Tips for our clients « Best Way Trade group

1. We have a programmer in our company (system administrator or server engineer) and he will make a site. Alas! The dentist won’t help your stomach ache. Your system administrator won’t be able to support your Drupal-based shop. Moreover, even the web developer is unlikely to have the skills of a designer and a marketologist to promote the site.

2. Web developers perfectly know Customer’s activity and business and can easily explain the difference between mortgage rates and carbon credits. Unfortunately, no. Thus, to have the information be represented correctly on the site the Customer should spend some time for sorting and processing it.

3. The price estimate for site development covers SEO, design, marketing research and creation of content: text writing, searching the product photos, scanning, making pictures etc. It’s not so. Only qualified people should do it. Just imagine what kind of text about your company a programmer can write!

4. Queries like «Make a good design for us» are sufficient for developing a stunning design. It’s not true. No matter how professional a designer is for a work he needs good photo materials, company logo and site examples the Customer likes.

5. Just copy this site. It seems like a piece of cake, just a snap to choose the site you like and to copy it under your own trademark. Unfortunately, it’s just a myth. Large sites are large systems with advanced functionality, thought-out logic, dozens of pages, and months of work spent on them. Each individual case is a complicated technical solution, which is worked out individually for every separate project. The only thing you can copy and paste is text content. But still take into account the copyright law.

6. The first page Google in results is ok. Just enter the keywords into the serch field and a newly developed site will appear on the first page. Never! Site development and its promotion are two different things. It’s like growing apple-trees and making apple juice.

7. The speed of site development depends on the developers. No, it doesn’t. The Customer can confirm a design mockup from 3 days to 3 months and then will provide the site content from 1 to 12 months. Be ready to answering multiple questions. The more work you’ve done for item #2 – the less we will ask.

8. There are obvious options and features that don’t need mentioning in the project description. We are not much into reading minds and you get what you request. Please give some time and effort to detailed description of what you need – it will save you time, money and your positive karma.

9. «Make the site from A to Z and if something is not ok, we’ll tell you what to change». Well, it will cost you pretty much. Imagine your awesome three-floor house with nice terrace and a swimming pool is almost ready and smiling housebuilder is putting the tiles on the roof and suddenly you realize you want to have a fireplace on the first floor right in the dining room. You don’t think it would take much. One small fireplace. Ok now go and try to explain it to your subcontractors

10. Site development will bring income at once (e.g. clients, new contacts, etc.). We wish it was true. Attracting customers takes weeks, months and plenty of efforts. Just don’t give up and you will be awarded.

BE CREATIVE

Before formulating a technical specification you should know for sure what exactly you want to get at the end. Define the idea and the purpose. Describe key features and the processes – draw, write, make notes, create tables and mockups.

BE SERIOUSLY ORIENTATED

Gather the documents that are vital for the development process. Read the documents attentively, consider all features and details. Think over the logic. Be ready to answer plenty of questions.

THINK BIG

Try to work out global logic of your project first. It will help outline the specific procedures and user experience within it.

BE SPECIFIC

Give a detailed description of all necessary information, point its features, exceptions, the necessary level of details. Think of all small things: format of numbers, rates, fractions, etc. – mention everything that is of a key importance for you. The remove all vague, obscure descriptions, unnecessary words and leave what is important.

DISCUSS IT WITH THE PROFESSIONALS

Discuss the written task with a specialist who will perfom it, ask all questions that you feel asking and answer all questions that you are asked. Don’t forget that you know your business better and only you can explain what tool to use for your effective work. Help him see all that you have in mind.

BE REASONABLE

Give your task to work and define reasonable deadlines with enough time for testing and fixing bugs. They no more than you want your project last forever.

Please feel free to keep to this structure of the technical specification (never mind if you can’t do exactly the same – we are no longer kids and we know that magic does not exist):