{"id":339,"date":"2018-03-06T22:48:17","date_gmt":"2018-03-06T22:48:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.confidant.ca\/blog\/?p=339"},"modified":"2018-03-06T22:57:27","modified_gmt":"2018-03-06T22:57:27","slug":"4-symptoms-of-needing-a-new-web-developer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.confidant.ca\/blog\/2018\/4-symptoms-of-needing-a-new-web-developer\/","title":{"rendered":"4 Symptoms of Needing a New Web Developer"},"content":{"rendered":"

Today\u2019s website content management systems can be used to craft high-quality, high-performance websites. They can also be used to pump out dozens of generic sites without much attention to quality, and the client suffers for it. If you\u2019re experiencing many of these symptoms, it might be time to think about getting a new web developer.<\/p>\n

1. The standard URLs and icons never changed<\/h3>\n

\"Common<\/p>\n

If you still have \u201cindex.php\u201d in your page URLs, or have the logo of your CMS showing on your browser tab, it\u00a0suggests that whoever built your site was maybe trying to do it as quickly as possible or simply didn\u2019t know how to correctly configure the site and server. It is a quick fix for those who know how, it will make a big difference to how users perceive your site, and might even improve your search ranking.<\/p>\n

2. Maintenance requests take way too long<\/h3>\n

Did your web developer abandon you after completing your site? Good companies respond to emails and phone messages quickly, and will let you know how long it will take to finish a job if they can’t do it right away. If this is the normal pattern with your developer, demand more.<\/p>\n

3. Your site looks just like every other site out there<\/h3>\n
\"Generic-looking
Pretty boring!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

That site template looked pretty snazzy when you first saw it. Great big photo on the home page with text overlaying it. Maybe even a slideshow with a big button to click. Down the page were alternating content areas\u2014first dark on light, then light on dark. Little background effects when you scroll. Three or four feature boxes with icons, placed side-by-side. Ever noticed that your competitor has the exact same thing?<\/p>\n

It\u2019s going to cost more, but doing a custom site template or scratch-built site will help you escape the monotony of today\u2019s mobile-compatible, pre-built template websites.<\/p>\n

Suggestion: take a look at the FWA site<\/a> for inspiration. Make note of what is possible, then find a web developer that can go beyond convention, combining design skill and programming prowess. For good graphics, a good place to start is someone who is certified with the Graphic Designers of Canada<\/a> or another design certification group. For the programming side, visit the portfolios of different interactive agencies to get an idea of their repertoire.<\/p>\n

4. Not truly mobile<\/h3>\n

They might fit on your phone screen, but many sites nowadays will still send over five megabytes, sometimes even ten or more on the first page download. This might be suitable for a desktop experience, but why should mobile users receive this same amount of data, when their screens are smaller and their data is not unlimited? There are great solutions nowadays for giving mobile users only what they need, and fast. Ask your developer what can be done to maximize mobile performance. If they don’t know, it might be time to ask someone else.<\/p>\n

Conclusion<\/h3>\n

You could add more points to this list but when it comes down to it a website design company needs to have technical expertise<\/a> joined with quick expert service<\/a>. Combine these with a good price and you will have satisfaction with your web presence for years to come.<\/p>\n

Confidant Communications does web design in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan \u2014 serving clients from anywhere in the world. Browse our portfolio<\/a> then give us a call<\/a> to see what we can do for you!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Today\u2019s website content management systems can be used to craft high-quality, high-performance websites. They can also be used to pump out dozens of generic sites without much attention to quality, and the client suffers for it. If you\u2019re experiencing many of these symptoms, it might be time to think about getting a new web developer. … Continue reading 4 Symptoms of Needing a New Web Developer<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-339","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p28GE6-5t","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.confidant.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/339","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.confidant.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.confidant.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.confidant.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.confidant.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=339"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.confidant.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/339\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":351,"href":"https:\/\/www.confidant.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/339\/revisions\/351"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.confidant.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=339"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.confidant.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=339"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.confidant.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=339"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}