How to Hire a Website Developer: Part 6

Welcome to part six of our “How to Hire a Website Developer” series! In part five of this series, we discussed the cost of hiring a website developer and how to stick to your budget. In this section, we explain the importance of a website developer’s communication skills.

Why Website Developers Must Have Good Communication Skills

You may be wondering, Why do website developers need good communication skills? It may seem like an unnecessary trait to have in this industry, but it is very important. Website developers are a part of the customer service industry. They make a beautifully designed website that is highly functional for business owners. A website developer must be able to communicate clearly with their clients. This way, they can properly meet expectations and ensure the client is aware of what’s going on. Here are some reasons good communication skills come in handy for website developers.

Easier for Project Completion

As mentioned, a website developer’s job is to meet the expectations and needs of their clients. They must listen to their goals and make their vision come to life. However, if the developer has poor listening and communication skills, this will make the project much more difficult to complete. Also, questions may come up from both the client and the developer, which are important to be addressed. A website developer must communicate well because it will make the completion of projects much easier.

Clear Expectations for the Client

As mentioned in the last post from this series, clients spend a considerable amount of money on website development. Considering they are spending a large portion of their budget, they deserve to have a clear vision and plan of what their website will look like. A website developer should be able to provide clear expectations for their clients so they know what they will get when their website is complete. Great communication helps ensure client satisfaction, which is one of the most important parts of being a website developer. If you cannot make your clients happy, the joy of the job will be diminished.

Quicker Response Time

Have you ever worked with someone who takes an inconsiderate amount of time to respond to emails, phone calls, or messages? It isn’t very enjoyable. As a client, you deserve to get responses to your questions, comments, and concerns within 24 and 48 hours; if not sooner. If a pressing issue arises, fast responses are very important. This is why you need to make sure the website developer you hire communicates well.

How to See if They Have Good Communication Skills

Before deciding to sign a contract with a website developer, you should make sure they have great communication skills. Once you start working together, you will be very thankful you took the steps below. They will save you time, confusion, and will help ensure you love your new website.

Email Response Time

In your initial forms of communication, check to see how quickly a website developer responds to you. As a potential client, they should prioritize your emails so they can answer any questions you may have. If they are already responding to your emails within 24 hours, there is a great chance they will continue responding to your emails quickly after you begin working with them. In the future, they will be working on your website, and you deserve to know the progress they make and what they will be doing. On another note, they should also be very professional in their emails.

Clear Descriptions and Plans

The ability to clearly describe the work and plan the developer has for your website is also very important. You should know what to expect with your website and completely understand what you are agreeing to. This will save a great deal of time because you won’t have to send your website back for multiple revisions. You will get a website that you love and gets results.

Reviews From Other Clients

As we have mentioned in previous posts from this series, reviews are incredibly helpful. If you are unsure if a website developer has good communication skills, you can always look to their reviews. See if there are reviews that compliment the developer’s communication skills. If other clients report they communicate effectively and clearly, you will likely enjoy working with the developer.

Advice for Directors

Sometimes a perceived lack of communication from a website developer may exist when there are multiple people involved. For example, the owner or director of a business will sometimes hire a developer, then the developer will be told to communicate directly with an administrator or marketing person. This is very understandable because the director doesn’t necessarily have time to assist the developer with feedback, content, logo files, etc.

In this situation, the developer will build a website, get feedback from the primary point of contact, then go back and forth with communication and making website edits. If the main contact person keeps requesting minor changes to the website copy, functionality, features, or design, then the amount of time needed to complete the website will definitely increase. The developer may be doing an amazing job. They may be quick to reply and make edits. But if the director isn’t in the loop, they may not realize this.

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If enough time passes, the executive may become unhappy and feel as though things aren’t progressing as quickly as they should. The website is taking “too long” and it needs to be finished ASAP. There’s a very strong chance the website developer feels the exact same way. But, if the contact person doesn’t have a sense of urgency, or is giving on-going website tweaks, the website can’t be finished.

If you intend to assign someone else to work with the website developer, it might be a good idea to request a bi-weekly email update that includes you, the person who works for you, and the website developer. Just to make sure everyone is on the same page with what’s happening. This way, you may be able to reduce the amount of time spent on an on-going trickle of requested website edits.

Consider Communication Skills

Although this attribute is often overlooked, it is still very important. When you work with a website developer who communicates well, you will have a much easier time working with them. It will be less stressful, and you will likely be much happier with your website and the overall website development experience.

Thank you for taking the time to read this part of our website developer series. We hope we were able to communicate how important communication is! Stay tuned for the next, and final, part of this series.