Webmaster Talk: Choose the website construction company carefully

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Internet today, it can be said that it has completely penetrated into our ordinary life, as part of our work and life. In enterprise applications, the Internet has become an effective customer contact media. It plays a more and more important role in shaping brand image, developing market, improving customer service and improving internal management efficiency.

Companies want their company has an excellent site, and excellent site is reflected in the marketing effect, and to achieve good marketing results, it is necessary to achieve advantages in the performance of the site. Therefore, the choice of a good website construction company is particularly important.

It can be said that the Internet service industry entry threshold is very low, several people add a few computers can be opened, these people can effortlessly "save" a website. But creating a professional and useful website is not an easy job. It is as if people learn English, many people can learn or imitate a few common spoken language, but can achieve fluent reading and writing, no years of hard work is impossible. The same reason, in the website construction industry, to become a real professional company, also need tortuous learning curve, after ten years of grinding a sword and a lot of cases accumulated.

As a customer, finding a reliable service provider is the most commercially valuable logic, but finding such a company is not easy. How to find a professional and excellent service provider when you don't know much about Internet services? This article attempts to analyze from the customer's angle, analyzes in this profession participates in the competition the various kinds of companies.

Website Construction Industry Participants

The background of the Academy of Fine Arts: Many people understand the website construction as Web design, some art knowledge and web editing knowledge, the professional students of the academy are naturally the participants in the web design industry and even become the main force. This is why a large variety of "design rooms" appear in search results. In general, these design rooms can be "designed" to look like the site, but these sites to play in addition to the promotion and display of the image of more features, the need for a slightly more complex procedures and database support, the shortcomings of these companies are exposed.

Programming Background: Edit Web pages need to use editing software, such as the most commonly used Dreamweaver and so on, the first to master the use of these software skills are often learning computer professional knowledge of the program designers. Contrary to the design background, these programmers have a more in-depth understanding of the functions of the site, but made the site in the visual aspect of the relatively flat, no impact, so that the enterprise site can not impress visitors, not only can not create an online corporate image, and sometimes may damage the corporate image.

Host domain name industry: Domain name registration and virtual host is the prelude to the construction of the site, benefiting from customer information advantages, host and domain name providers naturally extend the business vertically to the website construction business. Because the domain name and the host has the bigger profit space, the business development difficulty is relatively low, but the website construction service, because needs the more complex specialized knowledge, obtains the customer trust the difficulty to be bigger, the domestic mainstream domain name and the fictitious space provider always has the website construction as "the sideline". Some of the larger companies do not even have their own professional design and technical team, and subcontract this part of the business to smaller companies, causing some unnecessary trouble to customers.

Software, hardware company guest: Some customers for various reasons, want to be a company to provide packaged services, so that in the company on the ERP project or network integration, the company's website also by the way. In this case, a software company or system integration company has to undertake a website construction project that is not its own specialty. Over time, these companies also regard website construction as one of their own sideline. Similar to the domain name registrars, system integrators most of them do not have their own professional team, often this part of the work outsourced to lower cost of small companies, so that the interests of customers from the actual damage to a certain extent.

The dangers of subcontracting: In all types of Web site-building providers, project subcontracting and the use of temporary personnel to design and development of the customer is the most risk, the greatest harm caused. A virtual host, using their own market network and market visibility to attract many customers, but because they do not have the development and design team, can only outsource projects to partners. In this way, the project's implementation, customers and outsourcing companies form a triangular relationship. For a variety of reasons, customers can not communicate directly with the project implementation personnel, customer requirements and changes can only be conveyed through a third party, not only to the parties to create additional time and energy waste, but also bring unnecessary misunderstanding.

Use of temporary technicians: this also poses a risk similar to subcontracting for customers. A large enterprise to build a company based on Java EE website, after several rounds of Web site construction Company's election, by a good advertising design company moved, commissioned the company to carry out the development of the website system. Because the company's advantage is visual design, in the software system development is not good, especially the company does not have Java technology engineers, the company has to temporarily recruit in-service graduate students as a developer. Due to the lack of practical practice in school students, in the early stage of the site platform to meet a lot of difficulties. The operating system is not installed, the Oracle database is not connected, and so on, in the professional view of the simple question, the team spent nearly one months of time also did not smooth transfer. The pressure from the leadership and the implementation of the project is not smooth and so on, to the client side project implementation staff caused great pain. The bigger problem is that these developers are temporarily together, the project completed, the site problems, need to be maintained in time, but through the website construction companies have been unable to find these students.

The size of the internet company

Website construction industry compared with the traditional industry or the development time is too short, this feature determines the size of the network company can not be too large, from the number of people, in a large and medium-sized cities, professional to do the site of the company's personnel size reached 30-50, is already a large-scale company. Some companies may reach hundreds of, but the vast majority are market and sales staff, the core of technical and design personnel but ten people.

Real professional firms: in the increasingly developed commodity economy today, the industry has specialized, positioning clear is one of the key to winning the enterprise. The road of specialization is beneficial to accumulate knowledge, to upgrade the needs of different customers into general "experience" and reduce the risk of customers. The website construction industry also follows the same economic rules.

A truly professional website construction company should make its own main business, not a few sideline. Should have consulting planning, design, programming, project management, customer service and other aspects of the comprehensive quality, rather than only a certain aspect of the ability, should have the ability to continuously provide services to customers, rather than today, may disappear tomorrow.

Advisory capacity: Consulting capacity refers to the site construction companies to use their accumulated expertise to guide customers to correctly understand the content of the site, the role of structural planning methods, content organization, etc. need customer participation. The professional website construction Company is "The Guide Company", can guide the customer to make the correct judgment and the choice in each aspect. The company that does not have consulting ability is only the customer's tool, the customer says what she can achieve what, the customer does not know, these website construction company also does not know.

In the education industry has "a bucket of water" and "a bowl of water," that is to teach students a bowl of water knowledge, you have to have a bucket of water knowledge reserves. In the website construction industry is also so, when the "knowledge" website construction company to serve you, you will feel that you get more than you want. Of course, knowledge-based Web site construction companies are also constantly learning from the customer, the knowledge learned to systematize, and then used to other customer projects, thus forming a virtuous knowledge accumulation and circulation.

Company project Management and Operation Process: Website Construction Company Professional or not, in the company's project management and operation process can be fully reflected. Web site Construction is a young industry, at present there is no standard in the world, most companies in the use of software management standards to manage the site project. Some unprofessional, irregular companies, there is no form of writing project management norms, but the project participants with personal feelings to grasp the quality and progress of the project. This also causes a lot of uncertainty and risk to the customer.

Many customers in the choice of website construction Company, the first concern is the website design, price, function, and so on how to complete the site of the whole project concerned about not enough. In fact, the website can be completed and released according to the plan and the expected quality, the website construction company's project management ability occupies the big weight in it. The website project also has its own life cycle, from establishes the service company to the project, then to the website completes the release and so on to pass through 5-6 key links. Hebei Xiangyu Network set up a set of key links to establish a "node recognition" type of project management, the progress, quality, testing and other key monitoring and control indicators to effectively decompose, each milestone has a special acceptance of the signature and responsibility for management, in the process of project discovery and timely resolution. Otherwise, all the problems are accumulated to the end, and then the experience of the people may be powerless.

When the customer chooses the website construction company, not only looks at the company's project management flowchart, the key sees the company's execution document. Flowchart may be a sales tool, whether it can be a strong implementation, must have a specific implementation of the document to ensure that.

Experience: Professional firms have many years of experience in the industry, there are dozens of or even hundreds of project cases, experienced countless successes and failures. These experiences can be delivered to the customer in some overt or implicit manner, reducing the risk of customer failure.

Technical standards and norms: it can be said that technical standards to achieve modern industry. Because of the standard, the car parts can be finished production, assembly, after the damage is very easy to replace; With the standard, computer software can be installed on different computers.

In the website construction industry, there is no national standards, some companies do not pay enough attention to the work, in the actual work without any standard awareness, let their own habits to write the Web page code and program code. In this industry, there is a funny story about the company's boss, in order to protect the company's development of the program code, to the company's development engineers to encrypt the program, the company's technical director said that there is no need, because the code written by the company, in addition to the developer I can read, other people to understand than decryption is difficult, So there's no need for encryption at all.

Sites that do not perform certain technical standards and specifications can pose serious problems. In addition to other people can not easily modify and update the Web site program, these sites may be in different browsers errors, may be due to the failure to comply with Google, Yahoo and other well-known search engine rules, and they are excluded from these search engines, there may be a security risk; To the customer to bring unnecessary browsing burden and so on.

After-sales service: After-sales service is recognized by customers, need to focus on the project. If the after-sales service is not ideal, will give the site management staff to bring painful experience. Because it is "after-sale", it is difficult to test the quality of the pre-sale. But this is not absolute, and we can at least get a lot of information and inspiration from the "Serviced companies." Another important sign is the site construction company's long-term customer ratio. Long-term customers are companies where Web service companies can maintain relationships after a long period of service, and these companies have chosen not through the verbal representation of salespeople, but through their own experience. Road horse horsepower is the most appropriate description in this respect.

From the old customers can understand more real situation: many companies in the inspection site construction companies, often through case demonstrations to view the company's design level, through the background to demonstrate testing the company's technical strength, through field visits feel the size and strength of the company. These inspection steps are undoubtedly necessary and effective. But most of the company's positive presentations were deliberately decorated and presented, just as people need to dress neatly before they go out. The old customer is after the long contact experience, believed can give the later person many good suggestion. So when you feel the difficulty of choosing a company, let the website construction company provide a customer contact list, try to do a simple communication with the old customer on the phone, you will feel a lot of sureness.

Price factor: has done the website the company to have a common feeling, this profession price is particularly disorderly. The same demand, sent to different companies, the price gap between the big, let people feel eye-popping. A special large electronic products manufacturing group to update the group's portal site, a total of eight web site builders issued a search book, the price received from more than 20,000 until more than 800,000, so that the company did not know exactly how much to spend the money to do this thing.

The cause of this phenomenon is manifold. Some small companies do not have the strength in the design, development and other attributes to participate in competition, the use of low prices to induce price-sensitive customers. And some large software companies, meet the needs of large customers, then throw a sky-high price bet, can be counted luck, get no regrets, because after all, not to build a professional website for a living. It can be said that the market has been fully competitive, in most cases, the company quoted prices basically reflect the company's positioning and service level.

In fact, the high and low price gap in other industries are not uncommon. Everyone familiar with the auto industry, from the tens of thousands of-dollar sedan to the millions of luxury cars, its price span is not inferior to the site's offer, but people have no complaints. The reason is that the car industry to promote consumer positioning is very good, how much money to buy, what car, consumers in the consumer before they have understood before. Website Construction industry is also the case, a company without strength is not brave to quote high prices, even if the price is reasonable. But customers tend to create "xiali" companies and the creation of "BMW" companies at the same time to find prices, the price will certainly have a gap. The real professional website construction company wants the customer to complete the set goal with the reasonable price, this price is too high or too low will bring the negative influence to the customer and the website construction Company.

Detailed quotes of the trouble: Many companies give a customer solution to give a very detailed quote, and some customers also ask the website builders to provide detailed quotations. Customers want a detailed quote is nothing more than to see how the construction of the site budget is composed of the price of each module to find psychological feeling, so that the price of the different competitive companies to compare, and then to make a separate pricing and so on. In fact, this approach is the customer by some companies brought into a price misunderstanding.

When the functions of the site can not be disassembled, the price of the sub-item is meaningless. This is like when you buy a car, you ask the car dealer to separate the engine, the wheel, the steering wheel, the door, the chassis, the steering system, the brake system, and so on, and then aggregate the prices into the total price, then you compare the separate prices of the different models horizontally. The first is that it is difficult to operate in reality, and second, it directs clients to areas that customers do not understand. If you do a survey, I am afraid more than 99% of customers can not give a car engine price. Let customers make decisions on projects that they don't understand, and the total budget that most should be concerned about is obscured. Of course, if the car vendors to provide a number of options, such as leather seat cover, mahogany interior, and so on, each price for the customer is meaningful.

Another problem with

in quotes is how to reasonably determine the number of pages. Before the project is executed, it is difficult for customers to plan exactly how many pages their site has. Even if you can estimate the number of pages, it is inevitable in the Web site production process changes, to increase or reduce content. Project budget generally requires leadership approval, a project if the need to constantly apply for the budget, a number of requests for leadership approval, specific responsibility for the project personnel involved or small things, in front of the leadership can leave what impression? These are the places that need the network company to think and innovate constantly.