Web developers . . . .
When the great world wide wide kicked off in the 1990's (thanks to Tim Berners-lee), web development was pretty basic - a bit like a Word document but online. In fact, most people could build a basic website themselves. It was not really a beauty contest, just an exciting way of getting yourself or your business online. Now in 2012 and the 3rd millennium businesses need a profesional web presence for a number of reasons. Confidence: people will not do business if the website looks a bit 'dodgy'. Ease of use: the visitor is impatient, if he/she cannot find what they are looking for in nanoseconds they tune out; business lost. Search Engine Optimisation (SEO): with Google leading the search industry, it's never been so difficult to get (and keep) your website at the top of the charts. This is why it is vital to have your new website built by a firm who are SEO specialists. One such firm, based just west of London in Newbury, Berkshire, is The wysi Partnership. They actually build websites from the SEO upwards!
Choosing the right web developer for you should not be too daunting. Satisfy yourself that the firm is capable and competent: ask to see evidence of their work (and do make sure it is really is their own work). Ask about time scales - do you have a fixed deadline that must be adhered to? Ask your web developer to list in writing what is included in the price and what is not. Do they offer a maintenance contract? (These can often be cheaper ways of having minor amendments done to your site, or database.) If being found on the web is a priority for you, ask to see evidence of your web developer's search engine optimisation results - check them out!
As technology advances, you should also consider how your website will integrate with your other business tools. Should it link directly to your customer database? Does it include a blog facility or forum? Being able to edit your pages and content yourself could also be very important. Perhaps even a 'performance dashboard' so you can log in to your admin zone and see exactly how your online business is performing on a weekly or even daily basis?