Part 3 of 6 :: Website legalities and critical points to be covered before signing a website development contract

"Website development legalities and copyright" - but all I want is my website - soon!

Keep reading for an overview on your rights, your web developers rights and what to be sure you have before signing.

Website development legalities

Right now, with the contract unsigned you are legally in the right in all areas. The ideas are yours, no-one has started work and no-one is accountable.

~ As soon as the contract is signed there is accountability on both sides: You are expected to pay your invoices to the contractor on time and the contractor is expected to deliver a workable, professional website as outlined in the contract. Already, you can see the importance of a clearly defined contract and project specification (we will cover this in part 4 and provide an example).

~ If the contract defines you are to pay only when sections of the website are finalised do not feel obligated to pay invoices until you are 100% happy with the work completed on each section. If the project is 'under construction' and the work is 'hidden', ask to receive access information anyway and have the contractor talk you through it.

Tip: Be aware that continually changing your mind once the coding is underway will drive your contractor crazy so be sure to ask for revisions of design first until you feel happy - then move forward with the coding. An excellent idea is to have your contractor create 'prototypes': 1 -3 pages you can click through and get a feel for before signing off - this can save a lot of trouble in the future and worth the small extra cost
~ Sometimes the contractor falls behind for many reasons, try not to jump to the defensive - even if it means a call to their office and a straight-to-the-point conversation you will keep their confidence and they will more than likely work harder than ever to get the project finished on time.
Tip: If the contractor is unreachable or refuses contact while working on the project, a series of 3 strongly worded emails and/or phone calls will generally push them to make contact. Be sure that your contractor has a visa or working permit before starting. We have taken over a number of projects where the contractor has left the country, taking their clients money and trust with them
~ If the situation is dire, legal action should be taken and your bank informed

Copyright

We are not legal experts in this area, but do have some tips.

An excellent page we have found that gives you, the website owner some idea of copyright is found here: http://www.copyrightservice.co.uk/protect/p11_web_design_copyright. Quick summary below:

1. Images should be 'watermarked'

2. Your contractor can set an .htaccess file to disallow external linking to images on your website

3. Retain a legal notice or link to legal document and/or page on the website stating your website content is your property and cannot be redistributed or copied in any way, shape or form

4. Register your website (search with the keywords: register website copyright to access information applying to your country or state)

5. Do not in any way, shape or form sign over the copyright of your website files or content to your contractor before commencement or project. This can be held against you for any real or perceived wrongs

Tip: Be very careful not to store music or images on your website that may be copyrighted by other individuals - be sure to have a disclaimer stating you are in no way responsible for user-generated content



Our next article will give you the chance to download a relatively sound website development contract.

Part 2 of 6 :: The first meeting with the website contractor

At this meeting you can inspect their workplace and answer for yourself the following questions: Are they organised? Are they stressed? Do their colleagues/staff appear to be in control? Is their equipment neat and clean?
-If the contractor is going to help make your business a success it is important they are on top of things. Success breeds success.

The first meeting!

The first meeting is important for both parties to become acquainted and find out if there is a 'gel'. This relationship will be a long-term one with a lot of communication back and forth so a chemistry is important. Be realistic in this approach, it may take one or two meetings with different contractors to find that 'gel', not all websites are the same and neither are the people that build them.

What to discuss first

Talk the contractor through your business history and your future business goals. If you have a business plan present it to them at this time. From their experience with the internet they may see roadblocks you don't and offer advice and direction on bringing your business online. By now the contractor will more than likely be excited and may divert off into the land of 'php', 'mysql', 'xhtml' and other acronyms, this will be important later - but for now keep leading the conversation back to your business goals (your target market and financial targets for example).

What to discuss second

Pricing: A big mistake is to ask for a price straight away - this can cause problems as the contractor later sits down and works out figures. They may give a number off the top of their head and regret it later, causing regret and irritation on both sides.

For now, appeal to their experience and ask them what type of timeframe they have in mind and how many staff they think they may need on the project. From here you can gauge for yourself some idea of project costs.

Content: Ask them what thoughts they have in terms of photographers or copywriters you might need and if they are happy for you to type your own content. Using copywriters on a website can be costly (though definitely worth it).

Note: If you would like to write your own content, you will need to be organising your content rapidly. An excellent method is via 'card sorting', click here to download the pdf
Websites need a lot of images and the contractor will be asking for them quite soon after a project's commencement. Some questions for organising images:
- Do I need to scan photos for the website?
- Will these images need retouching once scnanned? Can the contractor provide this service?
- Do I need a photographer? Can the contractor recommend one?
- Do I need to buy professional-quality images? (www.dreamstime.com and www.bokelberg.com are excellent)

What to discuss third

Now there is a general project overview underway it is time to talk about website domain names, emails and hosting.
Some questions for your website domain name, emails etc:
- *Can the contractor provide website hosting?
- What are the general yearly website hosting prices for a website like yours?
- Can the contractor register a domain name for you? (If you have done this yourself be sure to have the registration information printed and nearby)
- If you are developing an e-commerce website can the contractor setup the SSL security packages for you?

* We recommend www.directenergynow.com website hosting.

The next step is the receival of quotation/proposal from your potential contractor and we will be covering what specifically needs to be in their quotation/proposal and some important questions to ask in Part 3: Website legalities and critical points to be covered before signing a website development contract.

Part 1 of 6 :: Finding a website designer to suit my business

Part 1: Locating a website design and development contractor

Best and worst case scenarios

Sometimes a great website person just falls into your lap, they know exactly what you want (even more than you do), they are inexpensive, work hard and the site works like a dream.

And then, sometimes your website development experience is painful, the nights are late and you really have no idea what the end result will be. Building a website is like buying a car, investing or opening a business bank account: it takes time to do your research, there are many hurdles and what you get is not always what you wanted.

We hope that as you join us on this this 6-part series you will find the information you need to begin a successful business relationship with a website design and development contractor and help them help you build the perfect website.

Steps to take to ensure a best-case scenario

We have some tips for you:

• Firstly, use Google to search locally for website designers and developers. Keyword searches using terms such as 'website designer' and 'website developer' are quite broad so include your city name and zip code

• Find the business contact email address on the prospective contractors website and send them an email with a little about yourself, your business and your goals. If the contractors do not answer within 24 hours use this as an indication of their interest and reliability so find someone else using the method above

• Once you have succesfully made contact with the contractor ask for some of their time to send you a little information about themselves by email. A pushy contractor will rush you into a meeting, so hold them back and ask them for some of the following information first:

(1) Portfolio (a pdf via email is sufficient)

(2) Some information on how long they have been in business and what their goals are for you, the client

(3) 3 client references minimum. A satisfied client of theirs will be more than happy to talk to you so ask for some phone numbers and email addresses

Once you have satisfied yourself the contractor is legitimate and has your best interests at heart make a time with them for phone call to introduce yourself and your voice to them. They should have done some research into your project by now so ask them for their initial thoughts.

The next step is a person to person meeting with your potential contractor and we will be covering preparation for this meeting and some important questions to ask in Part 2: Preparing for the first meeting with the website contractor.

Website Design Paris : working locally and internationally with you

Welcome et bienvenue, as a small firm of website designers who work in Paris and internationally we seek to make project development a process that is friendly and personal.

Throughout this blog we will be sharing with you the 'secrets and ideas' behind our philosophy of working with out clients' best interests at heart.

We will be adding pages regularly to this blog with subjects like; "methods to help small businesses ask the right questions when starting their website projects", "how to understand the web-jargon" and "what to ask from their website developers before starting the project".

Our first article will be the first in a series of six helping businesses start their website development path entitled: "Finding a website designer to suit my business". This article will appear on June 10, 2008.

For more information on who we are visit our website: www.2marshalls.net

Nick Marshall