If your company has a web site, does it meet your needs?

If your company doesn’t have a web site, why does it need one?

These are the first questions to answer before starting the process of building or re-building your web site. By understanding what you need/want, the time you spend working with the web developer you choose will go much more quickly and smoothly.

Before you even pick-up the phone to call possible web developers, you need to decide your small business site’s purpose--what the site will be used for and why it is needed. If your business has a site, list the aspects of the site that are working as well as those that are not. Create a "wish list"of thinks you’d like the site to do—don’t exclude anything because it "sounds to expensive," make this your dream site.

Once the plan is complete, it's time to call potential web developers. The plan will serve as the development foundation of your site; clarifying communication between you and designers/developers.

When you first meet with your developer prospects, share your plan. One way to ensure developers understand exactly what you're talking about is to find samples from other sites—for both functionality and look. Also, if possible, bring one of your members or a staff person that is more "web tech savvy" as a "translator." This person should be involved in the entire process to avoid miscommunication and unexpected expense. If no one like this is available, make sure that you understand exactly what your developer means when suggesting various functionality. Have him/her show you sample sites that demonstrate what they are saying if they can’t explain something—don’t just trust they "know."

Another way to make sure that you and your developer are on the same page is to make sure they understand your small business. Be specific about what you do and how things work at your company. The more they understand about your organization, the more smoothly the whole process will work.

1. Have each prospect explain how the site will function. As he/she does this, think about how this will affect staff time & duties—will it streamline processes or create more work? Does that matter?—And don’t be afraid to ask if an alternate way of handling a specific function is available. Make sure to be clear about your expectations and reasons for the desired change.
2. Look at sample sites from the developers and talk to clients they've worked with. As when hiring staff, what references say or do not say can be telling.
3. Ask how information is stored and what kind of coding and/or software the developer uses. Make sure that your "translator" evaluates this response; if you don’t have one, err on the side of the person who best explains things – communication is the key and if you can understand them, things should run more smoothly. Also remember, anyone can put up a site using FrontPage or another WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) program, but a good developer truly understands data relationships and doesn’t complicate the "back-end" process.
4. Ask about site maintenance and access to data—How will the site update process work? Will staff be able to do it, or will the developer do it? Is there a monthly maintenance fee if the developer does it? Is there training involved if staff does it? If data is collected via the site, how will database updates occur and how frequently?

Web developers understand the web. You understand your small business. By working to understand each other—through planning and research—your small business will have the site it needs.

Kelly Biedny is the owner of Kleobell Creative Business Solutions (www.kleobell.com), helping small businesses become THE source for products or services for their customers. She has worked as a professional communicator and designer since 1994, primarily in the association sector. Kelly's areas of expertise include branding/image development, communication/marketing, web development and project management.