Questions to Ask Before Hiring a Website Company

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Before you hire a a website company there is some things you need to know.

1)  There are some honest website design and optimization companies who do a good job of helping you market your products and services on the Internet. (You make money)

2)  There are also many website companies who do a very poor job of helping you market your products and services on the Internet.  (You lose money)

We have seen far too many nice people lose time, money and sometimes their dreams, because they hired a website company that failed to market their products and services successfully.

With that in mind we created a list of questions to help you differentiate between website companies that can help you and those that can hurt you.  Simply ask any website company you are considering hiring the questions below and you should be able to easily tell the difference between the good and the bad.

Click here to see the WORD version 

Ask website companies the following to test their ability to get your website to the top ten of Google.

1)  What companies have you built websites for in the past?
2)  What products and services do your clients sell?
3)  What cities does your clients sell them in?
4)  What keyword phrases did you design your clients website to rank in the top ten of Google for?

Search for their client's products or services in Google.  If their client's websites do "not" rank in the top ten of Google for these products and services - "Hire someone else".

Working For Your Competition?

Ask if their website company will build websites that will compete with yours!

1)  Are you willing to sign a non-compete agreement stating that "you have not and will not build any websites that will be directly competing with my websites primary keywords in Google?"

Imagine paying a company to build a website that ranks number one in Google for your products.  But then the company builds almost identical websites for your competition and these new websites rank higher in Google than yours. Soon your website is no longer on the first page of Google and you don't make a penny with your website.  Get a non-compete agreement - or - "Hire someone else".

Do You Own the Website or do They?

Make sure you are going to be the owner of your website and that you have control of your website in case you decide to change website companies.
1)   Will the domain name be registered in my name or yours?
2)   What company will my website's domain name be registered at?
3)   What are "my" passwords?
4)   Will the hosting be in my name or yours?
5)   What company will be hosting my website?
6)   What are my user name and passwords and how do I use them to access my website?
7)   Do I have the right to stop doing business with you at any time and will you own the website hosting and registration or will I?

Hosting and Registration should always be in your name.  Not the name of the company building the website. If they refuse to answer any of these questions or say, "in their name" - "Hire someone else".

Monthly Fees

1)   What is the cost of hosting each month?
2)   Does the hosting fee include a Unique IP Address?
3)   Will you be charging me for "Sponsored Links" or "Pay-Per-Click", etc?
4)   Are there any monthly fees for search engine submission?
5)   What other monthly fees do you charge?

There isn't any reason for your monthly fees to exceed much over $20. For instance, you can buy your own hosting (including a Unique IP Address) at Webmasters.com for $14.95 a month.  "Monthly" search engine submission or optimization fees are a rip off and a clear sign you need to find a different website company (You only need to submit your site to a search engine once).  Additionally, while sponsored links can be a source of "added" revenue for some businesses, for others they are a money loser.  If a website company suggests you pay large monthly fees for sponsored links rather than getting your website to the top of Google's rankings then they may be more interested in their profits than your best interests.  If a website company tries to charge you more than $20 a month for hosting, etc... - "Hire someone else".

Pages and Text

1)   How many pages will my website have when it is completed?
2)   How much text per page?
3)   Will my website include the following pages? Contact, about us, faq and privacy.
  
Google does not like small websites.  It also does not like websites that skimp on text.  Google also lowers your sites rankings if it does not contain the pages shown in number 3 above.

Keywords

1)   What will you use as the primary keywords on my home page?
2)   What unique keyword phrase will you use for "each" of my other pages?
3)   Can you show me how many people search for these keywords each month in Google?
4)   Will you create "unique" meta-tags (title, descriptions and keyword tags) for "each page" or will you use the same ones on every page of my website?

Choosing the right keywords is important.  Each page of your website should be targeted to a unique set of keywords following the theme (primary keywords) of your website. This means that each page of your website should have a specific set of words in the meta-tags for your title, descriptions and keywords.  Before you start, have the website company that is trying to earn your business show you how many people search for each of these phrases "per month" in Google.  If they are unable or unwilling to do this - "Hire someone else".

Domain Registration

1)   How many years in advance will you be registering my website domain name?

Google believes that anyone registering a website for "only" a year or two is more likely to be an amateur or spammer than someone who registers their website for a ten years.  As a result, websites that are only registered for a year or two do not do nearly as well in Google. If the website company you are talking to does not recommend registering your website at least ten years in advance (about $90) - "Hire Someone Else".

Broken Links

1)   How often will you check for and fix broken links on my website?

Google is constantly checking your website for broken links.  Google absolutely hates websites with broken links.  And links break all the time.  Knowing this a good website company will recommend checking your website for broken links every two weeks.  If they do not recommend this or offer to do it... "Hire Someone Else".

Original Text

1)   Will the text on my website be original or will it be used on other websites too?

If the text on your website is not original Google will automatically lower your website's rankings.  With that in mind, demand a written agreement that the text on your website will be original and that they will not use the same text on any other websites.  If they won't put this in writing - "Hire Someone Else".

IP Address

1)   What type of IP Address will you use for my website?

I cannot stress enough that having a "Unique IP Address" is critical to getting your website to the top of the search engine rankings "and" preventing some of your emails from accidentally being blocked as spam despite that you have never sent out any spam.  It only costs $5 a month.  It saves a lot of hassles.  It's worth the money.  If the company that is trying to earn your business on a website confuses a "Unique IP Address" with a "Static IP Address" (they are not the same thing) hire someone else.  If they try to tell you that the Unique IP Address will cost you more than $5 a month - Hire Someone Else.  If they tell you that our advice about getting a Unique IP Address is stupid (happens all the time) call us and we will be happy to explain why they are wrong and why you should - "Hire Someone Else".

Statistics

1)  Will I be able to directly access my website statistics online at anytime?

Never count on your website company to tell you how many people visited your site. If your website is doing poorly at attracting paying customers from the search engines the last thing most website companies are going to do is show you your "real statistics".  Any honest website company will show you how you can use your passwords to directly access your statistics online.  If they offer to send them to you instead of letting you directly access them - "Hire Someone Else".

You'll Like Our Answers
Go ahead and ask these questions to other website companies.  Then call and compare our answers.  You'll like our answers.  You have my word on it.

Steven W. Nunnally, NotJustWebsites.com (239)878-9310 

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