Building and maintaining an effective website is slowly becoming an essential component for modern organisations to help develop and sustain market presence. However, not all organisations have the technical skills in house, or the spare time available to fulfil this, and often this is a service that is outsourced to a third-party organisation or a freelancer.
As a provider of website, application development and brand design services, we can wax lyrical about the benefits of working with a third-party development outfit to produce a website. However, if we are being fair, there are several horror stories clients have faced with companies or freelancers that we will discuss in this article and remind you that DigiF9 are not like those companies!
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Poor Communication
Your call is very important to us, please stay on the line.
That dreaded sentence when calling up a company followed by a monotonous soundtrack. It is highly unlikely that you are building a new website or improving an existing one for no reason. Maybe you have a product release coming up or you are just entering the market and want to build up your presence. Either way you have a timeline of when you need this delivered by, and the various milestones associated with it.
This brings in a key challenge associated with web development; communication. You need to be kept in regular communication with the development company in order to be confident in where you are at with the process, and engage with your target audience. Communication or lack of, is a key problem for a lot of organisations, and is a key factor to consider when selecting an organisation to provide service. Make sure that in your initial discussions the provider is timely in their responses and has multiple resources assigned to assist you – no single point of failure!
Rigid Templated Designs
Do you have that in my size? No sorry, it’s one size fits all.
Sites such as GoDaddy, Squarespace and Wix allow customers with no experience in coding to quickly set up a website using pre-made templates. This an attractive option for many start-ups and even SMEs but does add a certain level of rigidity to your website as it will need to fit into one of these templates, otherwise you will be back at square one.
Your website is the cornerstone of your digital footprint, and so you should allow your creative spark to flourish, not limit it with pre-defined templates. Working with a dedicated consultancy allows you them to capture your exact requirements and offer the flexibility should they change. Be sure to ask to see a portfolio of previous work to allow the company to demonstrate not only the skills in their primary area, but flexibility to adapt to new challenges to truly bring your website to life!
Half-Finished Jobs
Glass half empty or glass half full?
Doesn’t matter, either way there is only 50% content there! A number of freelancers can offer fantastic prices for website development which appear attractive on first viewing. However, depending on your requirements this process can either be a fast and cost-effective solution or a long painful process, and this is where customers may regret not using a reputable consultancy.
Often clients are left with half complete or unfinished projects, which creates a significant challenge. Either give the half completed work to a new organisation to pick up where they left off, or simply start again. Either way this is both a time consuming and costly process for the client. Ensure that you discuss factors such as resourcing, redundancy in place and ability to meet targets and deadlines, as well as making sure strict contractual agreements are drawn up. This is your business so make sure you bring on third parties, like DigiF9, that take it as seriously as you do!
Prioritisation
Thank you for your request, we will aim to respond within 72 hours.
For a few organisations, websites and web development is seen as a simple batch operation – create a process that is easy and simple to deliver and highly repeatable. Whilst this creates a highly efficient scenario for the consultancy, it creates a significant challenge for the client – trying to identify a provider that will prioritise their business and offer a dedicated service.
At DigiF9 we treat all clients as if we are an extension of their team and aim to build long term relationships by delivering strong consistent service. Make sure that when you are selecting a service provider, you take time to identify feedback from previous clients, and get a feel for the culture of the organisation. No one wants to feel like just another number!
Scalability & Future Proofing
Error 504: Server Overloaded.
Websites are designed to be eye catching, engaging and presenting the message you wish to convey. The best way to do build and maintain these factors is to keep adding content to your website, as well as updating the functionality to continually improve the user experience over time. This highlights the fact that websites need to be designed in a way that makes them flexible to add new content to, and upgrade the functionality as you receive feedback and suggestions from your users.
One of the main challenges with web developers is not accounting for this key requirement, designing a website that is challenging to work with, meaning that when you want to make improvements or add new content, you are left puzzled with where to start. Ensure that even if you are starting small, there is the capability to scale up, handle more traffic from users and add greater functionality to continue to grow and expand your business!
Website Security
I thought the door locked by itself?
One of the biggest challenges in the web development space is with security. A number of service providers view user experience and website functionality as the primary factors and security as an afterthought. This is often the fundamental reason why websites end up getting hacked.
For entrepreneurs your business is your livelihood – and anything supporting or powering this should be protected as you would with any other aspect in your life. Ensure that you identify a provider that not only offers a fantastic portfolio of technical features but also the capability and knowledge to add robust security in from the offset. No one wants to be part of another statistic about hacking!
At DigiF9 we combine the skills of highly experienced developers with Cyber Security professionals. We place security right at the centre of the requirements for any client project alongside the functionality and user experience, to provide our clients with the peace of mind that the product they will receive will be high quality, completely tailored to their requirements, and most importantly secure. We don’t compromise, so neither should you.
We hope you enjoyed this week’s article, discussing the key pain points clients face with web developers, and ultimately where some of the horror stories come from. We believe at DigiF9 you shouldn’t have to settle for a sub-par product and should receive exceptional service.
Contact sales@digif9.co.uk now and let us help you with a painless solution to your web design problems.
