Here are practical tips to help you find the perfect web designer for your next project. #webdesigner
When Hiring Think Partnership
Your next Vendor / Client relationship should go beyond invoices to a partnership based on mutual trust. It’s never a company’s goal to hire the wrong vendor, but it happens. Lack of online understanding, undeserved trust, and lack of accountability contribute to bad decisions that can be irreversible and cost you lots of money.
Say No to Bad Code
Moreover, it can also affect your ability as a company to do everyday business when tied to a technology that is directly connected to only one particular vendor. So in order to make changes, updates, add content, add products, or do business online a company is forced to utilize a particular vendor only.
Ensure Code Portability
Most vendors have a purposeful technology preference. The larger vendors prefer complex, proprietary code in order to keep a client (you) locked in. This is a common practice that SWD labels as unethical. So as an example, a vendor has a flavor of technology being used in-house and that’s the same technology you will be forced to adopt. Vendors, most times are not tech-agnostic and that is a problem. Be aware of that.
Say No to Outsourcing
Often times vendors hire Latin American, Russian, Indian, or even Chi-com resources naively believing that security is an important aspect to outsourced vendors. A company in America can’t really enforce anything outside of America. Nor can a company ensure code wouldn’t be shared, duplicated, or simply resold or contain malware. Some vendors even present the work of others as their own. The security implications out weigh any cost benefit a company might gain by setting up a risky vendor relationship overseas.
Why Companies Outsource
They don’t have the skill-set. Many large and small vendors alike do not have the in-house skill-set. When hiring a vendor make sure in writing that they have in-house talent that can deliver Information Architecture, Web Design, Code, Usability, and SEO. Trust them when they say they can deliver from within their organization, but verify it in writing with an enforcement component. Can a project be successful with using multiple consultants, and agencies? Yes, but apart from the obvious managerial overhead to coordinate vendors, it’s very costly.
Good luck!
Simon is a Product Designer and Front End Dev with over 20 years of experience. He started as a graphic designer and illustrator coding his first website in 1996. He has worked with brands like Publix, Microsoft, and Discovery Channel.
