10 Questions To Ask Your Website Developer
Are you thinking of hiring someone to build your website?
What are you the most overwhelmed by?
The cost?
How long it will take to build?
Finding the right person?
Deciding how it should look?
Deciding on technical aspects like SEO (S.E.What??)
Most business owners would answer that the no. 1 reason they are putting off a new website is because of the time they think it will take them personally to be involved in the build. Do you think it’s all on you to decide what it should look like and say?
This article was written for two reasons. 1.) To clear up common misconceptions about the questions above and 2.) to empower you as the business owner to know the basics on getting a new website. No jargon, no smoke and mirrors — exactly what you need to know and nothing more.
If you are looking at getting a new website for your business, here are the 10 questions you should be asking your developer (and the answers you should be empowered to know!)
No. 1
WHAT PLATFORM DO YOU USE?
If you want the ability for anyone to make changes on your website after it’s built, use a popular platform like Wordpress or Squarespace. Wordpress for more complex or custom elements, Squarespace if you want a beautiful aesthetic and easy maintenance. Squarespace is more user friendly, so that anyone, regardless of their tech experience, could jump on and make small text changes and updates.
No. 2
DO YOU CODE OR USE TEMPLATES?
"Coding" means the developer builds your website from scratch. Because of the time and skill needed, these sites cost a lot more. Thanks to user friendly platforms with templates, it's no longer necessary to know code to build a website. Picture template websites like a lego set. The pieces can be moved around to create any kind of design, but you can’t break the lego pieces to get exactly what you want down to the smallest details.
No. 3
DO YOU WRITE THE TEXT OR DO I?
Copywriting is included in our website fee, but this is not typical. Usually, a website is built and areas left blank for you to fill in with text. We've found writing is the hardest task for most businesses so that's why we use a professional writer and include writing in every website.
No. 4
DO I HAVE TO TELL YOU THE WAY I WANT IT TO LOOK?
Our website fee includes the design and the build, but this is not typical. Web developers build the website but ask you, or a designer to create the layout. The design fee may cost as much as the development fee.
No. 5
DO YOU DO ANYTHING FOR SEO?
In short, S.E.O. has to do with optimizing your site to rank higher when a potential client is searching for you in Google. SEO work is not hard, but it's tedious and requires a strategy. We include a 14pt SEO checklist with every website. If you pay for additional SEO work, they should be able to explain why its necessary and show proof that it's working
No. 6
WHAT SHOULD A WEBSITE COST?
Be sure to ask if the following is included... the design? the build? copywriting? how many pages/tabs? link/setup to email and social media accounts? optimized for SEO? connected to the URL address? any additional monthly fees to maintain the site? Our websites are turnkey, and everything above is included. A new website with us costs a one time fee of $2,000 plus the fees paid to Squarespace to host your website (~$18/month).
No. 7
CAN I SEE EXAMPLES OF OTHER WEBSITES YOU’VE DONE?
Remember websites are viewed by normal humans. You do not have to be a tech expert to know if you like or dislike their websites. You are the expert at knowing your business and what you want your website to look and feel like to best represent what you do. If possible, view the live version of sites they've built. Any glitches or broken pages? Are the sites easy to navigate? Do they look good/work on phone & desktop?
No. 8
HOW LONG WILL IT TAKE?
3-8 weeks is appropriate from start to finish. Much of the time depends on you, the client, getting the developer the info and content they need like photos, logos, etc. Websites taking months to build, in our opinion, is totally unacceptable. It should be discussed ahead of time exactly what the developer needs from you and a plan to get it to avoid your site lagging on.
No. 9
WHAT IF I DON’T LIKE IT?
Avoid surprises by asking for a layout (called a wireframe) and approving the text before the site is built. Sadly, there are 1000s of abandoned sites because the developer did not take the time to understand what their client wanted.
No. 10
WHAT IF I WANT TO MAKE CHANGES IN THE FUTURE?
Discuss ahead of time how revisions will be handled. How many revisions are you allowed? Once the site is finished, some developers do not let clients access their site and charge an hourly rate or monthly fee to make changes. This is less than ideal if your developer gets hit by a bus or disappears. We believe after the website is built, it is your property. Our website fee includes a tutorial to show your team how to make small changes. Or, we are happy to make changes, usually within 24 hours.
We hope this article helped you and that you feel less overwhelmed and more inclined to build a new website for your business. Technology has changed drastically in recent years and it keeps getting better and we love the changes! We are excited that more businesses are able to create better websites that are less expensive, easier to customize and more user friendly.