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If the section on making your own website
scared you away, or you are just not the adventurous type, then
you need to find someone to create your web page for you. This is
not necessarily a bad thing. No small business owners I have ever
come across are bored and looking for something to do with their
spare time. Finding someone who can take on this project for you,
and bring the learning curve to you, can save you considerable pain,
frustration, time, and sometimes, money! However, getting the wrong
professional can end in a legal mess.
Here are some suggestions on how to
find someone to put your site together. Finding someone local is
nice, but not a high priority. Using the Internet to pass suggestions
and test files back and forth works great, next door, or across
the country. I recommend you make sure whoever develops your site
for you, that you agree that a sample site is going to be published
where you can view the work as it is developing. DO NOT let them
blindly charge ahead with several pages without you seeing what
is going on. It is much easier to change course than it is to undo
several pages and start over. Unless you have already planned out
the entire site and just need someone to put the nuts and bolts
together, you should attempt to find someone who has some real knowledge
of your business, or is at least willing to take the time to learn
(without driving you broke in the process). Understanding your business
and what your customers are looking for is critical. DDSi provides
a private viewing site for all web development customers for just
this purpose. I actually find it much better to get the client to
follow along closely as their site develops. This usually avoids
uncomfortable situations where something is rejected and we have
to agree on the additional charges for making the changes. Being
an active electronics engineer gives me a unique insight to producing
highly technical websites.
The big name developers are not always
the best choice. There are many smaller web development companies
who specialize in working with smaller clients. Some of these smaller
web development companies can often take the time to learn about
your business and offer more personal support. If you are a medium
to large business, with a large wallet backing your development,
you may find some of these larger web development companies are
more appropriate for you. They can often assign multiple programmers
to your site with a central coordinator and develop a very large
site quickly. Many of the medium to larger web development companies
will market themselves to you as having the ability to not only
produce your web page, but expertly market it on the web, promote
it for you, help you get high rankings in the search engines, etc.,
but all for a price! Again, for the medium to large companies, this
may be very appropriate. However, the smaller companies, and the
startups, money does not always flow from a hydrant. You may be
better off, finding someone who is looking for the nuts-and bolts
development and is looking to service the smaller clients. It is
much easier to work with this type of developer. They are usually
more willing to take things step-by-step (including payment and
development obligations) thereby providing you with more control.
They are often more willing to let you have some say in the development
of your site. Often, the larger development firms do not want you
to spend much time with the person actually doing the work. It is
too costly for them.
This may sound obvious, but when you
contract for a website development, GET A CONTRACT! Get the contract
in writing and signed by everyone involved. It is incredible, the
amount of money spent on Internet development with nothing in writing.
Getting a contract may not be easy. As I said, websites are dynamic
and change during development. Often, even the concept does not
exist at the time a contract is signed. This makes putting down
in writing, exactly who is going to do what, and what it will look
like, difficult at best. However, there are some factors that can
be clearly defined in a contract. The major headings from my web
development contract for Discovery Data Systems, inc. is listed
at the end of this outline. In addition to the basic contract, I
have two addendums. The first simply defines the name and address,
and contact information of both the client and DDSi. It also defines
a specific contact person for each company. The second addendum
is an outline from a sample contract for development of a real 28
page website by DDSi. (The names of the products and the company
have been changed, and the pricing estimates removed). This is one
example of how to outline a proposal for a website that does not
necessarily exist yet. At DDSi, I prefer to do development on a
page-by-page basis. Between the main contract and the addendum,
everyone knows exactly what is expected, the areas that still need
to be defined more concretely, and what happens in almost every
event. DO NOT GET STARTED WITHOUT ONE! If you find someone to do
your site development, and they tell you that they never need a
contract, or they have never used one and have never needed one,
remember one important fact. If anything goes wrong, there is only
two ways to settle the issue: 1. You agree to lose. 2. You hire
attorneys and fight it out in court from ground zero, the expensive
way. A contract like the DDSi outline provided can avoid many of
these potential conflicts.
© 2001 - Barry
Wroobel - Discovery Data Systems, inc.
(note: Set left and right printer margins
to 0.25" for printing)
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(805)
523-8153 (fax-24/7)
