Questions to ask your potential outsourcing provider
Launching a website is a huge task. There are many things to be thought through and many decisions to be made.
It all starts with deciding what type of website you need. Continues with choosing a domain name and a suitable hosting service, followed by designing the website and developing it.
Of course you will need to create content for your website and optimize it for search engines. And the decisions and work do not end with the launch of your new website.
Maintaining a website is an ongoing project that lasts as long as you have the website. It requires monthly maintenance, security checks and updates, optimization, design and content updates and so much more.
If web development is not your main business, and you do not want to hire an in-house team to deal with all of the above, outsourcing the job to an experienced [WordPress] development agency is your best option.
The Process of Choosing an Outsourcing Partner
First, you need to decide what type of outsourcing you prefer and need.
Read more about the advantages and disadvantages of offshore or nearshore outsourcing here.
Next, you need to choose the company you want to work with.
Before deciding which outsourcing provider you are going to hire to develop your WordPress website, is it important – if not mandatory – to get to know the agencies better, understand their internal processes and ensure your collaboration can be as successful and effective as possible.
Remember, you are entrusting them with the development of a crucial asset – your website. Which is the most important piece of digital real estate you can and will own.
Since we are in the outsourcing business, we understand how difficult it can be to find a company that has the required expertise as well as a company culture that matches your own. And, trust me, work ethics and company culture are probably the most important factors to ensure a successful and pleasant collaboration.
You will certainly be able to find the expertise you are looking for at a very low price but do not get to excited: that always has its own drawbacks.
Questions You Should Discuss with your Outsourcing Provider
So, how to go about it? To make things easier for you, we will run you through the most important issues that you need to discuss with your short-listed outsourcing providers. On top, we prepared a list of the questions that you should include in your discussions. Download it here.
1. Company Culture
The first thing you should do is to learn more about the company.
It is always an advantage if you get to know them a little better and find out who they are and how they work.
Examine whether they would be a good fit – or not.
2. Experience
The next thing you should do is to find out more about their experience and expertise. Actual experience matters more than knowledge and skills, so find out what kind of projects they worked on, and if they have experience developing a solution similar to what you need.
Ensure they have experienced developers who can handle your project and deliver satisfying results.
Ideally, you should hire a WordPress development company that has at least 3 to 4 years of experience in a variety of WordPress solutions.
3. Your job
In the next step you should discuss your role in the project development. As the client, and owner, you need to provide at least the basic idea of the website and your requirements along with the aim of the website.
Agreeing on what you need to bring to the table before starting the project will save you a lot of hassle later on. Whether it’s advanced payment, website content, or any other agreements: talk it through.
Now would also be the time to talk about your involvement in terms of what project files you will have access to, and how the communication and decision making process will go.
4. Hosting, Domain & Additional Services
Once you have established the ground rules, discuss project specifics and additional services the company might offer.
You will have to purchase a domain name and hosting anyway, so it’s good to know whether your partner can provide these services.
Most companies will be able to help you with it.
Another big plus is, if they are able to create custom themes and develop plug-ins that fit your specific needs.
5. It’s not over once the Website is launched
Next, you should discuss what happens after the launch of the website.
What kind of services can your shortlisted WordPress agencies provide once your website is designed, developed, tested, and live?
A website needs regular updates and ongoing maintenance. It’s usually far easier, if the company that developed the page also takes care of all that.
6. Backup
Make sure you ask about the option to backup and restore your website in case of a disaster too.
7. Scale up
As your business grows, you might want to convert your website into an online store.
Talk to the company about the possibility to scale and convert the website and add new features.
8. Content is King
Also: Don’t forget that your website will need content, a good digital marketing strategy and of course, SEO optimization.
Make sure to discuss if your shortlisted providers are able to help you out with these too.
9. Ownership
It important that you make sure that you have complete ownership of the website.
Whether you decide to hire for post-launch services, make sure you have FTP access, WordPress Admin access, database access, domain and DNS settings access.
10. Costs
Last but not least you should discuss the costs of the project and all services included in the price. You need to know, what happens if you are not satisfied with the end-result. Are additional changes gonna be free of cost or not?
Bottom Line
Of you want to choose a reliable outsourcing partner, and get a good-looking, effective WordPress website, you need to give yourself time to explore all options, gather information on potential providers, and talk to each company before making your decision.
Remember, you are paying for their services, so you shouldn’t have to deal with a poor quality or an unsatisfactory website!
