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10 Questions You MUST ask
your Web Designer
Once you have established a goal for your website, a Most-Wanted-Response as Ken Evoy accurately calls it, and you have an idea of the content and features you most want to include in the your website, you are likely pretty close to being able to begin negotiations with a design firm.
Here is what YOU should bring to your first (initial) meeting:
- Written purpose of your website
- Target audience demographics (who will your website visitors be?)
- Current offline marketing material (brochures, video, etc.)
- Scope of work. What do YOU think this project consists of?
Here are the important questions YOU NEED TO KNOW. These are the questions YOU should be asking every design firm that you interview (yes, interview).
- Size of firm. If you think you will be able to have Scient or Razorfish design a website for your twenty-person small business, forget it. Unless you have a million bucks to spend, these big-name firms wont even return your call. Instead, consider a firm that focuses on small business. Here's a hint: if you are browsing a website that YOU like, look for clues on the site as to who designed it and contact them. Or ask associates in your industry. I'd rather be a big fish in a small pond then a small fish (or plankton) in an ocean.
- Location. All things being equal, the design firm that is closest to you will likely serve you best. Why? Two reasons: price and accessibility. You will likely negotiate a better deal price-wise when you don't have to deal with Madison Avenue types or bear the cost in flying a team of people in from across the country every time you need to have a strategy meeting. We generally won't take on webdesign projects that are outside of our immediate region; it just doesn't make sense. The Internet may be what it is, but most folks still want to press the flesh and say hello, in person.
- Client list. I've often wondered in our early days in webdesign, how two different firms can claim to have the same client? Now, I've learned the difference: ACTIVE clients. Every week now it seems we hear about webdesign firms who are losing clients due to bad service. Ask your designer this tough question: what are the total number of ACTIVE clients you have now versus their total client list. Are any of these clients in your industry? If so, it's a good bet that this designer has a good perception of your industry.
- Depth of skill. With the advent of programs like Microsoft Publisher and Ulead Photoimpact, every one and their mother can hang their shingle out "Professional Webdesigner." Be that as it may, one thing can't be forged: custom web applications. There just isn't a way to build custom web applications out of a book, sorry. If your designer can show you custom code , then chances are pretty good that they are pretty intelligent.
- Fixed price. You should negotiate a project rate for your site, not an hourly rate. Too often, webdesign firms I am sorry to say, bilk you out of hard-earned dollars by stuffing the number of hours they bill you for when designing your site. Thoroughly review what you want for your site, ask your designer for a fixed project quote and have them give it to you in writing. You will be surprised how many design firms wont do it. Trust me, their not worth the scruples of doing business with; any good designer worth his or her salt will know how to quote your website development costs if they interview you thoroughly. Obviously, if you decide to change objectives mid-stream, then you need to sit down with your design team and renegotiate. But otherwise, if you are all on the same page from the beginning, then there should be no reason for the price to not be set up-front. Our guarantee: we never change the price quote because of our mistakes. If we don't estimate correctly, we eat the difference in price.
- Guarantee. I'm going to trash a sacred mantra held by designers for too long: webdesign is not so esoteric that it cant be quantified. That is simply untrue. Here is the acid test: if the webdesigner interviews you thoroughly, he or she will be able to logically guide you through the necessary specific steps, supporting it with a compelling irrefutable set of definitive facts. That being the case, then he or she should be able to guarantee your satisfaction. If they cant, then question whether or not you can trust them to clearly listen and understand your goals and objectives.
- Time (or Process). What are the measurable milestones for the development of your website? Too often, many designers are afraid to answer the question when. I propose the better question is how. Here's what I mean: Is your designer willing to give you, in writing, a measurable, definitive, logical and compelling strategy to get your business online or will they take your money and run?! Webdesign is not just about design and flashiness; webdesign is also about sound business strategy. Here we employ a very specific 13-step process for getting you online better, faster and smarter than everyone else. Is the person you're considering hiring to bring your business online offer the same? If not, quick, guard your checkbook.
- Learning. If you are considering hiring anything more than basic elements, do they take the time to make the investment and learn about your business? They better. If you intend to trust your dream and hard-earned dollars to bring your business online, it better be with a firm that knows your business and knows you inside-out. Are they asking for your marketing materials? Are they asking who are your competitors? What products do you sell? How do you service your customers? What will be the bridge between your upcoming online world and offline activities? Do they immerse themselves in learning how you do business so they can help you do better business online? If not, they just want a fast sale.
- References. The only thing I can say here may seem obvious, but it is this: check the references of the firm AND the designer that will work on your project, up front. Who are they? What projects have they done? What is their experience? What do past clients, whom they have no qualms about letting you call them, say about them BEHIND closed doors and polished press releases? I have seen firms take on a project and then assign it to the new intern they just hired straight out of high school. Big mistake! If they wont tell, then run like hell.
- Your education. This is not the same as learning (point 8, above). This is about your education, your learning. You need someone to be an integral part of your business strategy, empowering you with the tools and knowledge you need to take deliberate advantage of the best ways to build your business online. The Internet is moving at lightning speed and smart companies make sure their websites are not just an online flyer that sits in a quiet musty closet, hidden in a dark corner of the digital world. The old adage is no longer true: build a better mousetrap and they will come. This is now true: build a smarter business online, promote it effectively and aggressively, and you can learn to drive traffic to your website provided you serve your customers with speed and integrity. Does the firm you are considering hiring have the expertise to teach you how? We show you how the web enables completely new ways of doing business.
The more things change, the more they stay the same: Make the smartest choice for your online business, not the cheapest nor easiest. You'll always come out ahead.
Daniel Ramos is the President of Genesislogic Inc., a New York City based ebusiness that helps companies massively profit from the Internet. As both a designer and marketing strategist, he has been involved with technology since 1984, working with both small business and Fortune 500 firms including NBC Cable Networks, First Union, Pfizer Pharmaceuticals, The Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Alliance Capital, The Trane Company, Abraham Publishing, On the Rise Records, Pitney Bowes, and others. He moderated The Small Business Forum for one of the earliest large-scale internet service providers in the mid-1980s, Delphi, which now boasts over 2 million members, as well as moderating the Music Business forum on CompuServe. If you want to learn how to massively profit from the Internet, vist WWW.GENESISLOGIC.COM and download from an extensive online library of resources, or send an email to INFO@GENESISLOGIC.COM. Thank you.
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