Ten Questions to Ask When Contracting for a Web Site

by Barbara Merwald
axsWave Software, Inc.™

Laying the groundwork.

It's important to know the answers to 1-3 before moving on, because design and implementation decisions cannot be made well if you don't know what you really want.

1.

Why do you want a web site (what is your goal)? It seems so simple, but do you know what you want from your site?

2.

How will you know if your site meets your goals? What spells success for you?

3.

How will you measure the success of your site? Feedback from viewers? Number of "hits"? Increase of x% in sales?

The right people, the right tools, the right timing.

It is unlikely, (though not impossible) to find a single-person design team with the experience to much more than a simple site.

4.

What web design experience does the design team have? There are information design, graphic design and programming experience to consider. Focus on any of these to the detriment of the others and pay the price in lack of usability. Warning: print media design is NOT the same as web design (see #8, below).

5.

What kind of design variety can the design team offer you? Unless you know exactly what you want in every way, it's best to find a team that has experience in many styles of sites and can explain the benefits and drawbacks as they relate to what you want to accomplish.

6.

How long will the development take? This includes the planning, design, review, coding and implementation. Don't be afraid to take the time to design your site well. If necessary, consider an incremental design ("under construction" sites), but ensure that the construction isn't too drawn out. Depending on your needs, you may want a web presence immediately - but a poor showing may not be worth the impression it leaves on your site's visitors.

The ABCs of web design - it's not the same as paper!

7.

How good is the text/information design? Mess this up and it doesn't matter how neat your artwork is or how many bells and whistles your site has.

8.

How well do the graphics, animation, audio/video suit the purpose and the implementation? Form follows function? ISDN versus modem loading time...

9.

How well are the forms/feedback mechanisms working? This is directly related to #2, above. How are you measuring the success of your site? What do you hope to gain from your visitors and how will you know if you've gotten it? E-mail responses, CGI forms, number of referrals, top 10 sites award, what do you want to attain?

And, last but not least...

10.

How much will it cost? Factor in changes during each phase of design, search engine registration, where the site is stored (account information), how much traffic is included/supported, support for capabilities such as forms, maintenance of any links to other sites, updates to your basic information, growth and/or updates for new information.

Feel free to contact me with questions or to talk about how the axsWave Software team can help you with your Web site:

Janette B. Bradley (janette@metronet.com)

Copyright ©1996 Janette B. Bradley. You may place a link to this article or use it in a published work with proper citation, but you may not reproduce it or redistribute it in its original or any altered form.

1.	Why do you want a web site (what is your goal)? It seems so simple, but do you know what you want from your site?
2.	How will you know if your site meets your goals? What spells success for you?
3.	How will you measure the success of your site? Feedback from viewers? Number of "hits"? Increase of x% in sales?

4.	What web design experience does the design team have? There are information design, graphic design and programming experience to consider. Focus on any of these to the detriment of the others and pay the price in lack of usability. Warning: print media design is NOT the same as web design (see #8, below).
5.	What kind of design variety can the design team offer you? Unless you know exactly what you want in every way, it's best to find a team that has experience in many styles of sites and can explain the benefits and drawbacks as they relate to what you want to accomplish.
6.	How long will the development take? This includes the planning, design, review, coding and implementation. Don't be afraid to take the time to design your site well. If necessary, consider an incremental design ("under construction" sites), but ensure that the construction isn't too drawn out. Depending on your needs, you may want a web presence immediately - but a poor showing may not be worth the impression it leaves on your site's visitors.

7.	How good is the text/information design? Mess this up and it doesn't matter how neat your artwork is or how many bells and whistles your site has.
8.	How well do the graphics, animation, audio/video suit the purpose and the implementation? Form follows function? ISDN versus modem loading time...
9.	How well are the forms/feedback mechanisms working? This is directly related to #2, above. How are you measuring the success of your site? What do you hope to gain from your visitors and how will you know if you've gotten it? E-mail responses, CGI forms, number of referrals, top 10 sites award, what do you want to attain?