Articles

Working with Web Developers

By Henry Harvey

One of the most important professional relationships these days is between Web developer and client. Since I have worked on both "sides," as Web developer and as a manager working with Web developers, I have formulated a series of questions that can be of use to an entrepreneur creating a new Web sites.

Q: How do I choose a Web design and development company?

A: Take a look at their online portfolio. Do they have a track record in developing your kind of site? Are their sites easy to use, nice to look at, etc.? Of course, it's always best to use a company known to you or recommended by someone you trust. But if not, are you comfortable with them when you meet? The client/developer relationship can be very intense. Do you have confidence in them to come through? Do they have the tools and manpower to do the job? Are they flexible and customer focused or are they rigid and inflexible?

Q: What do I need to do before meeting with a developer?

A: Before you look for a Web developer, ask yourself the following questions:

Who is my target audience? What am I selling? Products? Services? My company itself? How does the Web site fit into the company's overall marketing program? How much money can we budget?

Develop a comprehensive list of business requirements for your site and put them down on paper. Be specific. For example, if you sell refrigerators, your business requirements might be "Users to the site should be able to search for refrigerators by brand or by price range and purchase them online."

It's also helpful to mock up your idea for what the site should look like. Don't worry if it doesn't look so great right now--it will help your Web designer or developer to get some idea what you're thinking about. And give both of you something to talk about in the first meeting.

Q: How do you formalize a relationship with a developer?

A: Usually your Web design firm will want to develop an outline of the development process that will estimate costs and provide a timeline. Upon signing the agreement, you will make an initial payment and then continue to make additional payments upon reaching certain "milestones" in the project.

Q: What is a "functional spec"?

A: A functional spec is short for functional specification. After you've laid out all your business requirements, the developer will translate this document into a set of specifications that defines the functionality of the site.

Q: Do I need to do a mock-up of the site?

A: A mock-up is a good idea: It provides a concrete representation of the user experience (remove comma) before the real development is underway. Like an architect's model, a simple mock-up allows you to make changes before a lot of time (and money) have been wasted.

Q: Do Web developers create graphics first, or do the programming stuff first?

A: Usually it's a bit of both. Often you'll want a designer to create some preliminary graphics for your site, especially if you haven't yet designed a corporate logo. But it is equally important to start working with a developer on the "back end" (the database/e-commerce side of things).

Q: How much does it cost to develop a Web site?

A: Costs can vary a great deal. If your site is very small and you can do the work yourself, the cost is next to nothing. If you're building the next Amazon.com or Ebay, expect to spend a couple of a million bucks.

But for most of us, a moderately sized site will cost a minimum of about $30,000 to $50,000 when all is said and done.

I good rule of thumb is about $100 to $150 per hour for a Web development firm, or about $1,000 per page. Ongoing maintenance costs can run several thousand per month.

Q: Can my staff or I easily update the site once it's set up?

A: If you need to update your site content frequently, make your developer aware of this early on because it may affect its design of the site. It should be easy for you to make simple changes to the text content of your site. Making changes to graphics or the overall design of your site is more difficult, so be sure you're happy with the site before you "sign off."

Q: How do I build more traffic to my site?

A: Some suggestions:

Make sure your Meta tags (which contain description and keyword information) are relevant and concise. Search engines will reject Meta tags that are too long or contain too many duplicate key words.

Submit to the major search engines and update on a regular basis. Or, use a search engine submission service to do this for you.

Consider a link swapping or affiliate arrangement with another site.

Make sure your site is easy to use and your content is fresh to keep people coming back. Some of the most popular sites got that way because they're just damn useful.

Q: How do I choose a Web hosting company?

A: Take a look at the kind of services they offer and make sure that they meet your technical requirements. For example, if your site is running on Cold Fusion, make sure they support that application. Next, see if you can find out what their server reliability is. Do they have secure servers? Do they do regular backups? What is their net connection like?

Comments or questions? Email to info[AT]henryharvey.com.
Copyright Henry Harvey 2006.