Here’s 10 examples, off the top of my head, of conversations i have actually had when I have had to postpone a website launch and the client has asked why?…..
My answers:
- The changes you sent to the design brief on Wednesday
- The 150 images you sent to us yesterday to be included on the site
- The 50 pages of text for the website you sent to us Tuesday…. in the post….. er, on paper
- This is the first time your boss has seen it?
- You never told us all your organisation used IE4
- Yes, as we mentioned, 1024×768 won’t fit on your bosses smaller screen
- What do you mean your logo is changing
- So you’ve actually not got any content ready for sections 3,4,5,6 and 7?
- Ah….. so you want sections 3,4,5 and 7 removed from the navigation….
- The guy who controls your domain is leaving early today?
The list could go on…… what I’ve learned to do is take some responsibility on to ensure I don’t repeat mistakes I should have learned from.
Things that can slow down your project
What I have learned is good communication is paramount when developing any website. It’s a learning process, and you hopefully can only get better at it with time and experience. There’s always unexpected challenges, but there’s some stuff that needs to be discussed from the outset to avoid the vast majority of headache.
I loved being a web designer and developer. I love the thought process and the finished product, but there are so many other factors out off a web designer’s control that make being a web designer suck sometimes.
I’ve came across a lot of situations….
- Domain Name Registrars who for some reason don’t release domains
- Hosting companies that take your site down and don’t tell you until your client spots it
- Other web design companies you win clients from who make it a difficult transition
- 3rd Party IT people (who manage client internal PCs and email) who are as useful as a chocolate candle
- Clients who think a CMS comes with free lifetime CMS training or telephone support
- Clients who don’t know how to cut and paste
- Clients who think it’s your responsibility to get them website sales… from this point on
- Clients that want a blog, but don’t want to write anything in it
- Clients that think their $300 job is the only website your team is working on
- Clients who don’t supply content in time, but still want the website launched on time
- Clients who don’t supply content
- Clients who think it’s your job to update their Joomla or WordPress installation for life
- Internet Explorer and MS Edge browsers
Ive been designing websites since 2006 – so I have made a lot of mistakes. Here’s a quick web design & development project checklist for clients and designers – a collection of some of the more important stuff I’ve learned – that might save us time and money in the future.
Managing your Expectations
If you’re looking for a fixed price for the development of the website, as we often do, ensure the project goes smoothly before you start, by communicating with us at the outset. You'll enjoy the process much more because there will be fewer surprises.
Here’s stuff that needs to be discussed:
- Prices can change even for a fixed cost website
- Web Design Costs are dependent on how many hours is spent working on a design and how many times the you ask for changes to it
- As you review our portfolio –be sure you like what you see before choosing to hire us.
- Supply samples of the types of website you are looking for.
- Estimate a cost for a job, based on early discussion.
- Just remember, we can quote for a job only on the information we have available at the time
- We start the project with 60% of job before start, 20%w hen website layout is approved and 20% on completion( required to go live )
- Don't forget that you are hiring us to do the job by hours. We do have other clients and you work will scheduled into our production pool.
- It’s impossible to make a site that will look the same in all browsers;
- Specify which Resolution / Screen Size the Website Should Be Designed to
- Specify a fixed width or fluid layout
- Inform the client which browser versions you support
- Ensure the client is aware of website font restrictions or recommendations and web page download considerations
- Ensure the client is aware websites look different than on paper
- Content should be supplied by the client in a form easily used
- Who is supplying the text?
- Who is supplying the images?
- Get the client to supply all text, photographs and content in electronic format
- Make sure text supplied, if formatted, is in a web-ready format
- The client should supply an example site-plan, in a bulleted list
- The client needs to specify any specific functionality required at the outset
- ‘Milestone’ dates for the project should be agreed
- Communicate missing any milestone date for supplying content / adding new content will have an impact on launch commitments and costs
- Agree to content delivery date
- Agree to Site Architecture Freeze Date
- Agree to Site Functionality Freeze Date
- Agree to Design Freeze date
- Agree to Launch Date
- Changes to the brief should be communicated and costs agreed / timings considered in electronic form
- No Favours – The road to hell is paved with good intentions and the bodies of well meaning web developers
- Everything should be charged out, agreed and accountable
- Websites can go down every now and then
- Who hosts the current site?
- Get Contact Details
- Hosting is a recurring annual charge
- Domain transfers sometimes go a bit long
- We are at the mercy of third parties
- Who controls current domain(s)?
- Domains need registered every year
- Get Contact Details
- Emails might go down for a period of perhaps 24-48 hours
- Who controls current email(s)?
- Get Contact Details
- How many email accounts to you have/need
- Launching a website can be about pressing buttons and waiting
- Websites Get Hacked
- All CMS needs kept up to date
- In most cases hackers seek to deface the site
- A hacked site can mean disaster in Google
- A site that has been hacked can be rescued
- Who’s in charge of security / CMS updates
- Agree maintenance fees
- A Winning Website Is never ‘Finished’!
- The client should keep his site up-to-date with news if he has a CMS
- Training for the CMS should be costed if required
- A website is subject to Laws of The Land and the client should investigate these
- US Corporate Law
- Business, Sales and Distribution Licenses
- Website Accessibility Recommendations
- Agree to ongoing responsibilities
- Who is responsible for the client's email, hosting and domain management
- Do we guarantee’ a website is fit for purpose for say 1 year?
- When will annual billing start and occur
Take responsibility, agree the scope of the project, recognise the requirements to meet the brief within allocated time-frame, and be mindful that time is billable.
