As your business becomes bigger, having a website is necessary to showcase your products and services.
But before you go out planning your website, make sure you find a web developer that is well suited for the kind of website you plan to have.
So what should you look for in a website developer or web designer? What are the important skill sets a web designer needs to have to achieve your website goals here in the Winterless north that is Whangarei.
It’s important to address a common conundrum about website professionals:
You may find a lot of talent out there and realise that the scope of website development is really a massive technical field. There are specialists and there are generalists. There are talented individuals, who can do everything, and there are some web developers who are very good at one specific thing. It can be the most crucial coding skill that’s needed to get your website up and running.
Confused yet? Don’t be.
Just to break it down further: There are front end developers, back end developers, and the multi-talented full stack developers. And of course, there are web agencies that bring them all together under one roof.
When hiring a website developer, you might hear a potential website professional say, “I’m great with Javascript and the backend framework, but I don’t do design. I’m not a web designer.” Or another one like, “I can do your UX web design, the CSS and make sure the site is responsive. But I can’t make you a database or integrate the shopping cart. You have to hire someone else for that.”
So, yes it’s a mixed bag, and you have to be discerning as well. Just because a person says, I can do the design, and this end, and that Java part doesn’t mean it will come out as hoped. It might turn out to be just adequate and functional, but not visually stunning, nor nearly as impressive as you hoped. Or it might be exactly what you’re looking for with the budget you have. It might also be that this must have integration that requires APIs and a depth of coding cannot be achieved leaving the rest of the changes obsolete. You need to understand what it is you are trying to achieve and then work backwards. Start with the end in mind.
So how do you go about this?
Ask for a portfolio. A portfolio will showcase the websites or web designs that a web agency has done for other clients.
First understand which parts of the website did they create or integrate? Did they work with a team? How long did it take for them to finish the website?
Second, ask about the extent of their services. Like do you have pricing plans? How about customer support? How about setting up my domain and hosting? What about revisions?
Also, it helps to know the differences between these web professionals:
A Full stack developer is a cross-disciplinary web professional who can do both front end, back end and more.
A Web Design Agency draws upon multiple persons to bring about the completion of front end back end and alike. Web design agencies still are likely to have specialisms so make sure you check.
