What 9 mistakes should be avoided when choosing a web development company?

The implementation of any unique idea from scratch or even building a simple visiting card website can cause a lot of complications. Therefore, if you don’t want to waste money you should approach the selection process responsibly. 

Here are average mistakes that are made by the customer who chooses a web development company. Try to avoid them because it can lead to bad consequences. Due to Vendasta, 64% of visitors who had an unpleasant experience while shopping in the online store will choose another website for the next purchase. Also, an average visitor of the website expects that the page will load in 2 seconds or quicker. If not, the visitor will close the page. Now you can understand how high user expectations are and how thoroughly the website must be developed. So let’s move on to the list of standard errors that should be avoided for an efficient result.

Mistake №1: hiring the company with ultra-cheap rates

Extremely low prices for the design and development of the website or an application must make you suspicious. Why does the company work much cheaper than competitors? It’s ok if we speak about outsourcing companies based in Eastern Europe or Asia, but agencies from the US cannot afford cheap services. The main reason for this is that an average developer from the US charges from 50 to 70 dollars per hour. Therefore, a company with a serious team can offer something only with middle or high rates. 

Mistake №2: 100% prepayment

If a manager of the company insists on 100% prepayment try to find other options. The normal approach to the work may include a deposit but other payments will correspond to the approved plan. There are different kinds of payments. Most of the agencies allow customers to choose payment per hour of work or for a turnkey project.            

Mistake №3: cooperation with companies where complicating simple things is encouraged

It sounds weird. Anyway, managers who insist on tech-speak with the team during the meeting are probably trying to confuse you. Most clients are not competent in the technical nuances of development and design. They can agree with an announced plan poorly understanding all tech peculiarities. It will waste your budget. Try to find a company where managers can speak in simple, plain language. They must be ready to explain to you all complex technical definitions during project implementation.

Mistake №4: hiring the company that specializes only in web-design or development

There is no sense to order the design in one company and layout, content, SEO, and digital marketing services in others. It’s much more comfortable to receive a turn-key web-solution that functions well. Also, such an approach simplifies the tracking of results. You know whom to address if something goes wrong. Steer clear of highly specialized companies if you don’t have expertise in the field of web design, development, and SEO. You should prefer companies that can offer different services and are ready to accept responsibility for their implementation.

Mistake №5: no built-in CMS

If the website doesn’t have a built-in content management system then adding or editing any content can be a great problem. In such a case, you must contact the company each time you want to change something on the website. CMS is a requirement for all the websites, except the business card site for which no changes are planned in the future.   

Mistake №6: do not pay enough attention to the company’s portfolio and website

The previous works and implemented web solutions can characterize the experience and the level of competence of an agency. You should pay very close attention to the portfolio and the company’s site level. Individual projects from a portfolio can be related to your area of expertise. So you can analyze how well the design, functionality, and structure are.  After that, you will be ready to make the final decision.      

Mistake №7: do not discuss the maintenance of the website in the future

Any website needs maintenance and updates for normal functioning. The best decision is to talk about this at the same beginning of the work and entrust maintenance to the team that will develop the website. It’s obvious because in case of any problems with the website a third-part company can report that errors were made in the initial stage of development. Note that maintenance must include various items, namely:

·         Security settings.

·         Update of the plugin.

·         Prolongation of domain and hosting.

·         Correcting the mistakes that you can make on the website.

The literate maintenance of the website will be a guarantee of normal future work.

Mistake №8: working with a company that isn’t able to create a responsive design

The website should be displayed in accordance with the screen size and the orientation of the device. The team of designers must prepare a few mock-ups that will be implemented by developers. Attractive versions of websites for smartphones and tablets are very important. If they are not worked out you will lose a lot of visitors, the website will get worse in SERP positions because responsive web design is one of the ranking factors.

Here are the main advantages of a responsive web design:

·         You can reduce costs because there is no need to develop separate websites for different websites.

·         It’s a flexible decision. If you need to make any changes you just do it once.

·         A positive impact on user experience. It means that visitors are likely to come back in the future to buy a product or order a service.

·         The simplicity of management.   

Mistake №9: working without any official contract

Do you like taking risks? It won’t be useful when you are looking for a web development company. A lot of business owners work with a web development company without any contract and pay with their time or money. The contract protects you from unwanted consequences. If you come up against some obstacles during the implementation of the project the contract serves as a plan for how to solve them. Having a well-prepared contract can save you from delays and simplification of the project.    

P. S. If you are looking for a web development company with the right experience and expertise CyberCraft https://cybercraftinc.com can be your trusted partner. We can build ideas from scratch or offer a standard website that fits your business needs. Feel free to drop us a line via phone or email.