1) (quote): "The
campanies legal status should be LTD."
Although being a Ltd. Company might give the impression of being a larger or more established concern, this carries little weight in reality as one can buy a 'Ltd. co tag' Off the shelf for £50
The benefit of Ltd. Is to the company directors as it protects personal assets if the business folds
little use to the buyer in this type of business
2) (quote): "The delivery time should be quicker than most other developers"
Delivery time should not be an issue as long as it is not unreasonable, and any target dates for progress are met. If a business has a deadline that is too short for a website project and a developer is not strong enough to re-negotiate it
then s/he will bring a lot of stress on themselves
chance for errors to creep into design
compromise any other work being handled.
3) (quote): "The price should be the best."
What is the definition of best?
To give a mark to this question it is necessary to know if you simply mean cheapest? Any sage buyer will know that cheapest is not always best
hence the price should be secondary to whether or not the design fulfils the clients needs. There may be a budget
this means the developer must be able to work within the budget
the client needs to know just what can be done for the budget clearly and accurately, any developer should be able to communicate what the limitations of the specified budget will mean for the client. If the client wants more than the budget allows
then compromise and negotiation are again required.
4) (quote): "The
porfolio should be
imnressive"
Most designers rely on portfolio to grab the clients attention. If the style a developer/designer has does not turn the client on, it is unlikely that the relationship will work
BUT a developer should not be judged by any portfolio work alone. As a good developer one should be able to identify the clients design preferences, should be able to assess the requisite look and feel a particular client feels they need (advising were necessary to help establish a coherent and effective result). The next site a developer creates should have the potential to look unlike anything they have designed before
thus portfolio can only be a broad guide as to the range of styles that a developer has worked in.
In my opinion, far more important to a website development project is the need for a developer to elicit from the client what they want to achieve with the site, and suggest solutions. The way a site looks is in the end the least important aspect of web development
at least it is very much secondary to whether or not a site achieves its objectives (increasing business achieving increased traffic for instance).
A good developer should ensure that they clarify a clients REAL needs. A site may be pretty, or cool, or stylish, or minimalist, or eye-catching, or clever or a combination of these and any number of other adjectives
BUT it is basically useless if it doesnt do the business
Why pay even £1, let alone £1000, if the site is going to sit lost among the 75,000,000 other sites on the web
never being found unless you give someone the address on a business card so they can actually look it up!!!?
5) (quote): "The sales person should not be pushy"
Pushy sales people are a pain in any profession, although the deal has got to be done, and a sale has to be closed
there will never be a need for pushiness, IF the developer can ascertain what the client needs, establish how they will be able to achieve the clients objectives, kept their own creative ego under control
provide a solution in an acceptable time-frame at a price within the clients budget.
If you employ pushy tactics, or pushy salespeople, then I certainly wouldnt use you.
6) (quote): "There should be direct contact with the actual developers"
One advantage of working in the virtual world of the web, is that you can employ people to do a job for you from anywhere in the world
so you are spoilt for choice
website development is a global market
BUT it is still true that someone who needs a job doing, and doing well, will no doubt be happier if they feel an empathy with their developer. This is hard to establish if you never even talk to them in person. It is also hard for a developer to do more than clone or re-use a basic idea over and again
.unless they talk to their client first hand, and get to know what makes them tick, and what they want to achieve with their website. A good developer MUST be able to find out what the client expects/needs, and must be able to communicate with the client so that any issues are ironed out before the work is undertaken.
Contact at an early stage is vital, and empathy and trust is a must for a business relationship to thrive and become a potential source of future work and good recommendations.
In short I am not sure that these questions will help you really find out what you seem to want to know.
In my opinion a website developer (and what we try and do :wink: ):
- Needs to be first an foremost to be both a good listener and intuitive ( to identify what the client wants
not just spout on about what youve done before);
- Needs to be perceptive and diplomatic (pick up on clients needs, and using their insight to how the web works, assist the client to identify real business needs as opposed to simple personal desires - without upsetting the client
);
- Needs to be able to subdue their own creative urges to interpret the clients preferences as accurately as possible:
- Needs to recognize the importance of functionality, and visitor/user friendliness, above and beyond self indulgent creative whims and fancies :shock: ;
- Needs to know how the web works so that the sites they design perform
above and beyond being able to produce an aesthetically appealing site!...There are loads of really artful sites out there
that get NO visitors!
Id rather be paid £500 down to develop a site that works for the client, with another £500 to be paid when the site hits its targets
than to expect to be paid a grand to produce a site that looks pretty, and has lots of bells and whistles
but just doesnt cut the commercial mustard.
A
(P.S. Proofreading skills are important too see words in bold in 'quote' lines...no doubt you'll spot my errors now
