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Thank you watching website design video tips from OurChurch.Com. In this video we'll discuss
what you need to know BEFORE hiring a web developer consultant.
Hi, I'm Mark Steinbrueck with OurChurch.com. And, on this video, I'm going to talk to you
about the things you need to know this before hiring a web developer consultant.
So, the first thing is a web team. If you don't already have one, make one. A web team
is simply two or more individuals that are responsible for the website and making decisions
and also maintaining the website. It's helpful to get a few differing opinions
when you're making decisions. So that's the first reason you want to have a web team.
The second reason you want to have a web team is that it allows you to delegate the work
among many different people. And then, thirdly, it gives you a back-up plan, so if someone's
out of town, or someone is sick or someone leaves the organization, you have a back-up
of different people that can maintain the website. And finally, when establishing a
web team, make sure that the web team has the ability to make decisions on the website
without having to go to someone else and check with them.
The second thing that you need to know before hiring a web developer consultant is to define
the purpose of your website. Is it going to be for internal purposes or for use within
your organization? Or is it going to be for external purposes and to try to reach people
outside the organization? Or both? Most organizations websites are used for both.
Secondly, you want to define exactly what the purpose of that website is. Is it going
to be for buying? Is it going to be for requesting more information? To have people identify
you? Or have people come and visit your organization? So, it's important to define the purpose of
the website before you hire a website developer consultant.
The third thing is that your website is a form of marketing. Therefore, it's an asset,
not an expense. What do I mean by that? Basically, what I'm saying with that is that the website
is something that can continually generate revenue or continue to generate more visitors
to your organization or more phone calls than if the value of those calls or the value of
those visits or the purchases is greater than what you're spending on a website, then it's
a good investment. For example, if you were to invest $3,000
in something, and at the end of the year, you had $4,000 left, then you've made a $1,000
profit and that is a good investment. The same thing applies or the same theory applies
to a website. If you can get out of it more than you put into it, then it's a good investment.
The fourth thing to keep in mind before hiring a web developer consultant is not all websites
are made similarly. And what I mean by this is that they all might have the same kind
of terms and phrases of saying, Well, they have e-commerce or they have e-newsletters
or they have a customer professional design. But that doesn't necessarily mean that it's
exactly the similar. One website's shopping cart might act and
operate completely differently than another. The same thing with other features and functionality
and especially when it comes to design. The definition of custom design at one company
might be very different than custom design definition at another company. So it's very
important for you to ask specific questions when you're going through the process of hiring
a website developer. And the last item you need to know before
hiring a web developer consultant is to develop a plan that you can measure the effectiveness
of the website. I often hear people questioning the value of their website because they haven't
figured out a way to either track sales or track visits or track the effectiveness of
their website. So it is important to establish a plan to
be able to figure out exactly how useful the website is. And that way, you can make a determination
as to whether or not it's being effective or what things you need to do to change the
effectiveness if you're finding that it's not being effective.
So I want to thank you for your time for watching this video. Please look for more videos in
the future. And if you have any questions about how ourchurch.com can help you achieve
your mission or your goals on-line, please e-mail us at: support@ourchurch.com and we'd
be more than happy to talk to you. Thank you very much.