Transcript Hiring a Web Developer

Web Design for Business
by Sindy Whitehead
In Today’s Presentation
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Hiring a Web Developer
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Web Site Features
Web Development Process
Web Site Hosting
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Prevent Being Ripped Off
Hosting Jargon
SEO
Accessibility
Programming Languages
Questions
Hiring a Web Developer
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SEO
W3C Validation
Accessibility
Prevent Being Ripped Off
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Average price ~ $2,500 (depending on needs)
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Get detailed Bid Sheet
Get official contract
Get separate contract for maintenance
Bring a deadline to the table & include in contract
consequences of missing deadline
Most of the time don’t trust friends, relatives,
neighbors, etc.
You register for the Domain
Some Web Site Features
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Blog – basically an online journal/article
Podcast – your own online radio/TV program
Newsletter – usually a regular email
Shopping Cart – how your customers buy
your goods
Image Gallery – like your own photo album
Flash – can be animation, interactivity, video,
etc.
Web Development Process
- Before the First Meeting
Know what you want before you go
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Look at competitors sites
Look at similar sites to what you want
The more you decide beforehand, the better
Decide how much money & time is your limit
If you want a shopping cart, have your credit
card processing account set up
Web Development Process
- At the First Meeting
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Make sure the Developer understands what
you want and what you don’t
Schedule other meetings and checkpoint
deadlines
Decide on a payment schedule and method
Web Development Process
- After the First Meeting
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The Developer should draft a contract including:
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Requested features
Costs
Deadlines
Meetings
Payment Schedule
Etc.
If the Developer is doing the design as well, unless
you are very specific, they should get you three or
more mockups for your approval and comments
Web Development Process
- During the Site Building
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Stay in contact with your Developer. Make
sure they are on schedule and not making
choices that they shouldn’t
Make sure to have regular meetings
Web Development Process
- After the Site Building
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At this point the site should be completely
done and the Developer completely paid as
per the contract agreement
Have another meeting just to make sure all is
done
If a maintenance agreement hasn’t been
written, then it should be discussed at this
time
Enjoy your new site!
Payment Methods
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Hourly
Per Project
Pay Schedules:
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All up front – good for them, not you
Part up front, part at end – maybe, but still can be
bitten
All at end – good for you, not for them
After checkpoints – my favorite, good for both
Hosting Jargon
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Bandwidth – essentially how much traffic your
site can handle
Domain – what your customers type into their
browsers
Statistics – information about your site’s
traffic
SQL – databases, good for collecting and
storing information (like product or customer
information)
Comparison of Hosting
Companies
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GoDaddy.com
bluehost.com
1and1.com
Easy CGI
PowWeb
SEO
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Link Ratings (PageRank) – how many quality
links link to your site
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Attracting Links
Affiliate Programs
Web Lists
AdWords
Selective Wording
Keywords – in URL & page titles
SEO Don’ts
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Meta tags help very little
No hidden text
No repeating words
Don’t add irrelevant keywords
Accessibility
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No Flash for navigation
Alternative text for images
Text & audio alternatives for videos
Test with screen readers and multiple
browsers
Programming Languages
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HTML/XHTML – basic Web language
CSS – the design
PHP, JavaScript, Perl, ColdFusion, etc. – the
extra features
DHTML – basically the combination of
XHTML, CSS, and JavaScript
Flash – not actually a language, but an
important Web method
Time for your
Questions!
My Contact Information
Sindy Whitehead
Email: [email protected]
Web Sites:
SindyWhitehead.googlepages.com
VacancyComics.com