Getting your company on the web will be faster, easier and less error prone if both parties involved understand what the expectation is.

Sometimes it's hard to figure out what you can expect from your web developer due to the large learning curve involved in operating on the internet. Getting your company on the web will be faster, easier and less error prone if both parties involved understand what is expected of them and each other.

Your web developer (affectionally referred to as "your geek" for the remainder of this article) is simply that - a web developer. You can reasonably expect your geek to provide the following for you: Help in choosing a hosting package and a hosting company Help in registering and choosing a domain name Figuring out how your ideas are going to become a technical reality without constraining you Creating the actual site Getting the site on the web (uploading) Testing your website, your hosting company and your domain name pointing Accurate, timely billing Providing a "hard copy" (usually a CD) of the completed site Being available to you for questions and problems during and after the site creation Providing a large array of information on many internet subjects gained through experience (limited by the list below)

We tend to hold our geeks in high regard (and with good reason!), but you can't expect your geek to be all things to you. Some things that your geek is probably not: A lawyer: Your geek probably doesn't know the intricacies of cyber-law, copyright law or trademark law. Relying on your geek for this type of information may prove troublesome in the future A marketer: Your geek obviously has enough marketing savvy to gain you as a client, but that doesn't mean s/he is a professional marketer. Most geeks will offer search engine submission after your site is built to ensure that (sooner or later) your website will show up on search engines, but that's about all you should reasonably expect unless you have made specific arrangements A print media guru: The largest leap for most new web clients to make is that leap from 'print media' mind set to 'web media' mind set. When you take your media to the web, you do so at a cost. Two of those costs are variable colours and absolute control over the layout. Each web surfer will see your site as their browser renders it which may or may not be exactly how you intended. Don't expect your geek to be able to lay out pages that will print perfectly, or have exact colour matching all the time. Like you, your geek is at the mercy of the technology Available all the time: Many geeks are individual consultants and work out of their home. As such, you probably have your geek's home phone number and may be tempted to call him or her every time an idea pops into your head. While many geeks are OK with that, you should keep in mind that your geek has a personal life just as you do. Ask your geek what his or her working hours are and try to stick to them A network technician: Surfing the web involves more parties that making a long distance phone call to China from Canada on a cell phone. The process of getting a web page from a server to your desktop computer involves at least 3 (and usually more like 30+) parties. Your ISP has to be up and running, the host of the site you are trying to get has to be up and running and at the very, very least you have to have one connection between the two up and running. If you go to check your website and get the old 404 Error - Page Not Found right off the bat, you should let your geek know, but also be aware that it may well be out his or her control to fix

Each geek will offer their own array of services. You may find that your geek is able to offer you the services in the second list and not able or willing to offer the services I have indicated in the first list. In my seven years of experience in the web development field, the items above have proven to be the most troublesome. It pays huge dividends in productivity and speed to have an understanding of exactly what parts of the project your geek will take care of and what parts you will have to take care of. This breeds a good working relationship and a happy website.

Happy building!

About the Author

Jon Watson is a computer information systems professional with over seven years experience in the web development field. Jon is a professional web developer, world traveller and all around nice guy.