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- Look at their web site. Note if they provide an address and phone number. The
Internet may be a global medium, but you should know where your developer is located. If they don't provide contact info,
skip 'em.
- Get their résumé! Do they have a background in the technology?
There are plenty of experienced and talented developers out there for you to put your business image in the hands of someone
without credentials.
- Do they have a portfolio? This falls in line with the credentials issue. They
should have at least a partial client list on their site. If they claim to have an extensive customer list, but fail to back up
their claim with the list, what are they hiding? If you have to ask for a referral list, skip 'em.
- Check the referrals. Visit their other customers' web sites, and make sure that these
aren't free sites created for friends or relatives. Many beginning developers will create a few free sites simply to get a
portfolio going. Are the customers satisfied with the work? Did the developer go "the extra mile" to get the job
done properly, on time and on (or under) budget?
- Check the quality of the work. Are you comfortable with the style of the sites? Do
they use proper grammar & spelling? Is site navigation fast and intuitive? Do the graphics load quickly, or do you
doze off waiting?
- Side Note: Many self-styled web developers use off-the shelf web-development applications to create web sites. In
nearly every case the result is a low-quality product. If a prospective web developer EVER uses words like "Front Page"
in your presence, show him/her the door. A true "WebMaster" creates great sites without fancy tools.
- Beware of cut-rate developers. A web site is worth what it does, not what you paid for
it. If one developer's rate is significantly lower than others', it means that they know exactly what their work is worth. You
won't come out ahead in the end.
- Can the developer develop a site that will present your product effectively? For instance,
if the developer is used to creating web sites for head-bangin' "RoCk & RoLlErZ", will he/she be able to
create an effective site for your flower boutique? If the developer is going to take your money to create your web site, then
he/she should be creating a site that's unique to you, not a cookie-cutter, fill-in-the-blanks job.
- If the goal of your web site is electronic commerce, then your developer must have experience in that
area. Too many developers will try and impress you with stories about what a web site can
do for you, but unless they've done it themselves, they're simply repeating someone else's theory.
- Does the developer show an entrepreneurial spirit? If the developer comes off as someone
who's simply in the business for the "coolness factor", keep looking.
- Where will your developer be in three, six, or twelve months? If you hire a student, a
part-timer, or someone between full-time jobs, chances are that person will be nowhere to be found when the time comes to
update the site.
My Pet Peeves
In my opinion these people don't deserve the title of "WebMaster":
- Developers who don't list their customers' sites with the top web search engines.
- Developers who don't know how to use META tags to improve a site's placement in web searches.
- Developers who don't know that META tags don't always improve a site's placement in web searches.
- Developers who think that there's an advantage to submitting a site to THOUSANDS of search engines.
- Developers who think that search engines are the solution to all of the customer's site promotion needs.
- Developers who use web-development software to create unimaginative "cookie-cutter" web sites full of bloated, useless code.
- Developers who put useless cookies on a web site.
- Developers who call a web site a "home page" (1) or a "web page" (2) ...
(1) A "home page" is the page that opens when you start your browser.
(2) If there's more than one page, it's a "web site", not a "web page".
- ISPs or web hosts who don't provide cgi-bin access as part of your package, or only allow you to use it after they've "reviewed" your code
(usually for a charge).
- ISPs or web hosts who don't provide a statistics package with even a basic account.
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