Frustrated with our Design/Optimization Firm

hope this is the right category for this post!

[JenniferL]

Hello everyone,
If I have posted this in the wrong area, please move it. Ok, 6 months ago, we hired a design and optimization firm to take care of the home page and, of course, the optimization of our site. In the beginning, we were very impressed with their commitment and capabilities. About a month after we sunk our entire budget into them, we began noticing that 9 out of 10 design changes they made to our site required us emailing them to tell them it was wrong and could they correct it. This has continued on, the latest incident being last nite. Not only that they take up to 2 weeks to respond to our emails. Since we have lost alot of confidence in them, we are now wondering if there were mistakes made during the optimization, etc of our site, since we do not understand optimization at all how would we know that? I would like to have someone else go through the inner workings of our site and tell me what, if anything, needs to be fixed, or was done wrong. I don't even know where to begin to find such a person, because I don't want a company who is going to tell me all these things that are wrong just so we will hire them. I realize I cannot post my url, but if someone could point me in the right direction I would be really gratefull! Thanks!

[txbakers]

whew - that's a tough one there.

On the one hand, you want someone to come in and evaluate what's been done, yet, understandably are nervous about someone telling you the entire job needs to be re-done.

We aren't allowed to solicit here in these forums, but there is a commercial forum towards the bottom of the list of forums here. Maybe post something there.

That's too bad about the other firm becoming unreliable. Most successful businesses are built on nothing more than trust. And if they've let you down, that's a tough one to get over.

[JenniferL]

Thank you! I replied.

[Marcia]

>>I would like to have someone else go through the inner workings of our site and tell me what, if anything, needs to be fixed, or was done wrong.

That's something we're not supposed to do here per the TOS, you have to post in Commercial Exchange.

>>About a month after we sunk our entire budget into them, we began noticing that 9 out of 10 design changes they made to our site required us emailing them to tell them it was wrong and could they correct it.

Let's take a look at what was agreed to first thing.

What exactly did you sign up with them for, and what services were they supposed to provide?

>>since we do not understand optimization at all how would we know that?

Was it design maintenance, a redesign of the site or search engine optimization? For search engine optimization, the contractor isn't responsible for design unless it's also contracted for. So which service were they hired for?

You say 9 out of 10 design changes - was that changes to the original design, problems with broken links or other things on the site that needed fixing?

>>This has continued on, the latest incident being last nite. Not only that they take up to 2 weeks to respond to our emails.

How often do you email them, and how long has this been going on?

Most important, what work was the original "hire" for, how long ago was it, how long was it for, and and did you sign on for monthly service?

[JenniferL]

Hi Marcia,
This is a Yahoo! Store. In the contract they were hired to re-do our front page, add graphics throughout the site, links throughout the site, and complete optimization for search engine purposes for the whole site. It was also understood that if we needed/wanted changes to anything, we were to contact them with the specific changes, and then we would be billed. When we would contact them for any changes, they would eventually send a proposal and an estimate, along with the date it would be done by. I will stress that ONLY ONE TIME was any work they did done by the date they said it would be. When I had the apparent audacity to question them on WHY they were weeks late in implementing a change, I heard all kinds of excuses...illness, short-staffed, death, mayhem, destruction, and my personal favorite, "we didn't get the email". Many of these design errors, we have only found by accident, much after the fact, which tells me they are not checking their work. Things like spelling errors in the graphics, or on the home page one of the section tabs says one thing, and in the rest of the site the same section has a totally different title, and so on and so forth. As far as how often I email them, it used to be alot - like notifying them of a mistake, but no more...it does no good at all. So now I am questioning the optimization, because I do not understand it I won't know if it's done correctly.

[pleeker]

Hi JenniferL --

Did you ask for and check the references of this company you're trying to work with now? If their treatment of you is indicative of how they typically do business, I can't imagine they'll have many references.

Your trust has been broken, and now you're in the odd position of needing to trust someone else to help you get back on the right path. Make sure you check references from any new company or individual you're thinking about hiring. It's not a guarantee that things will go better, but it may help you uncover any red flags before it's too late.

Good luck.

[JenniferL]

I did do come checking on them. Unfortunately, I was not thorough enough. In the last few months I have actually contacted the owner of one of the companies they have done work for ( I found them by accident )and as I started asking questions and describing my experiences with them, she stated that it was exactly what was happening to them. She stated that their work seemed to be good but that getting anything done in a timely manner was impossible - and getting return emails was also a pain. I guess my next step will be to try to verify that the work they did on my site is fine, and if not I have no idea what to do next. One thing I am really concerned about is the fact that my home page design was done by them, and I am assuming they have some sort of copyright on it. Does that mean that if I were to hire another firm, I would not be able to keep my design? Or, could I keep the design and hire someone else to do work for me when I need it?
I really feel foolish about all this!

[lorax]

No need to feel foolish. The important thing is to get it corrected as soon as you can.

Re: copyright, the copyright on your website is assigned to you and unless your contract with them stated specifically that they own it I'd venture that it's yours.

[johannamck]

If the design is work-for-hire, and you paid them, it's yours :-)

Some suggestions when looking for someone to do design work/SEO:

Does the company have references for optimizing Yahoo! Stores? This is important; just regular web design and search engine optimization experience might not be enough. Yahoo! stores are peculiar in many ways.

Make part of the payment for search engine optimization contingent on actual increase in traffic, referrals from Google, etc.

Have them outline exactly what they're going to do. Don't let them intimidate you with technical terms. Ask which steps they're going to implement, how long each step is going to take take, and how it will contribute to better search engine placement. E.g. don't just accept "Improvement of Link Structure" but ask where the links are and where they point to, and why the existing link structure is lacking.

About design changes:

Don't pay too much in advance so you can switch designers when they are dragging their feet and not making much progress.

I suspect that maybe they did live changes on your store because they didn't have a separate Yahoo! store to test. They should've had a separate test website to show you graphics, navigation, etc., for you to approve before they go live. Then, misspellings in graphics etc would not have been emergencies.

A tip: Sometimes it can be better, psychologically, to collect all imperfections that you find and put them in one single e-mail, rather than sending several e-mails over the course of a day "this needs to be changed" "that needs to be changed". Your situation sounds different but I did want to point that out here. I feel that when I get an e-mail, I need to respond, and that can take a lot out of my time for actually working on a project... besides hanging out at WebmasterWorld ;)

When you evaluate the store in a test area, test it thoroughly, then write a complete list of everything that you find wrong, and ask for a timeframe when these things will be corrected. Then, expect a response the same business day or at least within 24 hours. If deadlines are repeatedly not kept without good reason, hire someone else.

(The above goes for the store in the test area. If changes have gone "live" and suddenly there is a store malfunction or the store appearance has very obvious flaws, then it should be taken care of right away.)

Don't let your negative experience make you wary of hiring help with your store.

Sometimes things don't turn out exactly as expected right away (that's why good communication is so essential). But, good designers and developers will work hard to get it exactly the way you want it.

[lorax]

A tip: Sometimes it can be better, psychologically, to collect all imperfections that you find and put them in one single e-mail, rather than sending several e-mails over the course of a day...

Good tip. I know my stomach does flips whenever I get an email that highlites something I've missed. I don't like looking bad and what is worse - I don't like it when my client does - especially if it was because of something I overlooked!