Forum Moderators: LifeinAsia
My question is that the said charity has asked me to update the site for them and possibly after around 3 months of updating redesign the site. I thought this meant the end of the involvement with this firm but I have discovered they now going to be the hosts. the reason for this is that they want to be able to get their own stats on the site.
There is something I just don't trust about them, I find them to be a bit amateur - which wouldn't be a problem if they weren't charging so much.
My question is, are there any tell-tale signs to look for to tell if this company is indeed a bit s*** or if I'm just picking bones.
I thought this meant the end of the involvement with this firm but I have discovered they now going to be the hosts. the reason for this is that they want to be able to get their own stats on the site
Stats are available from most self respecting web hosting companies ... and there are some very professional outfits around that do not charge the earth.
If you have any control over this, it might be worth suggesting to the charity that you might be able to save them some money and provide them with a better service.
I can sticky you a suggestion if you like. This is a major UK hosting company that I use. They are a good, solid outfit with great support. Stats and raw logs are both available.
Web design companies are paid to design a site and most of them don't even know SEO and don't know the impact of bad page titles or the like.
I know of a couple of web design companies that publicly advertise that SEO don't work and other that just don't want to bother. They want to remain designer and don't want to get involved in SEO.
In your case try to convince the charity company that there are some free stats packages that can be installed or that proper hosting companies should provide access to stats or raw logs.
As for signs that tells if company it 'dodgy', visit their portfolio, contact their customers and ask them about the service etc...
Leo
2. Ask blunt questions. Expect clear, direct answers.
3. Referrals, references?
Trust your instincts. 9 out of 10 times they are right.
The people that I find are most miffed, put off, ruffled or offended by blunt, direct questions are those who either 1) are so unclear about their objectives that the business relationship will be troubled by their lack of clarity, or, 2) have something to hide.
Missing page titles and the such like are a bad thing on a site that has cost 5k because they are basics which any idiot should be able to do.
However with that said, here is someting for you to perhaps think about - good visual design also costs money and while many in here understand how to make a site that looks ok to search engines, if humans think it looks awful when they arrive it will likely not convert and we may in truth have been little more ethical with the client than the designer you mention in your post.
Re the previous company hosting the site .. there is no reason that this is in the interests of the client ..
I would suggest the solution most in the interests of the client is that they own the hosting of their site direct, that way they cannot be charged monthly add on fees for extra pop accounts all at a markup from resold hosting etc etc ..
Incidentally it is also in their interest that they own the copyright of all original materials included in the makeup of their site including the design and any additional non standard html functionality, databases scripts or the suchlike unless licenced from third parties.
I've seen this scenario at work not once, and primarily with non-profits. They have too little, if any, business discipline.
I'd suggest you leave this whole thing alone, if you have choice. If you don't, be careful and prepared to get out of it at any time.
Overpaying for a website is hard these days
Not really. It's just like any other service ... lots of people just can't be bothered to look for a better deal.
If there is a standard price .... what is it?
Lets say a custom design company site to match a corporate image, with basic intro pages and 300 product specific pages, site search, relatively easily updatable from a clients own product database system but not needed to be a dynamic dbase site or include a CMS.
Made with various directory acceptance in mind and as much compatibility with search engines for a range of terms as possible but that not being the only or main objective.
Oh and copy and images are from ... who .. client or developer ...
How much and how long? :-) well I am not telling anyone my prices but lets just say that when my clients get competing quotes in, the range they cover is quite large.
After their evaluations it is neither true to say that the cheapest is best value or always wins or that the most expensive is the highest quality or the most fit for their purpose.
I think one could be convincing that the market is not mature enough, that clients are not knowledgeable enough or suppliers regognisably qualified enough for there to be much stability in prices quoted yet or quality delivered.
Dont know what others think but thats my view.
it has come to our attention that the individual title and meta tags for each page of the site were inadverdently omitted when the site was designed... of course we expect that this work be completed as it is an integral part of creating a successful website.
If they drag their feet or want to charge to do it, well, that should be an excellent indicator of their "dodginess".
Sure, I've seen people not caring about the price at all, but kickbacks I've seen way more often ;)
storevalley, I'd disagree
Just speaking from experience, Storyteller ;)
Many companies just want a web site, and are happy for somebody else to take all of the pain out of this for them (I am talking bricks and mortar businesses).
And if a company is happy with the service received, quite often they won't bother looking around for something else.
Until clients know in detail what they want and specify their requirements to suppliers asking for a quote to their specifications what they are quoted tends to vary a great deal in its quality depth of design and thought and eventual effectiveness.
Thus its not usual that there is no standard price for anything other than the simplest of sites with low expectations ... unless the client has forced suppliers to quote against a spec so as to judge their relative prices / costs for * the same piece of work *
I have rarely so far been in the position where it was impossible for me to differentiate myself by quoting a different package / solution which also involved a different take on the pricing issue.
Pricing becomes a secondary consideration if you are able to propose better solutions to a clients needs, rather than some standard quote for a standard one size fits all product.
