In 2016, you as an aspirant website owner, have the numerous options and choices to get your website developed by the best experts in the market, and today, these choice are more than it has ever been in the past. But, you have only one chance to get a perfect website, and you cannot afford to end up with a site that is good for nothing. For you as a website owner, your dream project has only one chance to show its charm, but for them, it’s a regular task. So, no one except for you can understand the importance of your website development project in this world. Therefore, being careful like hell is the only trait that you should have at the moment while choosing a web development company. I am not an expert with the x number of ideas to make this task flow like butter for you, but with my experience as a web developer, I can suggest few checklists that are crucial to being noted while choosing a web development company for your project.

1. Check the track record of the company-

This is the most basic point in this checklist and I think it does not even require an explanation that why it is important. I just did not want to miss this point. Researching about the history and track record of the Web development company is the only thing that will educate you about the status of the company and its competency to handle the projects like yours. For checking the track record you can refer to the following resources:

a). Official website of the company- Web development companies have their own official websites where they list and explain the kind of services they provide. 80 % of your research can be done from this resource alone. Note down the services that are relevant to your project.

b). Testimonials on the website- All the competent web development companies, feature the testimonials from their past and present clients on the website. These testimonials are more like a review of the service quality. Going through these testimonials would help you get the on-field aspect of the company.

c). Past projects that were undertaken- Most of the web development companies feature the list and link of the previous projects they have taken. It more like a product page for them where they feature the quality of services they have already offered to their clients. Review the past project undertaken and verify the on-field performances of the projects. You will get a decent idea about the web development company.

2. Time is money, Always get confirmed about the expected time for service delivery-

Time is always a very important parameter when we are working on something that has time on its opposite coordinate. Always be informed about the average time that would be taken by the company to complete and deliver your project. Somewhat extended time is not a problem, but make sure that they deliver the service on the committed time slot.

3. Analyze your requirements and company’s portfolio thoroughly-

It is not that you will hand over your project to anyone who claims to do it. Based on the above points, you will have a comprehensive idea about the portfolio of the company. Your task now is to tally the portfolio with the level of requirements you have with your site. Make sure that the company possesses enough resources to handle a project like yours.

4. Research about the techniques and standards followed by the company-

Every We development company has its own model of project development and they follow it strictly. You should get informed about the project development model. Examples of some project development models are , Waterfall model, spiral model, agile model, prototype model. In today’s scenario, most of the companies follow the agile model as it includes regular updates and reviews to the client on the project status and is friendly for the project owner.

5. Research about the standards of coding-

Each and every website are developed on some particular platforms, and these platforms have their own standards and syntax of coding in addition to other coding standards like W3C standard for web designing, PrestaShop standards for PrestaShop CMS etc. You must verify if your web development company follows these standards.

6. You don’t need a jack of all-

You don’t need someone who is an all-rounder. You should go to someone who is an expert in your project domain. Jack of all would be good for nothing. Make sure the web development company works with the experts for all stages of the project. For example coders, designers, testers,  they are all experts in their field. You cannot expect a tester to code your project and vice-versa.

7. Customer support is the paramount consideration-

The relationship between a client and the web development company does not end with the service delivery. Customer support while on-going project and after the services delivery is a must to consider trait. Verifying the level of customer support is a crucial task in the checklist. You can start with inquiring about the average TAT (Turn Around Time) of the company.

8. Verify the approach followed for documentation-

A web development project is not just about getting your service delivered. It is you who have to live with the outcome of the project for rest of the time. A proper documentation of the whole project is required which includes Software requirements and specification(SRS), project report, User’s manual, change log (if any), codes etc. A proper web development project is purely incomplete without a proper documentation.

9. Maintenance services-

As specified in the previous points, the relation between a web development company and the client does not end with the service delivery. Instead, it starts here. So, maintenance is one of the most important phases of any web development project, and you should make sure that the company provides the services for maintenance too.

10. Check if company is certified or licensed to adopt the project-

Every software and web development company are certified by the licensing authorities to undertake the particular level of projects. A licensing check is not important here, but the standards checked by these licensing authorities while permitting the company for the same would make sure that your web development company includes all the above items of this checklist. So licensing check to make your task very easy.

Well, this is not a holy grail of impeccable ideas, but I guess these points in the checklist would surely help you to get your project done by the responsible hands. Velocity can understand the value of a dream project for you and it’s an attempt to guide you in the right direction by educating you about the crucial points.