KNOW YOUR WEBMASTER BEFORE YOU GET

KNOW YOUR WEBMASTER BEFORE YOU GET

LEFT OUT IN THE COLD

by George Kosch, MSc.

It happens so often you'll be amazed; a new domain goes up and another webmaster is called upon. And you can bet that this means trouble if you're not careful. When you decide to purchase a domain you need to be sure that the person who designs and more importantly, maintains your site knows what he or she is doing.

Remember this is the person who will be designing your store with the paramount responsibility of creating a profitable site that is exciting, motivating, and customer oriented. Choosing the wrong webmaster can mean the difference between a site that generates ongoing sales and leads, and one that just sits blankly on the screen begging for some attention. There are thousands of "wanna-be" webmasters out there, here is a checklist of things you MUST confirm before turning over your million-dollar domain storefront.

1. The most important thing to check is previous work. If your prospective webmaster doesn't have any proven previous experience, then move on to the next prospect. Too many people turn the creation of their Internet storefront over to an amateur. An amateur part time webmaster is going to give you a part time amateur site.Is this what you want? Remember, getting sales and leads isn't going to happen with a web page that any 10 year old could create. These amateurs tend to want to dazzle. They create graphic intense sites that blink, flash, and annoy. Concerned with the latest gadgetry they think nothing about the most important reason for the site; you getting sales and prospects! If a site doesn't work right, if it doesn't capture lead information, if it doesn't give folks a reason to visit and come back again, if it doesn't motivate some action by the visitor, then the site is useless and you're wasting your money. The bottom line is to check the previous work of your prospective webmaster.

Have a look at sites they've designed. Do the sites appeal to you as a viewer? Are the sites attractive, easy to navigate, customer centered, quick to load, and generally appealing. Be sure too, to get customer referrals and call them to find out what kind of service these people received and that you can expect.

2. Qualifications in hand and a few nice demo sites later you must watch for the hours of business. Is the webmaster full time with a reasonable amount of clients or is he/she at school, working part-time and doing this as a sort of hobby. The worst thing in the world is having something wrong with your site and none available to repair it. Be sure that the webmaster is a professional and open for business by phone during the day and access able at least by email on the weekends. As your site grows there will be errors here and there. This is normal and should be expected but the key to managing this is the ability to make corrections asap and not be held up for days waiting to see if the webmaster exists anymore.

3. Cost. Here is an interesting question. Do you consider the webmaster who charges $40 an hour or the one who charges $400 an hour? Take points 1 and 2 into account here and be aware that the Internet and webmasters are not regulated. I still can't find a listing for "webmaster" in my phone book, but I can find accountants, lawyers etc. Webmasters don't follow any pay table but there is a way to assess that will never fail; common sense. I know some excellent webmaster's who charge by page and by hour. Look for page rates between $90 to $250. Be sure that includes graphics, fonts and complete navigation throughout the site. Hourly rates are around $65 - $99.

4. Last but not least. Watch for the prospective webmaster that says:"Yeah, this web stuff is easy. Did you know I'm a database mainframe cobol guy? This web html is sooooo easy I'm sure I can handle it."or the tech talker

"You know I specialize in activeX and dbase front ends like Access. I will make you a chat room, web board, moving video, and streaming audio. Oh, by the way, what did you say your site was going to be about?"

These people can mean the death of a site. I have personally worked with a dozen or so of them in my time on the web. Where are they now? Back in the basements of their houses getting Alex9000 to come back to life. Or they are the ones that have created the sites that crash your browser every time you try to access the site.

The webmaster you choose needs to be focused on making YOUR site appeal to the majority, to bring you business, and not be only for the technically enabled. Many a successful techhead has learned this little gem of knowledge the hard way. Be sure you quiz your webmaster on their view of the web as a marketing tool. Armed with this checklist you should be better able to assess your future webmaster and develop a profit making web site.

George Kosch is Co-Founder of Worldprofit at http://www.worldprofit.com

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