How to know what you don’t know
Almost every day, someone approaches me about a website development or SEO project, and they sheepishly admit they don’t know anything about this stuff. Well, why would you? I assume if you’re calling my company about a website that you are probably not in the website business. And if that’s the case, there’s no reason to expect you to know …
Asking the right questions.
Have you ever seen a website with these symbols on it? These are buttons that, when clicked, will enlarge the text on the website. Well, at least that’s the idea. They buttons are there to help older Americans and others with poor eyesight, but these rarely work for the following reasons: Many (if not most) older Americans don’t have a …
Bonus Question: May I speak to your clients?
Before you sign on with any web designer, you should check him out thoroughly. Look at his website and his portfolio with a very critical eye because if his own site isn’t finished, contains typos or just doesn’t look right, then how could you expect him to get your site right? If his own site looks less than stellar, maybe …
Question 10: What’s included in my hosting deal?
This was going to be the last in my series “10 Questions to ask your web designer”, but I’ll be adding a bonus question that you absolutely don’t want to miss. But today, let’s talk about hosting. For a brief explanation of website hosting – what it is and why you need it – click here. Your web hosting service …
Question 9: What testing will be performed on my site?
If your website involves any database programming or interactive functionality, you should expect to invest some significant money in testing. But even if you only have a simple website that’s limited to text and photos, you’ll still want to have it tested thoroughly before you launch it on your customers. For simple informational sites, you need to know that the …
Question #8: Will my site be backed up regularly?
This is actually a question for your hosting service as well as your designer, because failure to backup your website could lead to some pretty serious consequences. Your hosting company should be backing up the files on their web servers every day, and storing the backups off-site. So first, you want to make sure that’s happening. Next, you want to …
Question #7: How much time and how much money does it take to make changes?
This is a question that a lot of website owners don’t consider until after their website is finished and on the web for a few weeks. Then, when they want to have some changes made to their website, they call their designer and ask the question. But once the designer has you in his grasp, he’s often not nearly as …
Question 6: How long will it take?
If this is your first website, chances are it’s a fairly simple project. Most small business websites can be accomplished in a number of days or a few weeks. But this is a question you need to ask your designer – and get into writing. How long your project takes will depend upon a number of factors including: The magnitude …
Question 5: Will people find me on Google?
Google is like a beautiful woman. She has lots of suitors, and she often plays hard to get. Of course you want her. You might even need her. So what are you doing to get her attention? What is your strategy for winning her heart? The truth is, there are two ways to get her attention. You have to woo …
Question 4: Who will provide the content?
Most web designers and developers assume that you will provide the content that goes on your website. And it make sense that you will do that because you know your business. You know what you want your customers to know about your business. You know the features and benefits that will best sell your products or services. So it makes …
