Working with your Web Agency

I have worked with many clients on several websites, and there have been good and bad projects. But the one thing that seems to come up a lot is that many clients do not know how to work with their web agency. Hopefully these tips will make life a little easier for both parties.

 

Changing Requirements

Before you approach your web agency, have a general idea of what you want. Your business has goals, so make those goals very clear from the start. The more certain you are, the faster and well designed your site will be.

I'm not saying set your requirements in stone. But make sure you know the difference between a small change, and a big one (hint: co$t).

If you're picky or unsure about what you want, you can always run a pilot site and invite a select few to provide feedback. There is nothing wrong with deploying your site in several stages or sections. Leave some parts as "coming soon".

This will give you the freedom and time to think through each section of your website thoroughly, as well as allow you to revisit some features which were completed previously.

 

Micro Management

One of the most annoying and counter-productive habits clients get into is micro management of the tasks required to build their website. This is especially true for clients that have some technical knowledge of web development.

Remember the reason why you outsourced your web development needs to a web agency in the first place. You do not have the time, resources or knowledge to develop the site yourself. Web agencies specialise in making websites, and they've generally made quite a few. So you should allow them to follow their process to completion.

Definitely provide high level guidance to what your business needs are. Provide constructive feedback on anything presented to you. But you should not sit side by side with your web agency and "crack the whip" to make sure they are meeting deliverables and deadlines.

 

What happens afterwards?

When a website is completed, the web agency generally hands over all that is needed to keep the site running and the client takes over. However, if you do not have the expertise, then you must explore other options.

First, is to learn how to manage your site. Have a training session on how to use, maintain and update your site. If you don't plan on handling the site yourself, you can hire someone with the technical expertise, and have them attend the training.

Secondly, you can sign a maintenance contract to keep the web agency around to fix any issues you might come across during your first few months. I highly recommend you apply for both. It will be much easier to make changes and you learn and adapt to using your site.