How to Choose a Custom Website Developer or Designer

Custom website development is difficult to sort out nowadays. The market is flooded with professional website developers and freelancers alike. Some of the freelancers are better than the professionals because they just don’t fit into the corporate mode. Other freelancers have been cast out of the corporate world and should be avoided. On the other side, some professional corporations doing custom website development have put a lot of effort in keeping the best and brightest, staying at the top of the game. Other professional companies are just trying to scam a quick buck by using barely-trained personnel with out-of-date software. How does the average consumer looking for custom website development tell them apart?

The first thing to look at for custom website development is the experience of the freelancer or the company. Staying power is still the best indicator of quality. Choosing from among those developers with the most experience will usually provide the best results.

Find out how many people are staffed for website development. Contrary to what most people believe, bigger is not better. A bigger staff tends to lose customers in the mix. A smaller unit is more hands-on and tends to take more pride in their work. Ideally, if using a company, there should be one designer and two developers. You, personally, should only be talking to one person who is competent enough to take care of all your website needs.

Chances are that your needs will not be served with only a new custom website. Find out what other services are offered by your prospect. SEO, marketing, content writing, and promotion are some of the other necessary services that most successful websites want to take advantage of. One company or person who does all of this well will be more efficient for you to manage and deal with.

Look for someone who asks you a lot of questions. Most people are not aware of all their options for a website. To get what you are truly looking for, the website developers must ask you a ton of questions. Many of the best developers offer a comprehensive questionnaire upfront and then all the questions and answers are discussed personally so chances of error are greatly reduced.

Outsourcing is a big problem in the website industry today. Many companies simply hire people from third-world countries for pennies on the dollar. There is a huge lack of communication between those in charge of your account and those who are actually doing the work. If you are really happy to settle for third-rate work from third-world countries you could go to them directly instead of paying a middle-man with prices jacked up by 500%.

Another aspect to look at for a website developer is if they allow the site to be hosted by any service. The fine print of some companies states that you must use only their hosting service which, many times, will not meet your needs or your budget.

Finally, the custom website developer should provide some support after the site is completed. If they just give you the site files and refuse to talk to you again, there is a problem. Check for support.