(Or 10 Things Web Development Individuals/Companies Should NOT Be Promising You)

Your Design Ideas Are Ugly

Most clients explain what they want for specific reasons such as branding. They will describe a specific look or style they are wanting to achieve. There is nothing wrong with this. However, some clients want to be in control down to the last pixel of how they want their logo or site to look. The reason this doesn't work is because the client isn't in a creative field and therefore does not understand why this or that doesn't go well with the other. There is a real theory behind design theory and some colors, text layout or user interface do not work well under certain circumstances. But we can't come right out and tell you what you want is ugly. That would be offensive. Instead, we do exactly what you tell us and don't put your project in our portfolio.

We Cannot Promise You Traffic

Most developers should know basic SEO. However, think twice about hiring anyone who promises massive amounts of traffic or top spots in search engines. Developers are hired to do just that: develop. If you want someone to help promote your website, hire someone appropriate to do just that. We can develop certain functions to make promotion easier such as viral marketing but our focus is not on promoting your website. Any type of website marketing depends highly on the what the website is, who the audience is, etc. It requires a great amount of research and expense that is best left up to the people who are experienced in your site's topic: you, your staff or a marketing professional.

We Do What You Tell Us

You should know your site's business plan well before contacting us. We are going to develop what you tell us. That means, if you don't know neither do we. The more information you can provide: business plan, layout draft, marketing plan, etc the better we can develop your website tailored to what you are looking for. You dream the ideas. We make those dreams a reality. That is the ideal relationship between site owner and web developer. Nothing is worse than a client who is unprepared and changes his/her mind mid-development. It can have a great effect on things and can cause a developer to start completely over. Which leads to wasted time and money for you.

You Wasted Your Time With That Other Guy

You can come to us and get consulting on another service without committing to ours. A true design/developer professional will want what's best for your website and sometimes that means our services are not that solution. Often, a client has tried multiple solutions that failed because he/she had no direction. It is okay to contact freelancers and ask the upsides/downsides to their services versus other services or products.

Your Site's Failure is NOT Our Problem

This goes along with "We Do What You Tell Us" above. There is so much that goes into a website before, during and after. What we do is only a component but not the sole reason a site succeeds or fails. Sometimes clients will know what they want, get the site developed but forget the aftercare of a website. I see this even in domaining: I sell a website and the new owner neglects the aftercare. Ranks drop, content is stale, users lose interest. What is your plan against these things?

We Won't Work For Free

It used to be okay to design a free mockup for potential clients in order to get our names and abilities in front of a new face. But at some point, this becomes a waste of time. A website mockup takes about 2-3 hours to design. A logo mockup (usually with 3 different samples) can take about the same amount of time. In an 8 hour work day, that leaves about 2-4 mockups we provided free; work that we might not get. That is why you normally will not see us in design contests or freelance sites fighting for a bid. It's just not worth our time. (I'll have to admit, sometimes I do every once in awhile for the challenge if I have no work going on that day.)

Yes, Script Installation IS Easy

And the reason you have a hard time with it is because you don't understand the terminology or concept. But it is one of the easiest tasks for us: upload files and push buttons. Done. Most scripts take about 1 1/2 hours to install and configure. Sometimes not even that. (Some scripts are the horror of horrors to install, such as the way Wikipedia's open source code used to be). But these websites based on WordPress and Joomla that you believe you're getting a great deal on: you're not. Upload, install, push buttons, configure, install a basic template. You're not getting that great of a deal.

Yes, Content IS Cheap

The same goes for content. If you hire a mass content writer via a freelance site: most cost about $10-$20 for the average article. Great content is more expensive but not every site needs great content. If you hire someone to do the script installation and find your own freelancers for the content (or write it yourself), you can get a basic static site developed for far less than what some companies push for mass domain development services.

We're All At Different Skill Levels

"Web Development" is such a broad term that describes many different skill sets and skill levels. You don't have to go to college for web development nor do you need a degree. Any fast talking silver tongue that knows our terminology can rip you off in a heartbeat (see William Franklin Fraud). You may be happy with the results but is it the results you paid for? Was it done correctly? Will you get the most quality for your buck? Always evaluate a web designer's/developer's portfolio and client comments first and promises last. Take promises with a grain of salt. Let the experience speak for itself.

Most of Us Don't Know a Lick About Anything Except What You Are Hiring Us For

Again, "Web Development" is such a broad term. It is understandable for a freelance professional to be extremely good at one particular aspect of web development. But those who understand design and development, marketing, business, content and domaining are rare. Don't expect too much. And always assume the professional doesn't know what you are referring to, especially when it comes to domaining.

Comments (1)

Web Strategy Guy May 04, 2009

Oh man ... I can hear the experience in this article. I have many clients in that rank ... I thought it was included, shouldn't that be part of it... I thought the flower would be bigger... bah! clients ...

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