Successful companies knows that a web site is an essential marketing tool, however it can also be used to provide 24/7 services to your customers and your team. Sales process, HR and recruitment tools, finance, help-desks, work management are some of the areas where real benefits can be realized with applications on the web. Your tireless business enabler.
Whether you're in the business of selling products, delivering services, or building your customer loyalty, Well designed web based applications can reap a tremendous return on your time and money.
You know you need a business application, but how do you go about getting one if you don't know the first thing about web design or development. If html, css, php, .NET, the frontend, the backend, are foreign terms that should pose no problem. We just need to find a professional web development company that speaks your language and is interested in your project.
Finding professional web developers is easy … right?
With a many of web developers and designers out there, freelancers, agencies, companies "script writers", how do you know what the right for your company, and more importantly, for your goals and objectives?
The list of questions and below should get you started with asking the right questions. And, the best part is, you won't have to learn what all those funny acronyms mean.
The first thing you need to do is determine your web application goals.
6 points to consider before contacting a web development company:
- Who is your target audience?
- How will your target audience interact with your web based application?
- What are the activities & tasks that the software must achieve?
- How will updates be made to the application?
- What is your delivery target?
- What kind of return on investment (ROI) do you expect from the application and how will you measure it?
When looking for a web development company, here are a few key questions to ask:
- Do the development company project examples fall in line with what you are expecting to deliver. Are you seeing examples that you can relate to or that appear easy to use
- Does the web development agency work with other customers in your industry? Have they previously created an application similar to what you want? eg If you want an application that is designed to help your staff work together closely by sharing documents and ordering and tracking tasks, have they implement something similar for another client
- Is the company a member of any professional bodies. Do they demonstrate that they employ staff who are professional developers?
Once you have narrowed down your list to a couple of companies that seem to be a good fit, contact them with these things in mind:
The Initial Contact
- Were they responsive to your query, or did it take them days to return your call? If its taken a long time, consider that is the kind of service you are going to have to expect in the future ..
- Were they friendly and helpful and take time to find out about your company and your needs? – Its best of the company is asking lots lots of questions and showing a genuine interest in what you are looking to achieve
- Did they speak over your head using lots of jargon? – A good company will speak at your level, understand what you are looking to achieve and make relevant suggestions as well. You should feel good about the conversation not lost in geek-speak.
How Are They Going To Work With You?
- How are you going to be involved in the design process. will you get to agree prototypes, and designs?
- What kinds of guarantees do they offer for their services?
- What kind of support is available, will there be someone to answer queries and a process to handle issues?
- Do they have a testing process, this is very important as you want to be sure that what you receive is intelligently tested by the company before you get it?
Now that you've found a couple of different professional web development companies, and have a couple of proposals, you'll want to take some time to compare them carefully. Call several of the company clients and ask the following questions:
- Did the company meet your goals and objectives?
- Did they follow up after the launch, and continue to stay in touch?
- Does the application function properly, and in-line with the agreed specification?
- Are you happy with the visual look of the application?
- What do your users think of the application?
- Did you get the overall delivery you expected?
- Would you work with this company again?
By taking the time to ask the right questions, you should end up with a company who meets and exceeds your goals. Find a company that is passionate about delivering your application to your requirement, and you will find your developing web applications is an enjoyable collaboration.
Seeing your software ideas turn into reality is very rewarding and can be a great boost to your business.