Web development is the cornerstone of any online business. It is analogous to the manufacturing facility in the Manufacturing industry. Meaning it comprises the infrastructure of the online enterprise with which you can generate goods or services which are marketable.

When you get to web development you will need a colleague or partner who will share the workload of web development or even app development. When you get to the process of selection of the said web development partner you will need to make sure that your partner at work and you are on the same page. You can do this by asking your Web/App development partner the following questions to make things easier:

1. What is the adopted Project hierarchy?

First things first, you will need to know the people you will be interacting with. You will need a single point of contact for all your development needs such as a Project Head or a technical head.

2. What is the set of security measures put up for the Website/App?

You will need to know your Web Developer’s contingency plans in case your site/app is hacked. You need to find out from your Developer the data encryption provided for the sensitive data on your site, and measures against hacking attacks and internet security measures such as firewalls.

3. What are your Responsibilities?

Be clear on what your Developer’s duties include. Work responsibility and scope should be defined early on, and should be committed to by the web partner. This will save a lot of confusion and even money later on in the implementation phase.

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4. Mobile Adjacent or Desktop Adjacent?

First it was the physical industry moving towards the online space via desktops and laptops. Now the race is on to move from desktop to the mobile. Mobile facing apps and solutions fare much better in the market since mobility increases business. Check if your online option needs to be optimized for a mobile interface.

5. Who has complete ownership of the Hosting?

Since you will be investing in creating a considerable number of original content and ideas in your site you should make sure that you and you alone have complete ownership of your domain name. You will have to ask if the domain given to you by the developer is shared by anyone else to avoid copyright issues.

6. What is the extent and approach to pre-development Industry analysis and Research?

Get involved with your web development partner’s research methodology to come up with the right kind of content that works for you in originality and in terms of SEO. Check out the competition already in the market before you start web development.

7. Can you show Samples of Previous Development Projects?

This may seem like an obvious preliminary question to ask your future web developer. But this will give you a look into the developer’s work quality and style in terms of the user Interface and User experience he has employed for his earlier projects. From this, you will be able to judge whether the developer will be a good fit for you.

8. Will you start with Wireframes or Prototypes?

This is more of a rhetorical question since every web development project will need a wireframe model/prototype to peek at the basic User Interface and screen transitions. You will need a clear and concise UI and UX.

9. What kind of timeline do you offer?

You should balance the timeline in a web development process with your partner. Too much time and the project cost would run high endangering the budget. Too less time will lead to ether bad work or incomplete web pages.

10. What do you charge?

This may be difficult to approach, but it is, in fact, the most important question of them all. What will the entire cost of the web development process run up to? You should come up with an agreeable figure to draw out future AMCs (Annual Maintenance Contracts).

These questions are just basic guidelines to help plan your interaction with the web developer of your choice. You can base new questions from this information and make the most your web developer interaction.