Know who to work with on your web project

The web is a scary place for many people. You might not think so, but for many business owners who strive to make the best decision possible when doing what they do best (running their business), this is the case.

Think about it. Let’s look at a fictional character named Charlie. Charlie runs a fictional but successful construction company. Charlie can build you a house, a garage, a warehouse, a swing set, a bathroom – you name it. Charlie puts blood, sweat, and tears into being the best contractor he can be.

But now, Charlie needs a website for his contracting company to showcase the great services he offers. Where does he turn? Does he just Google somebody and hire the first company that comes up? Someone who potentially absolutely sucks at what they do but made a large investment in search engine optimization and now come up on page 1? Your choice.

The same goes for fictional character #2, Derek. Derek runs a candy factory; makes the best candy you’ve ever had. It literally melts in your mouth in 3.5 seconds. Unlike Charlie, Derek has a website but the website is very outdated, offers little to no value to Derek, and is a pain to (get a hold of someone to) update the site. Who wants that?

What do most people in Derek’s shoes do? Call their past web contractor and try to get a few updates. Wrong move. For Derek, and many other business owners, it’s time to let go.

Derek, in what I believe, is suffering from old man syndrome. Ever become friends with an old person? I have a few. Love them to death, but they are so stuck in their ways that it’s not even funny. Whether its doctors, accountants and mechanics they’re using and paying way too much only “because well you know I’ve gone to them for 30 years” or “I don’t like change.”

Take this for what it’s worth: This often over-looked decision can cost you thousands and thousands and can severely limit your company’s growth.

Let’s look at a few reasons and examples:

Skills – Many “web companies” who in my opinion are phony, learn some skills and college and run from that for years. Bad mistake. You want a company who is CONSTANTLY learning what is the latest technology.

Quick scores – A lot of web companies that have you “by the balls” will do whatever they want knowing that they are at your mercy. Let’s face it, you’ve established a relationship, and now you both know what you’re capable of. Again, be careful. You could be losing a ton of money here on features that often won’t even benefit you – they are jus t features this freelancer/company has learned from another website and wants to flip that service to you.

Their Appearance – Someone will often tell you what they can do for you and how amazing they can make YOUR website look like, but uhh.. what does the company you’ve used in the past/the company offering you their services have for a web presence? If it’s not up to par, that’s a good sign that you might want to o a little bit more research on the company. Generally, if the company is up to date on what to offer, they should have it for themselves. A company promising something they don’t put into practice for themselves is always a red flag. It by no means you shouldn’t use then, as it might just not be good for them and their business model, but it’s something to take into consideration.

Team vs. Individual– If there’s one red flag we would strongly recommend against 90% of the time is a hiring a one-man show. For the most part, there is no way a one-man show can give your project the attention it deserves. I urge you to read our “don’t hire a freelancer” article, as many of these points would be the same. There are exceptions and there are a few gurus who can take care of all aspects, but those gurus are few and limited.

To sum it up incase you don’t want to read that article, you really should have a team of individuals (plural) who focus on individual niches. For example: You want a project manager who can properly communicate with you, you want a dedicated designer who doesn’t have to limit his own designs based on him knowing he has to code it himself. A lot of times, that doesn’t work out well and a designer should only design and a developer should only developer – to ensure that everyone is specifically working on their specialties.

Transfer of Assets: A lot of companies have had nightmares when dealing with the transferring of assets – everything from logo files to hosting and domain information. A true company who cares, such as our company, Basch Solutions, LLC will do everything possible to ensure that it is a truly easy process and that it is not a drawn out process. Given that we’ve done it 100’s of times, we know how to do it seamlessly and waste no time.  Don’t ever feel like you’re absolutely stuck with old your company because they’re a pain to get a hold of/work with – we can break that barrier for you.

The Big Picture: Long story short, whether you need a brand new web company or you’re toying with using your existing contractors/sub-constrictors/freelancers, we would strongly urge you to do your research. Don’t make a quick judgment based on what might be easiest for you at this point in time. Think about 6 months down the road, think about a year from now, etc.

Basch Solutions, LLC is a team of 30 strong and we’ve been helping industries in all shapes and sizes have them web presences they deserve for a number of years. We are a Rochester NY Website Design and Rochester NY Website Development company that also specializes in social media strategy, search engine optimization, and hosting solutions. If you need help, even just a question you’d like advice on, feel free to give us a call or shoot us an email.

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