Recently, we have had several phone calls from people wanting to get a web site started. We are not comlpaining about that, but the phone calls have been coming in at an alarming rate. This is a good problem to have, at least better than the opposite of that!
Some of these people that want a web site have already started the process by hiring someone to create a web site for them, only to find out that the person that they hired has gone away, or gone out of business
, off to college in another state etc. We have asked some of these people, that contacted us, if they checked out any of the other web designers work. Most of these people responded with something like "THEY HAVEN'T ACTUALLY CREATED A WEB SITE THEMSELVES, BUT THEY SAID THAT THEY KNEW HOW TO DO IT!"We were suprised at their answer, but tried not to show it, and we followed up with another question. That question was "Does this other guy have a web site and did you check
their own web site out?" The answer to that/those questioins were astounding. Generally the answer was "WELL, THEY DIDN'T ACTUALLY HAVE A WEB SITE THEMSELVES, BUT THEY SAID THAT THEY CREATED WEB SITES FOR OTHER PEOPLE. THEY SAID THAT THEY DIDN'T NEED A WEB SITE FOR THEMSELVES BECAUSE THEY DIDN'T HAVE TIME!"Needless to say, we can help these people, and we could probably even take further advantage of these people if we were that way. We won't ever do that, but the point is, CHECK THE CREDENTIALS OF THE PERSON WHO YOU WILL POSSIBLY GIVE LOTS OF MONEY, TO CREATE A WEB SITE FOR YOU.
We understand that maybe you don't know what web design is all about, or how much it should cost, but there is a ton of information out there about that. Look it up so you at least have an idea. You may still not be able to create your own web site, but at least you will be educated enough to hire
someone to do it for you!As an example of what I'm talking about, I'm not a realitor, and I don't know the first thing about how much a house should sell for, but there are plenty of web sites out there that will educate me a little so that I'm more informed, and I definitely would not hire
a realitor that lives in an apartment or has never even sold a house. That would be a GIANT RED FLAG!I could tell you how much a house should sell for, but it would be a guess at best, but if I could "talk a good talk" you may believe me, even though my only purpose would be to rip you off!
All we are saying is that if you are going to hire
someone to create a web site for you, check their credentials. Have the potential web designer/developer show you web sites that they have created. If they are just starting out, have them at least show you their own web site. Have them show you web sites that they have at least helped out on or contributed to. Make sure that their name is somewhere in the text of the web site or in some of the code of that web site. If you don't know how to look at the code, have them point things out to you, and then contact another web designer/developer and get another price quote. Ask the second web designer/developer about the first one. A reputable web designer/developer will at the very least tell you if they have even heard of the other. Try to ignore some of the bad things as the web designer/developer that you are talking to does not want to lose business to them, so they may point out some bad things, but unless they are telling you about how they have a current client that was ripped off (or something very major like that) then you have to keep in mind that they are trying to get your business.We actually suggest a client get other quotes from other web designers, but we also inform the client about reputable web designers/developers in the area. As much as we want the client to get a good price (if they go somewhere else) it is equally important that this client choose another web designer that will not rip them off.
Here is a list of other web designers/developers in our area that we would happily recommend:
These are all very reputable web design/development companies. Your relationship with your web designer/developer is very important. It's part of what you are paying for. You should be very comfortable talking with them. If you are not, or if there is a problem communicating with them, then they may not be the "person for the job" and you should contact
other reputable web designers.The next post will be about Search Engine Placement Specialists. Truths V.S. Myths.
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