5 Things To Ask A Web Development Company Before Starting Work
Before executing any web project, it is better to have a thorough and detailed contract in place between the client and the web development company. Imagine doing a home renovation project. Obviously, that calls for certain questions that should be clarified by the contractor — questions about the schedule of the project, details about methods of communication between the contractor and the house owner, how to take care of changes to the project while it is ongoing and the necessary legal/contractual documentation.
A project to develop a website is no less critical or complex for individuals and businesses. Hence, before you sign a web development contract with a company, you need to do the ground work and ask the right questions to the web development company so that the project will turn out satisfactorily for you.
First of all, it’s better to go for established companies who have a range of expertise in a lot of different domains and aspects of web development rather than opting for individual freelancers. This is because the nature of web development has grown complex and with companies, your project is likely to stay the course even if one or more developers fall sick or get caught up unexpectedly in family emergencies.
With individual freelancers, you are more at risk that your project may get off the tracks. With a company, you will get ongoing web development support if you need it. With that said, here are the 5 questions to ask a web development company that will help you decide if you should opt for that web development company or not.
-
What is the cost and what are the payment terms? What about project timeline and inputs?
Depending on the complexity of the web development project, the cost of the project can vary a lot. Hence, the cost aspect should be clarified at the beginning as also the schedule of payment. Most web development companies might ask for an initial deposit before starting work. This can range anywhere from 10% to 50% of the total project cost. The rest of the payment should be linked to project milestones and these should be clear to both the parties before the project begins.
Similarly, the project duration should be finalized with sufficient number of milestones, certain amount of flexibility and possibly incentives as well as penalties for finishing the job early versus falling behind on the project schedule. Also, the web development partner should consider you a valuable partner and consult and take your opinions on an ongoing basis as the project progresses. If the web development partner shows a tendency to “avoid” you, the client, then all may not be well with the project. You want to keep up with how the project is progressing on a daily basis using a variety of communication media such as emails, phone and Skype. This is something very important to get clear on before beginning work with your web development partner.
-
Who owns the domain name and intellectual property? Who hosts the website? Who has the login details?
If you are developing a brand new website for a new business, you need to think of a unique and memorable URL and register it yourself so that you own the URL. The next item is to ensure that the website is hosted on a reliable server or by a reputed web hosting company with at least 99.9% uptime. Once the website is live, you need to have the login information to the admin panel of the CMS — such as WordPress, Joomla, Magento Drupal and so on — that is used to build your website. You also need to have the login information for your webhost’s cPanel and FTP. This is to ensure that when the time comes to change your current web development partner, you have all the access info to your own website.
Also, the contract should clarify that you have ownership of all the website development work after it’s complete if you do not want to end up in a position where you discover that you do not actually “own” your own website. Ensure that this is clear before you start working with your web development partner.
- What CMS or technology are you going to use and is it user friendly?
This is a very important question that should be agreed upon before the start of the project. Your target should be to choose a technology that leads to the creation of a contemporary looking website with the highest levels of user friendliness. A website should be easily navigable and should be easily understandable to even the most un-web-savvy visitor.
Certainly the website should be built on one of the common open source CMS platforms such as WordPress, Joomla or Drupal are some examples. For E-commerce websites, the popular shopping carts like Magento and OpenCart are also an option. Using popular platforms ensures the easy availability of experts in those platforms. With thousands of plugins and extensions available, you will get a website that meets all your present and future needs.
Make detailed enquiries about whether the web development company will be using off-the-shelf WordPress themes and templates or developing a design from scratch and then coding that design into a WordPress theme. Use of standard templates makes things easy but “popular” WordPress themes might be used by thousands of websites meaning that your website won’t have a unique look.
If you want a unique look, you have to insist that you want your website to be entirely custom-designed even though that will cost you more. Your web development partner should advise you on this and give you some good options.
- What about SEO, Social Media and Digital Marketing?
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) works best when it’s embedded into the structure of the website itself from its initial design stage rather than as something of an afterthought. Professional web development companies will ensure that SEO is part of the design and development process so that the website does not suffer in organic search results. With the massive and frequent changes to search algorithms — Google Panda, Google Penguin and Google Hummingbird being the well known examples of such algorithm updates — SEO is no longer a hit-and-miss aspect of website design but very much integral to the project.
Similarly, Social Media and Social Media marketing is a key part of present day websites. Social sharing buttons should be embedded onto every page of a website. Make sure that your web development partner is familiar with the role social media marketing plays in the overall digital marketing effort. It’s not enough to just have a nice website — it must also be marketed to the world at large to attract a lot of visitors to your website. That aspect should be front-and-center in a web development project or contract. Have clear cut clauses in the contract that take care of these aspects. A good web development partner will have the expertise to help you with all of these channels.
- What about post-project support and maintenance?
A website is not a static thing. Rather, it’s ever evolving — you might feel the need to add some new functionality to it six months down the line. If it’s an E-commerce website, then there will be need for frequent updates — additions and deletions — to the website as new products are cataloged and old products are removed from catalogs. With a CMS-based website, it is fairly easy for any non-technical person to take care of daily content updates. But there might be technical aspects to the maintenance of a website such as if it gets hacked or keeping track of website downtime (which has to do with how good your webhost is), daily and weekly backups and backups of backups, risk mitigation, website traffic tracking and other contingencies, etc. You should ask the right questions and have the right clauses built into the contract that take care of all these questions.
Of course, there are commonplace expectations that should also be met by the website developer. These include a website that is cross-browser compatible — displays equally well on Firefox as well as on Chrome and Safari and so on — as well as being ready for smartphones and tablets — you do not want a website that is clumsy to navigate using small smartphone screens when more than half of website visitors are surfing the web from their mobile devices. Successful web development partners have good post-support project services as they have experience delivering this work.
Summary
The above queries are by no means an exhaustive list but a good set of questions to get you started nevertheless on what to ask your web development partner before beginning work with them. Ensure that you have gone through due diligence with your web development partner and are fully confident in working with them. If you have any questions or need any advice on your web development or anything else, please feel free to reach out to the team at Mind Digital Group
Follow us
Recent post
Popular post
- How To Call Batch Apex By Scheduler Class Within Salesforce
- What Is The Importance Of Google Algorithm Updates
- How To Create Dynamic Dependent Picklist Of Objects Within Salesforce
- What Is Wrapper Class & How To Use It In Salesforce
- How To Create Pagination Within Salesforce
- Tips For Hiring A Good Offshore Drupal Development Company
- Web Development Mistakes That Affect Your Online Reputation
- How To Integrate Google Maps Into Your Salesforce Software
- Check Your Link Building Strategy For 2014
- Tips For Selling Products Through Social Networking
- How To Create A Chart With Salesforce
- Benefits of Using India For Outsourcing & Offshore Development
- How To Integrate Salesforce With Facebook
- What Is Service Cloud Console In Salesforce & How To Enable It
- Superior Offshore Web Development At A Reasonable Cost
- How To Create Bucket Fields In Your Salesforce Reports
- 5 Things To Consider When Hiring A Drupal Developer
- Growth Of E-commerce Website Development
- Challenges In Hiring An Offshore Web Development Company
- 10 Tips When Creating Batch Apex In Salesforce
- What To Include & What To Exclude In SEO Plans
- How To Create An Opportunity Using A Visualforce Page In Salesforce
- Hire An Offshore Ruby On Rails Development Company Over A Freelancer
- Hire Drupal Developers Offshore To Increase Your Capabilities
- Effective SEO In A Post Panda Update – The Rules Have Changed
- Common Mistakes In Offshore Web Development
- What To Consider While Hiring A Dedicated Ruby On Rails Developer?
- Smart Phone & Tablet User Penetration
- Tips For Hiring A Good Offshore PHP Development Company
- Why Responsive Web Design Is Essential For Your Business
- How To Email Documents From Salesforce
- Website Development And Website Design Company India
- Why Work With An Offshore Development Company?
- How To Create Tab Panel In Salesforce
- How To Avoid 5 Common Off-Page SEO Mistakes
- The Multi-Billion Dollar Offshore Software Development Industry
- What Are The Advantages Of Digital Marketing Over Traditional Marketing?
- SEO & Conversational Keyword Search
- How To Avoid 5 Common On-Page SEO Mistakes
- How To Add Google Authorship And Its Benefits For Better SEO
- What’s Better For Facebook Ads: CPC Or CPM?
- Questions To Ask Your Potential Search Engine Optimization Partner
- How To Create Batch Apex In Salesforce
- Benefits Of Offshore PHP Development For Your Businesses
- Offshore Magento Development Means More Than Just Development Help
- What To Look For When Hiring A Dedicated OpenCart Developer
- Why You Should Consider Hiring Joomla Developers Offshore
- Stop Using Free Web Templates – Hire A Web Development Company
- How To Manage An Offshore Development Company?
- Hire Offshore Software Professionals To Help Your Business
- Offshore Development Is A Sensible Solution For Recessionary Times
- Why You Should Offshore Your Joomla Website Development
- 5 Tips To Help You Hire A Good Offshore PHP Development Company
- Reasons Why Salesforce CRM Customization Is Easy
- PHP Development – Turn Your Website Into A Multi-Featured Web Application
- 5 Things To Ask A Web Development Company Before Starting Work
- How A Multifaceted Web Development Company Can Help You?
- Take Advantage By Hiring A PHP Development Company From India
- Use Social Media Marketing To Improve Your Brand Identity
- Hiring Dedicated Developers From Offshore Development Companies
- See Measurable Results By Hiring Dedicated Ruby On Rails Developer
- Can “Developed By” Links Hurt Your SEO?
- Avoid 4 Common WordPress Development Mistakes
- How To Get All Salesforce Components In Force.com IDE
- The Manifold Advantages Of Working With An Offshore Web Development Company
- Hire A Dedicated Drupal Developer To Develop A High Performance CMS
- Web Development Company In India Defined
- Offshore Development – The Most Beneficial And Cost Effective Way To Outsource Your Business
- What To Look For When Hiring An Offshore Development Company
- Why Dedicated PHP Web Developers Are In Demand
- How To Avoid Some Common Mistakes When Working With An Offshore Web Development Company
- How To Choose An SEO Company
- Factors To Consider When Hiring Offshore Developers In India
- What To Look For When Hiring Dedicated Magento Developers
- Why Google Create Its Own Title Instead Of Using Yours
- 3 Challenges of Working with an Offshore Web Development Company
- Why Ruby On Rails Development Has Become Popular
- Why Hire A Web Development Company That Also Offers SEO
- 10 Tips And Tricks For Salesforce
- Are Back-links Losing Their Importance To Google Search Rankings
- The Significance Of A Salesforce Developer
- 4 Reasons to Hire A Web Development Agency Over A Freelancer
- Hire A PHP Developer- How Outsourcing Can Be A Key To Success
- Importance Of Strategic Digital Marketing For Business Growth
- Factors To Keep In Mind Before Hiring Dedicated Magento Developer
- Web Development India – For Prompt And Accurate Services
- Looking For An Offshore PHP Development Company, Where Do I Begin?
- 5 SEO Myths
- How To Choose A Company When Hiring Dedicated PHP Developers
- Why You Should Optimize For Local Search
- Hiring Offshore WordPress Developers Can Help Your Business
- How To Use Social Networking To Market Your Business
- Why Offshore Web Development To India Makes Business Sense
- 5 Factors To Consider When Hiring A Web Development Company
- Top Five Benefits Of Salesforce
- Benefits Of Hiring A Dedicated PHP Developer From India
- Using SEO & Social Media Together
- How Can An SEO Company Help Your Profile Online
- Strategic Importance Of Mobile SEO
- Choose The Social Media Network That Suits Your Business
- Why Offshore Web Development Services Make Sense
- Evaluating The Pros And Cons Of Offshore Web Development
- Offshore Joomla Development Help & Much More
- Breaking SEO Myths – SEO Is Simpler Than You Think
- Is SEO Important?
- OpenCart Development – An Incredibly Powerful E-commerce Platform
- 4 Things To Avoid In Offshore Web Development
- Digital Marketing Tips
- Why PHP Web Development Makes Sense
- Find A Website Development Company That Suits Your Needs
- OpenCart Development A Superb E-commerce Choice
- Mobile SEO – What Should You Be Thinking About?
- Why You Should Consider Offshore Software Development
- How Open Source Web Development Is Beneficial
- Website Load Time Has A Deep Impact On Your Business
- 5 Reasons To Use A Client Focused Web Development Company
- Top 5 Reasons To Use A CMS System For Your Website
- Why Is It The Perfect Time To Get An E-Commerce Website Developed?
- How To Generate Traffic From Blogging
- E-Commerce Growing Faster Than Ever
- SEO Is Both A Science & Art
- 6 Tips On How To Increase Your Website Speed
- Increase In Demand For Offshore PHP Development
- The Use And Benefits Of The Force.com Platform
- Activities A Search Engine Optimization Specialist Performs
- The Most Important Factors For Successful E-commerce SEO
- PHP Development & Much More
- Brilliant Web Development Services Offshore
- Magento Shopping Cart- One Of The Best Shopping Carts Available
- Cloud Computing Offers Fundamental Service Models To Users
- How Search Engines Work & Why Search Engine Optimization Is Important
- Opencart Development – An Adaptable E-commerce Platform
- E-Commerce SEO Techniques
- Do You Need A Web Design Company
- How Can I Get Help From Salesforce Directly?
- How Effective Is Hiring A Freelancer Instead Of A Web Development Company
- Tips To Create A Good Backlink Profile
- Aspects To Consider Before Choosing An Offshore Web Development Company
- What To Look For In An Offshore Joomla Development Company
- Offshore PHP Developers Can Increase Your Bottom Line
- Importance Of Google+ In Search Ranking
- Mind Digital Group Selected By Silicon India – Startup Of The Year 2014 Web Development
- What Exactly Is Offshore Web Development
- Impact Of Social Media on Ecommerce
- Custom Website Design And Online Promotion Go Hand-In-Hand
- Gaining Efficiencies & Remaining Competitive With Offshore Development
- 5 Things To Consider In Web Development
- 4 Simple Ways To Boost Your SEO Using Social Media
- Make Social Media Work For Your Business
- Hiring Offshore PHP Development Resources
- 5 Tips On How To Increase Traffic To Your Blog
- How Can An Offshore Development Center Help Me?
- Importance Of Communicating Your Needs To Your Web Developer
- Growth Of Mobile Web App Development
- Why You Should Outsource Your Social Media Marketing
- Mobile & Tablet Applications Usage
- Why Google Plus Needs To Be Taken Seriously
- Offshore Development Offers Higher Rewards And Less Risks
- Why You Should Consider Hiring Someone For Search Engine Optimization
- A Comprehensive Digital Marketing Campaign Can Do Wonders
- What’s Better For SEO Mobile Design Or Responsive Design
- Offshore Drupal Development Is A Brilliant Choice
- OpenCart Development Benefits For An Ecommerce Store
- Importance Of Social Media For Branding
- Ruby On Rails Offshore Development And ROR Benefits
- Online Reputation Management To Enhance Your Online Presence
- Social Networking
- Offshore Web Development A Boon Or A Bane
- Why India Has Become A Hub Of Offshore Web Development
- Is Search Engine Optimization Really Important?
- Six Reasons Why India Is A Special Offshoring Zone
- Social Media Is Here To Stay
- Custom Web Development Services – Tailored To Meet Your Specific Needs
- Know What Search Engine Optimization Can Do For You
- Offshore Joomla Development Is A Viable Option
- Build A Brilliant Ecommerce Store With An Offshore Magento Development Company
- Ever-Increasing Demand For Dedicated PHP Developers
- Offshore Development Serving To Be The Cheaper Alternative
- Web Development Versus Web Design – Is There Really A Difference?
- How Can A Web Development Company Help Your Business
- Offshore Web Development India And Innovative Techniques
- Brand Awareness Through Social Media
- Offshore Drupal Development For A Cost-Effective Website
- Why Requirement Analysis Is Necessary For Web Development
- Grow Your Business With Efficient Offshore PHP Development
- Dedicated Joomla Developers Can Help Your Business Excel
- Superior Results With Offshore Magento Development
- Offshore Web Development For An Alluring Website
- Search Engine Optimization To Increase Your Web Traffic
- PHP Web Development Solutions Impact On Your Business
- India Is The Location For Offshore Magento Development
- Choose WordPress Development For A Great Website
- Search Engine Optimization Is Not Rocket Science
- Offshore Web Development Is A Viable Option
- Offshore Ruby On Rails Development Is A Superb Choice For Development
- The Evolution Of Search Engine Optimization
- 4 Crucial Factors For Search Engine Optimization
- Magento Development For A Brilliant Ecommerce Store
- Hire Dedicated Joomla Developers For Cost Effective Web Development
- Offshore PHP Development Can Help Anyone Succeed
- 5 Reasons Why WordPress Development Is So Popular
- Offshore Drupal Development Is A Cost Effective Option
- Why Choose Custom Web Development
- What Not To Do With An Offshore Web Development Company
- Simple Tips On Magento Ecommerce Development
- Why You Should Hire An Offshore Magento Developer From India
- Ruby On Rails For Robust And Rapid Development
- Create A Robust Website With An Offshore Drupal Development Company
- Advantages Of Outsourcing Web Development Projects
- Hire An Offshore Magento Developer For Cost Effective Services
- Internet Mogul Magazine Coverage – Mind Digital Group
- Offshore PHP Development – Know Your Options
- Take Advantage Of The Global Perspective Of An Offshore Web Development Company
- The Many Advantages Of Choosing Ruby On Rails Development
- 5 Brilliant WordPress Plugins
- 5 Reasons To Choose Drupal Development
- Importance Of Choosing The Right Offshore PHP Development Company
- Why Hiring Dedicated PHP Developers Is A Viable Choice
- Top 5 PHP Development Frameworks That Speed Up Development
- Qualities To Look For In An Offshore Web Development Company
- Hiring An Offshore Web Development Company Can Benefit Your Business
- Four Things To Help You Choose The Right WordPress Development Company
- What Is The Role Of An Online Reputation Management Agency For Your Business?
- Why Go With An Offshore Web Development Company
- Quality Provided By Offshore Web Development Companies
- Benefits Of Choosing OpenCart Development
- How Onshore Web Development Is Being Replaced By Offshore Web Development
- Reasons For The Necessity Of Search Engine Optimization
- Magento Development Is An Ideal Ecommerce Solution
- Considerations When Hiring An Offshore Web Development Company
- What Benefits Can Social Media Bring To Your Business
- Why Has Magento Development Become So Popular
- 3 Brilliant Extensions For Your Magento Ecommerce Store
- India Is The Location For Offshore Magento Development
- Offshore Joomla Development Will Help Your Business
- Convenience And Ease Of Use Makes OpenCart Development Popular
- Offshore PHP Development Is A Budget Friendly Way To Develop A Website
- Magento Development Is A Smart Business Decision
- Offshore Web Development Can Save Your Business
- Drupal Development Has Many Benefits
- Should I Go For WordPress Or Joomla Web Development
- Magento Development In India Is A Brilliant Option For Your E-commerce Needs
- Offshore Magento Developers To Maximize ROI On Your Budget
- An SEO Company Can Help Your Website
- Offshore PHP Development – Know Your Options
- Magento Development To Build An Enterprise Ecommerce Store
- What Everybody Ought To Know About Offshore Web Development
- Why It Is Important To Choose An Experienced Website Designer
- Investing In Paid Search Or Search Engine Optimization
- Considerations To Hire An Offshore Web Developer
- Offshore PHP Developers Is A Good Business Idea
- Things To Look For In An OpenCart Development Company
- What Is A Headless Drupal CMS ?
- Power Of SEO And Social Media For Your Business
- Quality Offshore Web Development Results Comes With Experience
- Offshore Web Development To Meet Varying Business Needs
- Offshore Joomla Development Is An Exceptional Choice
- Offshore OpenCart Development For The Online Store Of Your Dreams
- 5 Things To Consider In Offshore Web Development
- How To Recruit An Offshore WordPress Development Company
- Benefits Of Hiring Dedicated Joomla Developers For Your Business
- Offshore Web Development Is A Cost Effective Solution
- 3 Tips To Find A Good Offshore Web Development Company