In case you haven’t read it here before, I’m about to expose one of the biggest sources of deception in the web design industry.
For want of another term, it’s the practice of less scrupulous designers to ‘play dumb’ when it comes to quoting on your website or web system.
The practice is essentially a trap that is left for you to fall into – and will cost you a bomb in the future.
What happens is that these designers – knowing full well that many clients have no idea where their web presence will take them – fail to provide a fully scalable solution.
By scalable I mean a website and/or system that grows with your business affordably as its requirements grow.
In other words, your development is prepared in such a way that if you want to add more design, content or functionality, there is only an incremental cost rather than a relatively expensive full-blown technical or creative development.
Parroting your brief isn’t enough
But what these rogue designers do is provide you with a quotation for a website or system that simply does what you have asked.
On the face of it, there doesn’t seem to be anything wrong with that approach. After all, how is the designer supposed to understand what your future requirements are likely to be?
But truth be known, they actually DO know what your future requirements are going to be.
Why? Because web and system developments are closely aligned with the type of business or industry each business is in.
For example, accommodation providers at some point are going to need online booking systems. Retailers are likely to want a secure shopping cart. Franchisors are likely to need an extranet or password protected area for their franchisees, and so on.
A small fortune for fundamental additions
One of the most common upgrades is that of a simple Content Management System (CMS). The web is littered with cases of web designers deliberately failing to either provide or allow for a CMS at the outset so as the client can add or edit their own content (or at least has the option to in future).
Meaning those who want to add a CMS ‘after the fact’ are charged a comparatively huge sum for something that should at least have been offered as an affordable option in the first place.
Blame for these practices isn’t always easy to pin on a designer because they can reasonably argue that they don’t have a crystal ball and so can’t predict what you may require down the track.
However, the better web firms will take greater responsibility for your longer term needs and alert you to your likely future requirements.
Short term pain = longer term gain
While establishing the website or system to be fully scalable may cost more in the short-term, your time and cost savings are far greater in the long run compared to expensive ‘unforeseen’ developments.
Resulting in your website or system stagnating, repelling your customers and leading to a hidden ‘opportunity cost’ of attracting more customers.
How to pick a rogue
So how can you be certain your web provider is doing the right thing by you when it comes to scalability?
There is a failsafe way to identify a shark.
It occurs when your provider supplies a quote or estimate that is exactly what you have asked for without discussing or outlining any further options for future requirements.
While that might sound odd, this approach is a sure sign that they are not interested in the site’s scalability and intend to charge you (often horrendously given the costs of switching providers can be enormous) for future developments.
Another way to avoid the practice is to continue to do what you are doing right now.
Informed and in control
Find reliable sources of information and keep abreast of developments.
So when you brief a provider you have covered not only the requirements you need now, but requirements you have seen elsewhere and may need in the future.
A good provider will only add to this list so you aren’t badly stung down the track.
Is poor scalability something you have experienced? Tell us your story below.
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Craig Reardon is a leading eBusiness educator and founder and director of independent web services firm The E Team which provide the gamut of ‘pre-built’ website solutions, technologies and services to SMEs in Melbourne and beyond.
James was the editor and publisher of SmartCompany and LeadingCompany for five years. He is now the Australian Financial Review‘s companies & markets editor, and a former BRW editor.
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