If you are seeking a web professional then it is likely your expertise in life is not in the field of web. If you are seeking services outside of your own knowledge area in can be difficult to know what the right questions are to ask. Here is a short list of questions to ask as you look around for the right web company to work with.
Being readily available for your project is not always a good thing.
The first point in this section isn’t necessarily a question to ask but more of a rule of thumb. If a web company is readily available to do work this could potentially be a bad sign. Ever notice how the best doctors are always busy with patients or the best restaurants are always booked? Usually the best web professionals are booked with projects because so many people want their services based on previous work they have done.
What are the skills/experience level of the people/person who will be building my site?
Although the company you are working with may have a good reputation, the individuals working on your specific project may be very new and inexperienced. If they are brand new to the company it may not be known how they work with the other team members. Asking this easy question can give you insight as to what quality you can expect for your project. Again, all employees have to start off as being new. You should simply make sure the people working on your project includes experienced team members as well.
Take a look at their phone and ask about smart phones.
Again, this is not necessarily a question but a good note to observe. Does the company you are talking with claim to be an expert in mobile web technologies? Check out their phones. They don’t necessarily need to have the latest model, but if they are still using a phone from the early 2000′s chances are they are not as passionate about the latest mobile trends as they claim to be. How can they really be an expert in mobile web technologies if they do not even use one on a regular basis?
Ask if the developer working on your project has any personal projects on the go
In my opinion, if a developer truly loves what they do they should actively be researching and trying out the latest tools and technologies as they emerge. They should have at least one personal project on the go outside of their regular work simply because they love this stuff so much. If they are not doing this, how can you be sure that the latest tools and technologies are being used for your project?
Would you hire a personal trainer who is out of shape and has an unhealthy diet? If they do not care enough about getting their own bodies and health in shape and up to par, why would they truly care about yours?
What is the difference between a mobile website and a mobile application?
Many companies are claiming to be experts in the mobile web. However, in a conversion with them it is clear they do not understand the basics! Make sure the company you are working with truly understands what they are talking about if they will be building a mobile website for you.
A mobile website is essentially a regular website that is scaled down in visual size, and content size to make it better suited for mobile phone viewing. In addition, the functions and navigation is often customized to make it easier to use on mobile devices. A mobile website can be viewed in a regular desktop browser but will simply look very narrow. A single version of a mobile website usually works properly across multiple types of phones without any modification needed for each device. To get to a mobile website you simply have to load that webpage in the phone’s mobile web browser.
A mobile application is a native application of the mobile device itself. This offers a wider range and more powerful functionality than a mobile website. To get a mobile application on your phone you need to install it on your phone from the device’s ‘appstore’ or equivalent. These require more advanced programming techniques and usually require device specific code for each type of phone.
Do you outsource any of your work?
Outsourcing of work is becoming increasingly common in the field of web. Sometimes this can work out well for some projects sometime they don’t. They are very vulnerable to communication breakdown and ultimately throwing your project ‘off the rails’. Many companies are not up front about this to clients as well. Some companies outsource a project or parts of a project and ‘pocket’ the extra money as if the work was done in house. Outsourcing is definitely risky. Your project is vulnerable to becoming something like the tree swing analogy on the main Don’t Get Used page.
Web Rock Star does not use any overseas outsourcing companies for projects. Our unique approach to building websites does not require any overseas outsourcing. Based on previous experience, Web Rock Star services are still more cost effective than a web firm using the services of an outsourcing company due to the overhead and downtime associated with that process.
Have you built any plugins or widgets yourself for the CMS (content management system) you are using for this project?
One great way to determine how proficient a developer is with the CMS they are using for your project is to ask them if they have created any ‘plugins’ for that CMS. In developer terms a ‘plugin’ is an isolated file or series of files which adds additional features or functionality to the CMS. Some examples of plugins may be automatically adding a twitter feed to your site or having a polls/survey box on your site. It should be noted that I am not referring to Installing ready made plugins. I am referring to diving into the code and building them yourself.
Do you use a WYSIWYG graphical editor to create websites or do you work directly with the code?
A WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) graphical editor allows an individual to create a website without touching any website code directly. This approach works well for simple websites which have simple designs and bare bones functionality. However, if you have complex visual designs and more advanced functionality (or plan to have it in the future), using a developer who only knows how to use a WYSIWYG graphical editor would be very risky. They will likely reach a point where they simply do not have the skills or knowledge to make the adjustment or add the functionality you request.