Everyone seems to have a website these days, but what you may not be aware of is that the web design and development industry is still completely unregulated.
What that means to you, the consumer, is that there isnât a standard set of ethics that website design companies are forced to adhere to. So, you must learn to protect yourself instead of trusting that companies are being governed.
In order to ensure youâre dealing with an ethical web design company, be sure to ask these 10 questions before you commit.
1. Who owns the website I am paying for?
Shockingly, a lot of web design companies will license you the website youâre paying for instead of transferring ownership to you. This means if you ever change providers, you canât take your site with you.
Ask the company to show you specifically in your contract where the website ownership is stated.
2. Do I receive a backup of all the files necessary for my website to work?
Make sure you get this on cd, as it enables you to take those files to another web design firm if you would like to.
3. Will I receive access to my ftp and hosting control panel?
Just as important as your web design files in terms of changing providers with ease, make sure you get the following:
a) FTP login url, user name, and password
b) Hosting Control panel url, user name, and password
4. Who owns my domain name?
Your domain name is www. yourcompanyname.com, itâs best to register this and manage it yourself at a company like godaddy.com but if not, make sure you are shown the documentation that lists you as the âregistrantâ and âadminâ contact.
5. Are any guarantees my website will rank on search engines?
Often times there will be additional charges for this service that arenât included in the website design and development price. Itâs much better to get a full idea of the costs before you sign up.
6. Is there a long term contract I will be asked to sign?
Make sure you are comfortable with committing to this company for that period of time. Also ask about their contract cancellation policy.
7. Are there monthly or yearly fees? What service will I be receiving for these fees?
Some companies will charge ongoing maintenance fees, which donât get you anything if you arenât updating your web design regularly.
8. Who will be responsible for creating/providing my website content?
The content of your site is the text, images, links, videos etc that will be going on your website.
This is the number one reason that website development is delayed or halted. Make sure you have the time to create or provide your own content or hire a web design company that will take care of this for you.
9. What is the project timeline?
Make sure the website design companyâs delivery date will work for you. There are some companies that will take months to get back to you on one small detail.
10. Do you have any references?
Just about anyone with a laptop and some coding knowledge can design a website, but are their customers happy with the results?
Make sure to check out online reviews of the company and ask for references from their existing clients.
By asking these 10 questions, you could save yourself hundreds of dollars in redoing your website design and hours of hassle trying to recover what is rightfully yours. If the company is hesitant to answer any of these questions or gives you the runaround, pick up and move on to the next prospective firm. There are so many businesses out there that will be glad to answer these questions for you; dealing with one that wonât is simply a waste of your time and money.