Top 5 tips when selecting a website developer

1. Firstly, try and stay away from hobbyists or one man bands. Although the skills of the individual can be brilliant and the prices cheaper, it is not always best to go down this route. As a business owner you have to safeguard your business and your electronic profile. Ask yourself the question, what if the developer stops working with websites? What if I need something urgently and they are unavailable? It is always best to select a company that specialises in website design and development, a company that has some history that shows longevity, that way you can rest assured that your website will always be maintained and supported.
2. Find out about the website design and development team. Many companies make it look like they have permanent full-time employees within the company that form the website design and development team. Much of the time however there are no such teams but contractors or off-shore developers paid by the contract. A good efficient and reliable website design and development company will see the value in employing its own staff and will not sub-contract the projects. Ask for a staffing list or structure and also request a meeting with the design and development staff, that way you will have a more personal service and peace of mind that your project is being dealt with by the employees of the company.
3. Ask for some examples. Ask for some live examples of past work, most reputable companies will have some kind of case study page on their website. When viewing past work, check the websites on a desktop or laptop computer, and then on a mobile device. There are countless companies and website developers in the market who use pre-programmed website templates to keep their costs down and as a result the core design can be skewed. A true professional website design and development company will pay attention to all types of devices and will therefore provide a perfect user experience across all devices.
4. How flexible are they? Many website developers don't distinguish between a larger established business and a start-up. Business start-ups often don't have the budgets that the larger companies have and therefore may not be able to spend huge amounts of money on their website. Talk to the company or designer/developers, see how understanding they are regarding your fledgling business and the lack of funds. A reputable and caring company will more often than not make provisions for the business start-up, the small business or charity, yes initial profits may be lower for them, but they will understand that giving you a helping hand will probably result in more work for them as your company grows.
5. How excited are they? Unfortunately, most customers are seen in the eyes of the supplier as just another form of income. Yes, their work may be good and they may produce your new website quickly, but without excitement for your brand and for your business, how great can the end result be? A website designer and developer should have the same passion for your business as you do, that way they will be heavily invested that will in turn lead to an end product that not only you would be proud of, but they would also be proud to put their name to.

For the record, and in answer to the five points above:

Swift Digital employs their own staff, on the company payroll, we have been in business for nearly 20 years and are always open for clients and prospective clients to drop in to our offices in East Barnet for a cup of tea and a chat. We have our own dedicated Cloud based hosting platform that is secure and resilient.

We have an extensive case study section on our Website Design and Development site as well as our Facebook business page.

As far as flexibility goes, we will always put the client's needs and requirements first. We understand that every business is different, has different aspirations and goals, and we are more than happy to accommodate to make sure that the end products not only are what the client wants, but to add value wherever possible to exceed expectations. We are a huge supporter of business start-ups, small businesses and charities and will always do our best to accommodate as far as budgets are concerned.

As far as excitement goes, we are a bunch of passionate creatives and techies, our initial conversations with our clients involve us fully understanding the business and the client's visions and aspirations, then we visualise ourselves in the position of a virtual director of our client's businesses. The result of this is that with this insight into the business, if we are not 100% happy with what we are producing, we will put in the extra resources and effort to make sure that the final website design and development does meet and exceed our expectations and those of our clients.

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