A company website is the front-facing image of your business. The experience a potential customer has when landing on your homepage is a massively important to the likelihood of them doing business with you. Why take a risk building such an important facet of your brand? You shouldn’t have to; my guide to asking questions when building a new site is all you’ll need to avoid catastrophe.
Can the site handle my expected traffic?
This one’s tricky. Take the goal number of hits you’d like to see and boost it a little bit. You want to leave wiggle room for exceeding expectations, but there’s no reason to overdo it until the time is right. We’d all like 10 million hits a day, but the reality is that it might not happen. In the meantime, make sure you’ve got a smooth operating page, and a team that can handle any size website, and you’ll be gaining attention in no time.
How has your service provider performed in the past?
Make sure to double check what you’ve been told. Client reviews on websites are a great place to start- especially if they’ve got video testimonials. When there’s a name and a face attached to a review, you know that person means business. Feel free to send e-mails, check in on those success stories, ask for case studies, this is not something you want to under-research.
What personnel will be available to you? How many?
When you’re building a website, the last thing you want to be is a number in line waiting for your service provider’s attention. Make sure the company of your choice has the manpower to get to you whenever you need them, and work quickly. You don’t want a hiccup to turn into a nightmare.
Has your service provider done anything worth noting?
Not only is past performance important, but industry recognition is too. In the technology world, people know each other. You want to make sure that you’re service provider has a reputation of being the best at what they do. See if they’ve won any award, see if they participate in conferences and conventions, and check to see if they’re recognized by partners as excelling in service.
What certifications does your service provider/ project team hold?
One of the most important parts of your decision should be choosing a team that has not only the most experience, but the most knowledge about your project requirements. Check for teams that are constantly taking classes, earning certifications, and maintaining the highest standard of performance. Bonus points go to a service provider that hosts its own training and certification classes- this means that they’re on top of their staff. In an industry that changes every day, you want a team that’s on top of it.
Bonus tip, Remember: price isn’t cost:
Sometimes you’ve got to pay a little more to get the quality you deserve. You’ll end up saving in the long-run with a team that gets the job right the first time. A team that has to constantly revise and re-work your project will waste time and resources that are valuable to your business.
Balaji has spent over 18 years in the IT Services Industry. With an experience encompassing Services and Product Marketing, he has successfully managed globally distributed Marketing and Product teams. He’s an analytical marketer with strong understanding and experience across marketing strategy, demand generation, field marketing, technology partner marketing, account based marketing, digital marketing, event management, analysis and third party relationship, PR/Media, people management, etc.
