Choosing a website for your business is a big decision, after all, the website is at the heart of your marketing activity and is the main way for people to see and read about what you do. In order to achieve the website you want, in terms of impact, timeliness, technology and cost, it’s important to find a web developer you can connect with and trust.
Having a strong working relationship with each other to keep an open dialogue about the project will help you both create the best possible result for your business. When you’re researching web development partners, there are certain qualities you can measure against to help you get a feel for the company that will be suited best to you and your business.
1. Experience
It goes without saying that the past experience your web developer has will have a direct affect on how the project runs and the finished product. If you choose to work with a development company, you will benefit from the experience of more than just one person. You may also want to consider looking for a company that has experience working with your size and type of business, as they will better understand your goals and resources. An experienced web developer is a safe pair of hands and they will guide you through the process smoothly. Less experienced companies may create a few bumps in the road for you whilst they iron out kinks in their own processes so bear that in mind.
2. Quality of Work
The more experienced a developer is, the better quality of work you will receive. Be sure that you check previous examples in a portfolio and see a range of different styles of website from your developer before you work with them, to set your expectation correctly. If a developer simply sends you links to a few live sites that vary in style and quality, ask for more information or contact with a previous client as unfortunately, anyone can grab some links from Google and claim the work as their own.
3. Technology Used
The technology that sits behind your website is just as important as how it looks. Think about how you need the website to work for you and your customers, how you might want to collect data from it, how you might want to add content, and how you may want to grow the business. Choose a platform that allows you to evolve the site over time without restrictions and has an easy to use content management system so that you can update small changes such as text or images yourself or delegate small updates to your own team rather than relying on a developer.
4. After Sales Support/ Ongoing Support
Whilst you don’t want to rely on your web developer to keep your site content updated, it is important to maintain a relationship with them so that you can ask questions, receive support and have a point of contact for any technical queries. Before you agree to your website project, ask what kind of support you can expect once your website is live, and check if there are any annual costs that might be incurred for such support or other services like hosting. Also check what might happen if your website was to go offline, and what the process for managing this would be, as a few days of downtime could of course lose your business sales so it’s important to protect against that.
5. Cost
Cost shouldn’t be the main driver of your decision, but it’s understandable that every business has a budget to work within. Website costs can vary wildly, and the way the costs are charged can even be confusing too – some will charge an hourly rate, others a set cost, some a monthly subscription. Make sure you shop around and get a few quotes to decide what will work best for your cash flow and to be sure you’re not being overcharged for the same kind of site available elsewhere.
Choosing Just Some Coding for Your Website Project
Just Some Coding can help you tick all the boxes of the above 5 factors. The company has been creating websites for small businesses for more than 10 years and have a wide breadth of experience with website technology, including app development, single page applications and custom content management systems. The quality of work is clear to see on our portfolio and we are always happy to share examples and case studies.
The recently launched PageSlice platform at Just Some Coding allows us to create websites within days at a budget friendly price, unlike traditional site build that can take months and run into thousands. The user-friendly CMS allows our clients to update their sites easily when needed. We also provide a helpful after-sales process to support our customers with using their new sites, and when the time comes to grow, create an app from their websites too.
If you would like to ask us more about our web development service, we’re always happy to talk to you about your business and offer some guidance on price and turnaround times for your project.
