It goes without a saying that every business looking to connect with the world and a multitude of prospective customers needs to have a website. As much as this is undeniable, with creating a website comes to the task of appointing a web developer or agency to carry out the job, and selecting the right agency can be challenging.
While portfolios of previous work play a role in the process, interviewing and asking the right questions can provide you with the needed insight to better inform your selection decision.
As an agency that prides themselves with building custom websites for our clients, we know just the questions to ask your future website developer, and in no particular order we’ve put together a list of items to ask a potential web design and development partner before choosing who will handle your firm’s next website redesign.
With any field in business, timelines are crucial, keep this in mind when asking this question.
If the answer is tomorrow, then try the next web developer.
Well, we know you need your website designed ASAP, however, web developers worth any penny generally have a waiting period at least two weeks or more before they'll be able to work with you.
PERFECT CIRCLE TIP: If you want an excellent developer, you need to plan. Start looking for one at least a month before you want your project to start!
This answer may not help you much, especially if you are not familiar with programming languages or development. However, you should be listening to the technology that your development project will base on.
For example, if you are looking for a WordPress developer, the answer to this question should include “PHP” (which is what WordPress uses).
Not all agencies listed as web design and development have these services as their core services offering or have in-house experts in both fields. So, understanding what parts of your website will be or won’t be performed in-house is another essential consideration.
While this is certainly not a deal-breaker, the employment of third parties might have many implications, from costs to timelines. Not to mention, there are some pretty significant advantages a “self-performing” and “design-build” digital agency can bring to your website redesign project.
If a potential web developer plans to use outside support, it’s essential to know who they’ll be using and what portions they’ll be working on.
Many websites out there masked as custom websites, but the truth is they are merely pre-built themes that are customized for a particular client. Your budget might limit you to using a theme; however, if you are informed that you’ll be paying for and expecting to receive a custom “stick-built” website, you must ask this question.
A custom website means the firm performs every pixel and layout, and the website is “hand-coded” by a qualified developer.
Here there is no right or wrong answer, different agencies work differently, and different clients have different preferences.
If you are someone wants to update/edit things like right now, it is best to opt for a web design platform that's easy to update and maintain yourself.
Also, if you'd instead send an email with edits/updates and wait a few days to have them done by someone else then, go for an agency that offers long-term maintenance packages.
These questions are by no chance all you need to ask from your prospective web developer; they do, however, form an integral part of that conversation.
It goes without a saying that every business looking to connect with the world and a multitude of prospective customers needs to have a website.