How to choose the best Web Developer

If you have decided to create a website, it's time to choose who'll do it. Be careful: it's better not to have a website at all than have a bad one, that will scare away your customers and stain your good reputation.

Following a few simple principles will prevent you from doing the most common mistakes in a website development process.

1. Determine your goals and needs. Developing a simple presentation website and E-commerce catalog are absolutely different things. Your clear explanation will help website developers to bring you the most effective results and avoid misunderstanding.

2. Look through the company's portfolio. If they claim themselves to be the best website development company in the world, but their masterpieces are not shown in their portfolio, that won't do. You may even try to contact their previous customers to know their feedback if it's possible.

3. Contact your website developer personally by phone, email or %u2026. No matter whether it's a huge corporation or a single person, this website developer is responsible for a web image of your business. Ask them as many questions as possible. Try to evaluate whether this person:

%u2022 listens to you carefully;

%u2022 understands the peculiarities and needs of your business;

%u2022 shares your vision of your future website.

You have got to enjoy working with this person. Do you LIKE the designer's portfolio? Do you believe he'll do his best in the process of your website development? Do you enjoy communicating with him?

4. Think ahead. Website is a functioning system which requires changes over a certain period of time that will increase its efficiency. It's impossible to foresee the future, but if you're looking for longtime relationship with your website design company, you have to be sure that it's a serious and reliable company you can entrust your business to. If you're already involved in the process of website development, ask your designer for editable source files. You have to be sure that you will be able to edit your website with ease.

Remember that developing a website is crucial for your business success. Careful evaluation of potential website will allow you to choose the right website developer, saving your budget, time and efforts.

I hope you will weigh all the factors before choosing a website development company. It is also very important not to be in a hurry. We all know that hasty decisions can lead to undesirable consequences. Please remember that choosing the best web developer should be done carefully and responsibly.

Whenever you decide to develop a website, you will be surprised to discover how many web design companies are at your disposal. To your greatest surprise they will speak a lot how good they are and ask you what you expect from your future website. But now it's time for you to ask questions and for them to answer. Let me give you an idea of how to make them spill the beans. Just a few simple questions will be enough to make sure you entrust your website development to professionals. Carefully research the answers and choose the best Web development company for your project.

1. How Many years of Experience Does The Web development Company Have? Do They Have Any Special Awards?

Experience in the industry is a good proof of stability and hard working. Web Development companies with years in business have established their trustworthy reputation for outstanding design and approach to customers. More experienced company is more likely to be there for further support and regular website updates. Do you remember yourself being an amateur in what you are doing now? No one blames you for that but please admit that today your performance is much higher. The more time you are involved in any activity the more efforts you dedicate to it, the more passionate you become about it. Being experienced usually means being an expert in whatever you are doing. Web Design is certainly not an exception.

2. What is the number of Staff Members and What Are Their Roles within a Web Development company?

Speaking about effective Web Development companies it doesn't necessarily mean that the more staff members it has the more successful your website will be. The most important are their roles.

3. Besides Website Design, What Other Services Does The Company Offer?

Most effective companies do not limit the range of their activities to Web Design and Web Development only. They try to extend this list to SEO, Logo Design, Web Content Writing, Blog Promotion, Social Media Marketing, E-Commerce Development and some other. Regardless of whether you need only a website or an additional possibility to promote it on the web, I highly recommend you to find a company which could easily handle any of the tasks mentioned above.

4. Is this Web Design Company going to collect your Business information and use it in the process of Website Development?

Professional Web Development companies often ask you answer certain questions to get better understanding of your overall website goals and needs. Even if the web development firm is full of highly trained experts in Web Design it doesn't necessarily mean that they are experts in your industry. That's why they have to ask you a lot to make this website as much your-business-like as possible.

5. What Are The Company's Payment Terms?

Before making certain arrangements with your Web Development company, it's important to make everything clear about payment deadlines. Trustful company will cross all the t's and dot all the i's to show you all the transparency of a situation.

If your web development company asks you to make all the payments before the project starts, it's time to be become alert. It means there is something they are afraid of. Do not hesitate to settle all the payment issues. Otherwise, it may cost you much more than you intended to spend.

6. Does the Web Development company guarantee the Privacy Of Information?

If you want to get a high-quality website, your web development agency can't do without access to very important information, which you wouldn't like to distribute to third parties and especially to your competitors. What if somebody has a chance to steal your ideas? That's why there must be a strong privacy policy to protect your information. Discuss this issue with your web development company to avoid unexpected surprises. Imagine yourself browsing through the websites of competitors and discovering your own ideas, your unique and precious ideas which you have been developing for months or even years. It's not certainly the best situation. But so happens and that's for you to decide who you're going to pass your valuable information to.

7. How much time is it approximately going to take to complete your Web Development project?

Be curious about an average turn-around time for projects which are similar in size to your own. This will show you whether your web development company has relevant project management system. In case you have a certain deadline which is a must to meet, track the behavior of designers towards this and whether they are really interested in meeting it.

10. Is this Web Development company capable of Writing Content for your website?

SEO copywriting is a powerful tool which aims at promoting your website. Properly optimized, your website has a good chance to appear on the front pages of Search Engines. Every efficient company offers copywriting services. Be sure you ask them to show you the examples. What would be really great is to look at the sites within your industry.

11. What Operating Systems and Programming Languages are used by the Web Development Company?

If you have the slightest idea of that, web development companies use both open source PHP/MySQL and Asp-net programming languages. Ask web developers to provide you with the technical advice on which Platform would be the most relevant to suit your needs and budget.

13. What is included in Website Testing and Quality Checking? Are you allowed to have an access to your website while it's still being developed?

Generally, the process of quality checking involves browser testing, checking for broken links and testing of general usability. This helps to ensure that the website is easy to navigate and visitors may easily make out what is what. If you have an ability to see the version of your website in the process of development, you will be able to interact with the designers about what you like and what you don't. This way it would be easier for you to be involved in the process.

14. Are you allowed to Host your Website with any Other Company?

In some cases a web development company does not provide you any other options but to host your website with them. Of course you are so excited about creating your website that thinking about hosting would be too much. That won't go this way. Everything has to be arranged in advance. What if you find a company whose hosting services would appeal to you more. Do not hesitate to go one step further and ask about hosting.

15. Are they going to teach you how to to manage your website?

If the website is operating with certain software, it would be much easier for you to have a clear idea of how to use it. Find out whether your web development company will give you any tutorial documents. In case this system is difficult to understand, it would be perfect to have a special training program. So make sure you receive great customer support before you make a decision about a web development agency.

16. Is This Web Development Company Capable of SEO? Have they included it in a quote?

Search Engine Optimization is very difficult to understand and moreover to deal with. Reliable Web Development company should be experienced in SEO and providing internet marketing solutions. Choose a company which will help you get the most desirable results with your business campaign.

17. How much does it cost to update your website after it is already completed?

Before ordering website development, you should think about future website redesigns, how often you will need them and how much will have to be changed. Ask your website design company about future website redesign price and the conditions of maintenance. In case you have to update your website quite often, Content Management System would be the best option for you. It will come in handy to you if you are planning to make regular and frequent changes on your website.

18. Do you have to get a website bug fixed at additional cost? Do you need to pay for small changes?

In most cases web development companies fix the bugs or apply slight changes free of charge. But of course there are companies which will charge you even for the smallest change on your website, especially if it is not the bug. Usually web development agencies provide you with several designs for you to approve the one you like most. You will then be involved in each stage of web design process. Every step which is approved by the client is regarded to be finished. When you go back and ask for certain changes - it may cost you money. But it all depends on a company you've chosen and their customer support.

I hope you now understand how important it is to put right questions to your web design company. Wrong decision may result in the most disappointing results possible. These 18 questions will help you find out more about the company and avoid undesirable surprises. Learn your web development company from different angles and don't let it play tricks on you.

1. Decide for yourself, why you need a website. Precise estimation of needs and goals of your business will be helpful for better orientation in complexity, budget and terms of your website development project.

2. Do not try to make a website by yourself. The explanation will be quite easy - website development is a complicated process, which requires thorough work of professionals - programmers, web designers, project managers and content writers. If you possess all these skills - you can create a website. Otherwise you'll have to entrust it to someone else.

3. Do not entrust website development to non-professional web developers such as friends, relatives, students, etc. This mistake will result in a website you won't be able to show to anybody. The experience shows that this venture has never resulted in something worthy. Firstly, it's very difficult for one person to create a website. Secondly, it's very difficult to establish a professional relationship with a friend: imagine that you don't like the work, but how will you criticize a good friend, who made it cheaper than a professional website development company?

4. Think over the sections and sub-sections of your website. Draw a tree-structure of a website. This tree-form structure will help you decide which sections are prior and how they should be organized.

5. Write a website specification.

This document regulates your relations with a web designer, including demands in web design, terms of execution and price for the project.

6. Look for a good and trusted web development company. Accept the fact that good site isn't a cheap thing to get. If an Executor offers very cheap prices, it's a reason to become alert. Pay attention to a company's portfolio.

7. Work out the stages of website development together with the Executor. Get to know the final price.

8. Interact with your web designer.

Web design is usually the first stage of website development process. It's a concept of general website look. Web design is a compromise between a designer's concept and your own.

9. Demand an easy-to-edit and easy-to-navigate website.

Layout is a process that follows web design. Ask the designer to show you how to edit the website and make sure that this process is not too complicated.

10. Test the website before launching it.

This stage will allow you to avoid most of mistakes in website navigation. Read the content, test all the buttons and report mistakes. Launch your website after all the mistakes are corrected.

I hope you found this information useful.

Website development is an investment into the company's image as well as a powerful tool to increase the amount of sales through the web. Thousands of companies all over the world offer website development services, but you should determine your goals and needs before you do it.

Possible goals of website development:

%u2022 Attract new target audience. Millions of people worldwide surf the Internet. New technologies allow you to attract potential customers to your website.

%u2022 Improving company's image. Own website is a distinctive sign that company keeps abreast of the times and uses state-of-the-art technologies for business development.

%u2022 establish relationship with customers and staff - website is a convenient facility to inform about changes, discounts and other events.

%u2022 organize online sales - online store can perform all the functions of a standard shop.

How can a website look like? (Some types of websites).

%u2022 presentation website (business card website) - a small website (3-5 pages app.) that contains information about company, short descriptions of goods, services and contacts. This type of website is economical and affordable.

%u2022 corporate website - a full-blown website, that contains company news, precise list of goods and services, feedback, and detailed information about the company. Corporate website is an effective tool for increasing sales, improving company's image and establishing perspective relationship with customers.

%u2022 E-catalogue - is a type of website that gives clients a possibility to view the product catalogue online without an option of ordering. All they need is to contact the shop and order a product.

%u2022 Online store - this type of website allows you to take orders and receive payments directly on a company website. Online store advertizes goods and increases sales.

Stages of website development

1. Define technical and creative tasks. This stage includes:

%u2022 indicating the goals of a website;

%u2022 detailed description of website functions;

%u2022 general concept of a website;

%u2022 functional and technical characteristics of a website;

%u2022 structure and sections of a website;

%u2022 website design.

The volume is usually up to 10 pages. If you've never created a website before, don't be afraid - professional staff of a web development company will help you handle all the stages of website development successfully.

2. Agreement of the project

The agreement of the website development project regulates stages and terms of website development, price, guarantees and responsibility of website developer.

3. Website development

At this stage programmers, designers, content managers and project managers develop the design and functionality of your website.

4. Website forwarding and website promotion

Website advertisement is necessary for attracting target audience. Specify cost of website forwarding and promotion before the website development process. There are a lot of ways to promote a website, but the most effective technique is to increase website ranking in search engine systems according to search requests, connected with goods and services of the company.

How to make a successful website design that will attract customers and bring you huge benefits? That's the question we're going to discuss.

Your website should remain a Website - not overloaded with flash elements, easy to download, with convenient navigation system and pleasant color range.

If the customer is looking for furniture, he should find furniture, but not a half-an-hour downloading creative web design solutions. The first key of successful website design is simplicity (but not primitivism)! Also remember, that unique company logo and even small icons are those elements that attract attention to your website.

The price of website design is usually a thorny subject. But still there are some other ways to conjecture the price of your website design. The price of website design depends on tasks, goals and roles the website will perform. If you're looking for a corporate website - the main goal is clearly organized information, and quite simple visual design. The cost depends on the company's size - larger companies may spend a lot of money to look more solid. For promo websites visual comprehension is of high importance. Determine the goals of your website and ask your website developer for a rough price. The precise price can be estimated only after compiling exact tasks for website designer.

How to make your website stand out from the crowd?

Have you ever thought whether every firm has its own website? Every businessman knows that website increases income and business efficiency. But some of them consider website to be just a business card of the company, which contains basic information, contacts or a driving map, while for others it's an additional source of income. Both variants should be performed professionally - in other case there's no use of creating a website at all! Professionals will help you create your website, taking your ideas in consideration and supplying them with complete website maintenance services and website promotion. Much turns on a professionalism of website developers.

For example, if you're developing a website for a plastic surgery clinic, the most important task is to create easy and convenient navigation and quality gallery; photos should be added for every section of the website, they should be easy to download and contain "before" and "after" examples. E.g. if it's rhinoplasty, there should be two photos that illustrate the nose before operation and changes after it. It's very important for a website to suit and reflect adequately the peculiarities of a company. No matter whether it's a website of plastic surgery clinic or a construction firm, all the aspects should be taken into consideration. Every website has its own purpose, which should be understood clearly by website developer.

It would be good for you if you continued to cooperate with those specialists who developed your website. You could choose host and domain, website promotion and other stages of complete website maintenance. Not every website owner knows all the peculiarities of successful website maintenance. Asking other web developers may result in misunderstandings and wrong website installation. To avoid such troubles, discuss all the aspects of website creation with your web developer.

Flash is a multimedia technology that has its pros and cons. Pay attention to the functional, practical and basic positions of Flash animation before applying it to your website.

No one argues that using flash animation on your website will make it more effective and bright, but too much flash animation won't be good for your website as well. In this case site visitors won't be able to perceive information properly and attentively. Flash animation may distract their attention leading to undesirable consequences.

Develop your website with the peculiarities of your business in mind. The most expensive and complicated design is not always the most effective one. Website design requires a professional approach: consult an experienced website development company and discuss all the sharp points. Ask them to show you examples and give you a possibility to compare what you like most.

Following a few simple rules will help you avoid a negative effect of flash animation:

%u2022 if you are still considering to use flash animations do not do this on every page of your website. There's nothing worse than glittering pages of corporate website or an online shop. Little flash block on the main page will be enough if not too much. It all depends on the kind of flash animation, whether it is too shiny and colorful.

%u2022 do not use flash on websites loaded with information (catalogues, shops, portals). When the page includes too much information, it's impossible for a user to perceive it adequately if something is consistently distracting their attention.

%u2022 be careful: logo shouldn't include complicated elements, instead it should be clear and understandable.

As a proof there are hundreds of examples which help you understand that flash animation is most likely not a friend to your website. Have you ever visited websites which are all that shiny and animated? Even if you liked them, most probably you've forgotten what you're looking for. There is one precise rule which will help your website look stylish: perfection in simplicity. It's like with clothes: simple clothes items tend to look more stylish than eye-catching and colorful ones. The truths is that the more you try to impress someone, the more you scare them away. The same goes to websites. Impress visitors with your imagination and creative web design solutions. But it doesn't mean you have to place a flash animation wherever it's possible.

If you're still having any doubts about flash animation contact your web developer and receive the answers.

Serious website can't be imagined without proper software.

The term "content management" refers to a wide range of software. It includes short scripts which allow you to add news or press releases to the web page, and full-blown publishing systems with workflow support and other advanced functions.

There is a large choice of content management systems (CMS), and it's quite difficult for an inexperienced versed user to choose the one which would be the most suitable. Wrong choice of CMS may cause certain inconvenience in site navigation starting with technical problems to scarce functional and security problems.

As a rule, web development company is responsible for a chosen CMS. But it often happens that the needs of a client differ from the needs of an executor. That's why it's important for you to pay attention to the choice of CMS. As a matter of fact this would be you, a website owner, who will use a chosen Content Management System. So, it's up to you what to opt for.

Main principles of Content Management Systems:

%u2022 accessibility. CMS does not require any additional software - the system is installed on the web server and all operations are performed through any internet browser.

%u2022 functionality. Most content management systems consist of modules. That's why the site functionality will depend on the functions of included modules.

%u2022 security. Most CMSs are rigged with tools that guarantee a secure website.

%u2022 general structure. CMS consists of a shell (commander) and database. Shell is a set of programs that react on the user's request and show it as a separate page. This means that pages are generated according to a certain template.

There are certainly many more factors which are crucial in selecting a CMS for your website.

The choice of proper CMS for your project depends on your budget, site complexity and technical support. Remember, there's no universal CMS without any flaws.

And finally, if you want to avoid certain kinds of inconvenience with your website, ask your website developer as many questions as possible. The more you know about CMS principles, the more chances you have to choose exactly what you need. Take into consideration the goals and needs of your website, functional support and convenience.

The choice is always difficult. We wish you luck in this complicated task. Moreover, we are quite responsible for all the information you received from us and don't want to leave you alone with it. So, if you have some questions, problems or need some advice, contact us and we are always ready to give you a hand.