It doesn’t matter which industry your business is in. You need a website in order to maximize your potential as a company fully. If you don’t have your own in-house development team or are too swamped and need help, you will have to find a worthy technology partner to help you accomplish your goals.
If you are developing a website for your own business or trying to get a client’s site off the ground, website development can be tricky. However, tricky quickly turns into chaotic, difficult to manage, and dissatis factory when you don’t do what it takes before hiring an outsourcing or third-party development company.
Whether you are looking to build e-commerce to sell products online, want to build a mobile application, or would like to develop an enterprise-level platform with a Java development company (such as BairesDev), website development companies can help your business accomplish a variety of digital goals.
How do you not only choose a company to work with but the right one as well? By following the tips below.
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Tips for Partnering With the Right Website Development Company
Decide what you want
This may sound like an obvious step, but many organizations skip it or don’t realize that not all websites are the same. Before you begin your search for the perfect development company, you need to have some idea of what you want on your website, the general functionality, and any special features you would like to have. Decide if you’re going to sell directly to customers via an eCommerce store. Will you need a chatbot? Do you need blogging functionality? Have you about a payment gateway?
You won’t know every little detail about your wants and needs in the very beginning, but having a grocery list of items to bring to meetings with potential development companies will help you narrow down the search and find the right partner. Also, be sure to establish a realistic budget before taking any meetings with potential development companies. Additional functionalities and features may sound simple in theory but take time and effort for the development team to implement, thus costing you more money in the long run. In this case, a great option to expand the development team from WeAssemble
Evaluate the company’s experience and expertise before setting up a meeting
You are about to invest quite a bit of money and time into the company that you hire. You must take the time to do some in-depth research into the candidates to prevent future avoidable issues.
Do a deep dive into every potential company to get an initial understanding of their business. Do they have examples of projects similar to what you would like for your website? Are they knowledgeable about the latest technologies or specific technologies that you want to use?
Read their provided case studies as they are presented as an example of the company’s best work. By going into each meeting with a general overview of who the company is (at least on a surface level), you will be able to ask more questions and make the meeting much more productive.
Before your initial interview with any website development company, take a moment to look into their online reviews. Check their social media and specialized sites like Glassdoor and Clutch for any glaring negative reviews or customer experiences. Most development companies feature customer reviews on their website as well. Be sure to take a look at the company’s social media presence to get a feel for their personality and how they operate.
You should also take the time to assess and evaluate the company’s website ahead of a meeting. You can learn a lot about the team’s quality standards by looking into the digital presence that they put forth online. Pay attention to the features of the site itself, the design elements, and whether or not it is kept updated.
During the first meeting or as a follow-up to it, ask for a list of clients that you can reach out to as references for their work. It may sound like going to a bit of an extreme, however, sending a simple email or having a quick call with a former client could save you stress, time, and quite a bit of money in the long run.
Find out who would be building your website
A website development company is only as good as its team of individuals who would be doing the work.
The guys at AnyforSoft tell us that a good development company should have a variety of skill sets, knowledge bases, and areas of expertise amongst their team. From developers specializing in custom APIs to Java developers, web designers to quality assurance testers, try to get an idea of the catalog of the individuals’ skills and what their specific team can bring to the table.
Ask about any certifications or specialized training completed by team members that are pertinent to your needs. Many web development companies partner or get certified by the biggest names in technology, such as Adobe, Google, Rackspace, and Amazon Web Services. These partnerships display relevance within the industry and give companies a more advanced range of capabilities.
As the selected company’s team is one that you will be interacting with quite a bit for the duration of the project (and probably beyond), you should also ensure that you’re compatible. You will be working with them for a long time, so finding a company that is easy to get along with and comfortable to work with is essential.
When it comes to finding a company for your website development needs, always take the time to do your research and prepare as much as possible ahead of time. Eliminate any candidates that seem like they would not be a good fit with your own team and check all references provided. A website is an investment in your business – and you want to make sure it’s a wise one with the right partner such as the Bizop team.