Not every website owner is knowledgeable about building his own website, developing it and publishing it. For this reason, many website owners spend money on hiring web developers to do the job for them. Hiring web developers is indeed necessary, especially if you want your website to have the online presence you need. However, you must be careful about your choices.

Why Hire Web Developers?

Basically, the website owner hires the web developer for services like search engine optimization, web content writing and software development. Relying and depending on a website developer is a risky move, but it is something you may really need for your website. Web developers can be the experts in establishing an online presence for your site. They can help you in achieving your goals online.

Avoiding an Online Tragedy

Many web developer clients have experienced horror stories when hiring a website developer. Clients hire a web developer to do everything but the web developer provides a complex system. The web developer also creates the content and registers the domain on behalf of the client. Truth is, not many clients are techy wizards so web developers should expect some queries and request for assistance.

Once the client has paid the services, the web developer gets his money and starts ignoring the client. When the client asks for help in changing something, the web developer insists on his knowledge and experience in making such a system. At the end, the client will want to move his website somewhere else, but the web developer will not give him his codes. Hence, the client is left with no other choice but to hire another web developer. The sad thing is, this online tragic story keeps happening again and again.

Taking Control of Your Own Website

The main thing you should consider when hiring a web developer is if they are with you for the long-haul. In the story above, the client was able to hire a one-shot developer. Although the web developer delivered what he was paid for, he was unprofessional. Web developers should offer services even after the system is made. Any error and client requests should be accommodated and not ignored.

In addition, the problem only gets catastrophic if you decide to put everything in the hands of the web developer. Ignorance is not an excuse. It is your website so you should start taking action as well. Do you really want to give all the control to your web developer? Many have made this mistake and have deeply regretted it. Do not be an online tragedy and start taking control of your own website.

Your Content is Always Yours

One of the services that the web developer can offer clients is content management. They will do the writing and spread the articles on the World Wide Web. There is really nothing wrong with this service except if the web developer claims the content as their own property. Bear in mind that the lifeblood of your website is your content. This is what Internet users are looking for. This is what led visitors to your website.

Never ever agree to such an agreement. Always claim ownership of your content. What if you had to move your site elsewhere? The web developer won’t allow you to take the content with you. While this practice is unethical, it will be your mistake if you sign a contract with a clause like this. What’s worse is that you won’t be able to make a dispute since you signed the contract.

There are ways to help you manage your content and make sure the developer will not get their hands on it. For one, you should have a unilateral agreement with the web developer. Next, you should always have an administrator login for yourself only. This means that the web developer should have a separate login. This will help you track his activities on your website.

It might be a good idea to just hire a separate content writing service company or hire a bunch of writers for you. Elance is a great marketplace to find individual content writers or writing firms online.

Get Your Own Web Address

Why is a web address so important that people have to pay good money to get the address they want? Your domain represents your online company and address. This is what the customers will remember. The best domains are where your whole company name is included.

When getting a domain, you should be the one to do it. It is very simple and you need not get a web developer to register one for you. You should get your own domain so you can have control of it. How can you take control of your own domain name? You only need to sign up with a domain name registrar and register the name.

I personnaly don’t recommended that you register your domain name with the web hosting provider you have. Why? There are web host providers that will block you out of using the domain name if a dispute takes place in the future. Simply put, you won’t be able to move your site away from the web host server if they are in control of your domain name. Now, this is something you really do not want to happen. One of the best domain name registrars according to me is Name Cheap. If you take a look at their services, you will see that they also offer web hosting services. It is best not to purchase both services for a single company to avoid any control disputes in the future.

Manage Your Own Website

You don’t have to literally manage your own website all the time, you can hire someone to do it for you. The thing here is that you should know how to manage your website without the help of a web developer all the time. This is also the reason why you need to get a web host that provides easy-to-use website management systems. You’d be lucky to find a web developer which you can call on to make any modifications. But just to be on the safe side, register for your own web hosting service and keep the login details to yourself. You can choose one of the best web hosting providers listed on Web Hosting Ratings.

Taking control of your website is the best way to lock out potential dispute problems that you don’t want to have to deal with in the future. Establish your online presence securely and safely, and make sure that you’re one in control of your website.