This post will save you heartache and money. Your website can and should be one of the main drivers of leads for your business. Before you hire a web developer, there are some things you should know to ask.
The majority of buyers go online to research their purchase decisions and your website needs to accomplish many things: It should align with your business strategy; be findable via keywords and via the content you publish; and gain and nurture trust to convert those visitors to a paying customer.
Hiring a web design firm is a therefore a pretty big decision and I see too many businesses outsourcing the project in a silo-ed fashion to a web developer who doesn’t have a clear understanding of the role the site needs to play in the bigger picture.
As in any industry, there are the good guys and the bad guys. The problem is, you don’t know if you’re dealing with the good and the bad. Just like when I take my car in to get fixed, you could sell me a whole package of BS and I’d buy it, because I haven’t a clue.
If your web design firm isn’t asking you the right questions and if you, in turn, aren’t asking the right questions, you might end up with someone who will do a nice enough job, leaving you with a website that is far short of your potential and you don’t even know.
It’s critical to approach your web project strategically with the next few years in mind otherwise you end up needing to start over, or make expensive changes down the road;
Heartache and money.
I say “a few years” because technology is changing so rapidly, we really can’t think beyond a few years at a time when it comes to actual tools.
At Big Leap Creative, we don’t do web design in-house, but we work with developers on behalf of our clients, or we consult with them through their project. I do however, have intimate relationships with my clients’ sites and I shake my head often: The limitations can be costing you who knows HOW much in revenue.
What to Look For Before Hiring a Web Design Firm
Before you share a ton of information, I’d be curious to let them take the lead and see what questions they are asking you. Then save your questions to the end, which we’ll get to.
Hopefully, they want to know these things:
- What is the goal(s) of your website? You want measurable goals with timeline.
- Who is your target audience(s)? Tell us everything you know about them.
- Prioritize #1 and #2.
- What information do you want to share? Give us a list. (they’ll ask about content, who’s writing it, photography, etc.)
- They’ll ask about functionality – ecommerce, blog, video, etc.
- Talk about content management systems (CMS). This is the back end of the site, and where you can add your fresh content every day – change things, change everything without waiting days for your web guy to do it! It’s easy. Even you can do it.
- What do you want your visitors to do? You have to dig into this and create a path for each visitor at each stage of the sales funnel from brand new, to warm lead, to ready to buy. So you want them to do things like sign up for a free newsletter, get a download, make an appointment. THIS IS THE STUFF THAT MAKES YOU MONEY.
The first five questions are no-brainers. I’m sure they are talking to you about this. But let’s talk about content management systems. I always recommend self-hosted WordPress sites. This site is WordPress built on Genesis child theme. I can’t think of any reason why you wouldn’t do WordPress unless you are a large enterprise. It’s flexible with the availability of gazillions of plugins to customize. It is secure and constantly updated with changing technology.
I’ve worked with Smarsh and Ubertor and they aren’t great. With Ubertor, I was trying to edit meta tags (these are the page titles and descriptions you see in search engine results pages and are critical to SEO.) To do that, I needed to upgrade to the SEO package for $495. I asked why it was so expensive. This is a very basic feature. And they immediately backed down and gave it to me for free. Um, yeah. Car mechanic syndrome.
How Much Does a Website Cost?
You get what you pay for in web design so don’t think the $4000 guy is ripping you off over the $2000 guy.
You can find someone to do a basic blog/website on a non-custom theme starting at around $2000. Step it up with custom themes for closer to $4000. And then of course, the pricing increases from there with increased functionality.
If your budget is small you can do it yourself. Or go with a lower cost option knowing you can easily upgrade when you are able. That’s what we are doing with the my husband’s Small House Winery website.
Obviously, the return on investment will be exponential to how awesome your site is. That doesn’t change the fact that cash flow is cash flow. So get it started and reinvest the money to do it better down the road if need be.
Questions for your Proposed Web Guy
If your guy or gal hasn’t talked about it yet, you might want to ask him things like:
- Will it be mobile and tablet responsive? I don’t have to tell you this should be a must in this day and age, right?
- What plugins do you suggest given what we are trying to achieve? You’ll want Google Analytics installed so you can track traffic, Yoast SEO plugin so you can optimize your site to get found, Premise to create landing pages, and many many others. But you wouldn’t know so you rely on them for this feedback.
- Are you going to import our content from our previous site? Answer should be yes.
- Should we change domain names? Don’t change domain name unless you absolutely have to. I don’t want you to lose all the good SEO juice you’ve built up.
- Talk to me about the transfer once we go live with the new site. What is the process? What are the risks? Will there be downtime? Are you prepared to minimize that, and if so, how? This might be like saying “Donde esta el baño” on vacation in Spain and being so proud of yourself but then not understanding a word of response. That’s OK. Take notes and find someone to help and get a second opinion.
If you’re going to be using a digital marketing agency separate from your web design firm, get them involved on a consulting basis at the beginning. This will save that money and heartache down the road. I promise.
I’ve inherited too many sites that limit our ability to get found online, to add widgets and sign-ups. They greatly inhibit your business to generate and convert leads online. This is too important for you not to be informed when you begin the process.
So, I’ll turn it to you for questions, and hopefully from web design friends and experts – what did I leave out? What do you ask before you hire a web developer?
What to learn more on the topic?
Oh, you’ve just tapped into my frustrations. I’ve been sitting on a post in my head about the things I wish web designers knew before they started building sites for my clients and future clients. I have more frustrations from signing on with a client and realizing what a mess they have with their site, even if it is brand spanking new…
That’s exactly it – this post is a combination of three different (maybe even four) client issues. It’s such a bummer, after they’ve spent all this time and money. The CMS is the big thing. When the site is on WordPress, it’s easy to fix whatever!
All this combined with strategic messaging. It’s the combo that makes the magic happen. Good stuff as always, Lisa.
Indeed. Thanks, Bob!
This is GREAT, Lisa – thank you! These are the questions I have learned – from friends like you – to ask, both of clients and of “web guys” – so much to keep learning! I have a question for you – I’m seeing prospects come to me, to get their site(s) redone, and often they ask for WordPress (which I love). As a first step, when we log into the back end, we see their current host has come up with some kind of proprietary CMS, but there’s actually a WordPress database hidden in there. No content re-do/redesign of the site is possible unless the prospect actually switches hosts.
I’ve seen this enough now to wonder whether there is a micro-industry in “proprietary” hosting for specific industries – eg for a certain type of health provider, etc. It seems what these people (hosts) are doing is going after that industry, claiming to “be the leader in building sites for _______.” And they’ll do a boatload of them, at a cut price, but then they make money when content needs to be updated. And ultimately it’s practically impossible for the client to make any changes without re-engaging them for a custom design… which I imagine costs big bucks.
Have you seen this?
I’ve seen this quite a bit. It’s why I couldn’t bring the posts from my old site to the new one. The proprietary CMS is so proprietary that you can’t get your own content out of it. I couldn’t reach the people who created the monster, either, so I ended up copying and pasting all my posts into a Word document just so that I’d have the words at the very least.
I’d add learning some of the lingo as a tip. It’s too easy to be bamboozled by a web developer who says he knows what he’s doing but actually doesn’t. I’d also add trust your gut. If you have any doubts about the person you’re engaging for a potential website project, don’t work with the person.
erin – SO true. I was reviewing a contract for a client. Thankfully, they involved me from the beginning. And there was an entire page on stuff I didn’t understand with a corresponding charge. And I know a lot.
I told the client I wanted to check with someone on this stuff because I’ve never heard of this technical jargon and what exactly they are charging for.
If I understand you, Shonali, you’re talking about companies that I mentioned above – Smarsh, as an example, does sites for financial services. They sell their product because they “understand” the industry and provide compliance, etc. I haven’t seen a WordPress database, however. The site has tons of limitations. I have not yet spoken to the client about migrating the site – there are some other things we can do and I’m trying my best to work with what I have.
As well, I found with Ubertor, if I contact customer service about something – they’ll make it happen. i.e. why can’t I edit metatags? Oh – here you go. And they give me permission. I think they’re so used to working with newbies, they make the interface as simple as possible and it’s just a matter of asking.
But I’m not sure if I answered your question completely.
I’m right in the middle of a website build – YIKES!
Never on budget and never on time 😮
Thanks for the tips here, Lisa : )
You’re doing a new site for you? Very cool! (except the part about it being late and over-budget.)
Joe Hackman, Managed Solutions. I should have included him in this post. He was on time to the day, and on budget with this website. He’s one of the good guys!
This is the stuff we do every day as we develop sites for clients. Great post. We also prefer to write content FOR the client, whenever possible, to ensure we are handing off a high performing site from an SEO perspective. Too often we are brought in to clean up the SEO on a site. Sometimes the best answer is to re-write what is there based off a new content & SEO strategy. Sometimes the best thing to do is to scrap the entire site and bring it over to our hosting environment.
and SEAN! another one of the really good ones. This is exactly what I’m talking about – there is a lot that goes into content most developers don’t even think or care about. So, can you explain under what circumstances you’d bring it your hosting environment? and why?
I’m really trying to work with what I have for a few clients so I don’t have to break the news. It looks like I’m not the only one with that issue.
There’s a number of circumstances that might warrant a migration:
1. If the site was built by hand with no CMS and the client doesn’t know how to FTP up changes. We’ll generally migrate that to WordPress because it’s such a standard and so easy to use. I’ve taught most of our neighborhood mom’s to update the PTO web site I built for them.
2. To service the client better from a hosting and email circumstance. Most clients aren’t looking to have a hosting and domain provider. They just want a web site that works – so we build into our hosting prices a certain service level where we are actually acting as “webmaster” (when’s the last time you heard THAT word). We’ll make minor changes to the site, upload content if needed, etc… We also update WordPress, host email and place security software to prevent malicious code injection and site hijacking.
That said, if ongoing costs are an issue we can set the client up on their own hosting plan for $100 a year. But then they’re on their own when it comes to support.
Thanks, two days later, Sean, for the info.
excellent post, Lisa. Pricing ($4,000 vs. $2,000 as you mention) can be challenging. People seem to know the cost of everything and the value of nothing. It’s not just about getting it done. It’s not about being “good enough.” It’s about quality. And doing things the right way from the start.
You know, that’s one of my main concerns right now with a project we bid for. I have a feeling we’ll be more expensive and I did my best to communicate why we’re better. I should start either including this blog post or just coming right out and saying I know we’re going to be higher, but don’t choose on price alone. Thanks, Jessica!
Great timing, Lisa. My post tomorrow is called: Do Your Different Marketing Suppliers Understand Marketing? Web designers and other marketing-related service providers do NOT always know about “big picture” marketing.
Funny – I’m headed over now to check it out.
Lisa – This article is AMAZING. Not only do you explain the pains and pitfalls of hiring a web designer, you also set reasonable expectations while providing advice for doing it right. We just wrote a similar article focusing on preparing to hire a web developer ( http://matchist.com/blog/how-to-get-your-business-idea-ready-for-a-web-developer/ ) and would be curious to know if you think we missed anything big on our list. Also, do you happen to have a checklist or template that business people can use to share with their web designer or web developer? If so, please share here as we’d love to share it with our audience.
Hi – looking at potential web redesign. Does WordPress work for retailers (clothing retailer/e-comm business, 4,000 skus, multi-currency, shopping cart etc)?
Super helpful Lisa, especially “what is the goal of the website?” That seems simple but I find few actually have that answer at hand. It’s just a website right? I also worry about lockin. If I make a bad call on the developer I want to be able to switch tracks, none of the “this is our proprietary CMS” So you blog and make wine? That must be the dream life.
Exactly! The proprietary CMS kills me. UGH. and it’s usually not search-friendly at all. I’m going through that right now with a financial services client.
And my husband is the winemaker. Not me. 🙂
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Very nice post! I’ll be heeding your advice. Thanks for this!
This is a nice post. When I should looking for an web developer
I like your blog, very practical information. Getting a custom web design in the UK I personally think is a great idea and if your web clicks in the eyes of its visitors you can definitely capture a loyal client audience and for that, it’s obviously worth looking through custom web design packages.
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