Whether you’re starting up a new venture and are looking to launch in style with a new website or you’ve been in business a while and your site is starting to show its age, one of the most important aspects of web production is the relationship between client and development company.
While it’s almost inevitable there will be hiccups along the road to building your perfect website, if you don’t have a good rapport with the programming team working on your website’s development, you’ll find it almost impossible to get your site live.
Below are a few tips to help you find the perfect development partner for your next web project.
Approach more than one firm
Even if you’re already familiar with a development company, it’s still a good idea to cast the net a little wider and get different opinions and quotes from a range of companies. As a general rule, try contacting three firms and invite them for a quick chat – either over the phone or in person.
A professional web development company will be more than happy to spend time talking over options with you – and could bring more ideas to the table. Also, it’s worth bearing in mind that different companies use different pricing models, so it’s always useful to get a better idea of what you could get for your money from other firms.
Always ask to see portfolio work
Skilled design companies know they’re only as good as their last job so they should have no problem showing you examples of previous work. A good design firm like https://www.altagency.co.uk/services/development/wordpress/ should have a collection of previous work to show you. As a rule, you should steer well clear of any company that is unwilling to show you older projects.
Ask for testimonials or recommendations
Sure, sometimes projects can go a little off course and the client/developer relationship can fall apart, but experienced firms should still have a range of testimonials. As with the point above about portfolio work, you should avoid any design firm that can’t show you comments from previous clients.
Have an outline brief but also expect developers to come up with ideas
Very often clients forget that they’re the customer in the design and development process and think they need to supply exact details from the outset of a project. However, while it’s fundamentally important that you have an idea of the goals and ambitions behind your website development, you shouldn’t be expected to lay everything on the table from the start.
Rather, a skilled design firm will sit with you, talk over your outline ideas, and then spend time developing a route map for how you’re going to achieve your aims. This can include everything from the design of your home page to Search Engine Optimization (SEO), social media promotion and additional inline apps that might be used on your site.
If a development company isn’t willing to work with you on ways to extend your initial brief, it can be a sign of complacency or poor customer service – so, again, you’d be well advised to steer clear.