Finding & Hiring a Webdeveloper to build a website can be a bigger challenge then you may think.
5 Big Common mistakes people make when seeking out a webdeveloper:
- Not Researching What’s Involved In Building A Website – A lot of people are misled by the build your own website options instead of hiring a webdeveloper convincing people that, what professionals spend years to learn and develop can be done by clicking a few links and buttons. Unless you’re a professional, one of 2 or both will happen. 1.) With the internet being the new modern yellow pages that represent you and your business. Your website reflects you and your business. If you have cheap looking or an out of place website then that will be your first impression of your customers which can be detrimental to your business. 2.) You will cheat your business of the maximum possibilities that your website can do for you.
- Not Asking Questions – One big mistake people do when hiring a webdeveloper is just hire a Webdeveloper without asking how things will work. Who owns what copyrights to what? What all is included in hiring you as my developer? Do you provide content or do I have to provide you with content? Will I have access to add or change content on my website? Do you guarantee anything? For how long? What type of support will I receive from you? You get the idea. There’s a lot of what if’s, how do I’s, what would happen, etc… We ask you questions and lead you in the right direction to get what you want and need in your website.
- Getting Your Website Hijacked – Hijacked? Yep. That’s what I said. You would be surprised at the horror stories we get all the time. Our clients come to us saying that they can’t access any part of their website and the developer refuses to answer them. Sometimes it’s a simple misunderstanding or unread terms in your contract that you were unaware of. Sometimes there’s a misconception that once the developer builds the website then he’s responsible to upkeep the site. Think of it this way, if a builder built a house for lease or for an owner would it make sense to call him and ask him why he hasn’t raked the leaves in the yard for a couple of weeks now. If you paid him he may or may not do it but a maintenance person would do it because that’s his job title. So it is with your Webdeveloper. Maintaining a website and building it are two different things. You may also want to review your contract because it’s common to not realize that you were supposed to pay for maintanence but then stopped paying thus your unkept yard full of weeds. You want to read every single bit of your contract before signing it. Ask questions as in mistake #2. We put everything in writing and explain it to you from beginning to end. We also make it possible to buy out full rights which I’ll explain in the next section.
- Not Knowing Who Has What Ownership Rights – Most web designers and developers will not tell you this but when a website is built, the layout, programs built, the source code, and everything that the designer belongs to the designers and is protected by copyright law. Just as an artist who paints a beautiful painting. That artist owns the copyright of that painting. Someone may have physical ownership of the painting but he does not have the rights to replicate, restructure, or alter the original painting and claim it as his own. The same goes for websites. Unless it’s in writing that the designer has relinquished full rights to you usually for a fee, you do not own the actual website design. If the content, photos, or the materials are your originals then that piece of the website would belong to you. We make it simple for you either way If you decided to have us maintain your website or if you’d like to purchase the full rights of the design. We don’t believe in the “hidden” fees model and disclose everything to you up front so that you are in charge of your buying decisions. All we Developers and designers operate the same way. The difference is that we have nothing to hide you find out that it’s almost impossible to move a site without paying significantly to do so.
- Not Getting It In Writing & Failing to Read The Contract – The first rule of business is to read the contract. Would you purchase a home without reading over the contract and negotiating the contract if need be? So why should purchasing a major piece of your business presence to your customers not be any different? Times have changed and with smartphones, tablets and smart devices, the buying world is no simple task. You can purchase things you could never think about purchasing over the internet several years ago. You can purchase just about anything on the internet. So because of that the buying market has shifted significantly. This is why your online presence and store if applicable is so crucial to the success of your businsss. I’ve done it before where we went out to eat and looked for a restaurant that we wanted to go to but because for whatever reason the website was down or non existent we went elsewhere. You don’t want to lose business because of your website or non-existing website. Worse than this is having outdated content on your website. This ones more common than not. You may have a website and paid someone to do it for you. I would challenge you to go ahead and stop reading this post and check your website. Check it both on a desktop computer and then check it on a your mobile phone or device. I guarantee that you’ll probably find something that you don’t like about the way it looks ok either sides. An outdated website can be a deal breaker for your customers even though you may have just a good chunk of change to remodel your storefront.
Well, hopefully I’ve given you a few helpful tips and pointers. Please feel free to email us with any questions you may have on our Get In Touch page.
If you’re looking to build a site for business, concept or ideas or you need a new developed website or renovations on your existing website call us at +1 (520) 392-5923 or Start Your Page Today.
Thanks for reading and we look forward to serving you with your website needs.
Aloha,
Ed Fong