings with your shortlisted developers
- Give them a clear brief about what you want
- Ask them for a quote or a pitch – don’t rush into choosing the first you see
Questions to ask your list of web developers
- Review all the quotes/pitches you have received
- Go through what has been suggested and prepare for a second meeting
- Here are some questions you will need to check out if the quotation doesn’t specifically state the answers:
- Will the website have a CMS system (so you can update it yourself)
- Do they code (develop websites) to published W3C Standards?
- What do they use? (beware of Word Press this is a fantastic blogging tool but it is NOT a web development tool)
- Do they programme things themselves from scratch or use software?– which will mean there can be limitations to the design and functionality
- Do they design for all common browsers or just one? – websites can appear differently in different web browsers a good developer will make sure your website looks the same on all browsers – IE, Safari, Chrome, Mozilla, Firefox etc.
Will your website be search engine friendly – and if so how? - Do they take DDA guidelines into consideration in the design and style of the website? And how?
- Do they optimise images for fast loading of the website? – it can ruin a website if the pictures aren’t correctly sized and take ages to load.
- Can they link your site to social media? If yes how will this be done?
- Will they offer a service for future maintenance and updates to your website?