Four Red Flags When Hiring A Web Developer
Lordy, lordy, the trouble I’ve seen in reviewing people’s web plans and sites…here’s another real world example of a designer/developer you shouldn’t hire:
Flag 1. No results when you google them. And these people want to sell you SEO (Search Engine Optmization)???
Flag 2. They don’t have a web site. Sorry, the old “cobbler’s children” dodge won’t work here. If they’re supposed to be “web experts” they should not only have a site, but a GREAT one - that both looks great and works great.
Flag 3. Their email address is @aol or @msn, etc. Shows they’re clueless about emarketing and branding. It’s very easy to have your own domain and email, even if you don’t have a site.
Example: which do you think has more credibility? mary@maryschmidt.com or mrschmidt4502@aol.com?
The free and ISP email addresses scream hobby business.
Flag 4. Their eletters end up in your spam folder. Text is poorly formatted, fonts are whacked and the whole thing set off spam alarms…and they’re trying to tell you how to “optimize your online marketing???” Ouch!
As for knowing all that “techie stuff” that you don’t - don’t bet that the developer knows a lot more than you, just because he or she can throw around some jargon…as evidenced by all the terribly broken sites out there.
Related Posts:
Don’t Hire An Ad Agency To Build Your Your Web Site
Web Business Model: One Size Doesn’t Fit All
Tags: web marketing, small business marketing, marketing troubleshooting, web design, web development
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April 30th, 2008 at 7:21 am
I would like to point out an important difference that many people fail to notice. A web developer is a general term for someone who works on web pages. There are distinct subcategories for web developers, which include an actual web developer, web designer, web graphic designer. There are many more but the point is that I as a web developer do not have the best looking web sites. But they definitely have a lot of functionality. If you ever plan to outsource your web page development I always suggest going with a team rather than an individual so you have a higher chance of getting a site that looks nice, functions, and converts.
April 30th, 2008 at 8:07 am
Pearce,
good point - people use the terms interchangeably. Ideally, you have: 1. A person who knows business (and web marketing) that can lay out the plan and work with the designer and developer to create the site; 2. a great graphics designer that groks the underlying technology sufficiently to know what’s feasible; and 3. the actual developer who knows the code inside and out.
Unfortunately, what all too often happens is any one of the three players present themselves as all encompassing web experts and the client ends up with a broken site.
May 21st, 2008 at 8:22 am
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