Thinking about hiring a web developer to build a new site for your organization?
Wondering what information you need to provide to a web developer before they can give you a quote or proposal?
In this Website Design Frequently Asked Questions (Web Design FAQs) video blog, I explain 5 Things You Need to Know Before Hiring a Web Developer.
(The article below is a summary of the video, but you’ll get more details and examples if you watch the video.)
1. Your Web Team
Before you start the process of hiring a web developer, it’s essential to determine who will be part of your web team. Who will make the key decisions and be involved in discussions regarding the website’s design and functionality?
This internal team will play a vital role in ensuring your website aligns with your organization’s goals and values. By establishing your team’s composition upfront, you’ll be better prepared when you start engaging with web design companies. (For more help with creating your web team, see Why do I need a web team? How do I build one?)
2. The Purpose of Your Website
You want your new website to help you achieve your mission and goals. So, it’s critically important that you know your mission and goals and have a good idea about how you want your website to do that.
What you want your website to help you do? Reach people in your community? Facilitate live streaming? Organize groups? The clearer your vision, the better your web developer can tailor the site to meet your needs.
You have to define the purpose of your website before you can define its requirements to a web developer.
3. Your Budget
Building a website is an investment in your organization’s future, growth, and outreach. Understanding your budget is a fundamental step in this process. Be prepared to allocate resources to your website project. Remember that a well-designed and optimized website can yield significant returns, so think of it as a strategic investment rather than an expense.
4. SEO Plan
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is critical for ensuring that your website ranks well in search engine results. Many organizations mistakenly assume that web developers automatically handle SEO, but this is not the case. Decide whether you will hire an external SEO specialist, have your developer handle it, or assign the task to an internal team member who understands SEO. A holistic approach that incorporates SEO into your website design from the beginning can lead to better results.
5) Plan to measure effectiveness
The fifth and final item to keep in mind and determine before hiring a website developer is to develop a plan so that you can measure the effectiveness of the website. I often hear people questioning the value of their website because they haven’t figured out a way to either track sales or track visits or track the effectiveness of their website.
It is important to establish a plan to be able to figure out exactly how useful the website is. Doing this will give you the ability to make a determination as to whether or not the website is effective or not, or what things you need to do to change the effectiveness if you’re finding that it’s not effective.
If you have any other questions about business, nonprofit or church website design or SEO services, we would love to talk with you. Compete the form below to schedule a free consultation!
Comment and discuss
- Which of the 5 items above was most helpful for you?
Read or watch more Web Design FAQs
Very informative