Earlier this week, a 5.9 magnitude earthquake gave U.S. east coasters a little shake (A few of us at the Fastpivot headquarters in Asheville NC even felt tremors hundreds of miles from the epicenter). It’s always good to have harmless reminders like this to help us remember the importance of good infrastructure. The same is true in the digital world of ecommerce design and development.
Without a solid ecommerce development team, ecommerce merchants can be subjected to a number of gyrations, none of them healthy. Three of the most common crushes to avoid are:
1) Door Jam: this is the result of hiring shaky amateurs to cut code…oftentimes to cover up for inadequacies, these smooth fingertip-types will prop foundation with well disguised chicanery, a hard to follow signature, or a melting mosaic of imprints even the most talented code-slingers can’t recognize and fix immediately. In this case everything might look OK on the outside, but on the inside, it’s near collapse. Qualify your help before ever signing on the dotted line. Ask to see a portfolio and check online reviews as part of routine due diligence.
2) Core Rot: This happens when little to no maintenance is done. Every few months, merchants should bring in their top guns to check the place out. They’ll make sure everything (SEO, code, design, updates, etc.) is screwed down tight.
3) Jumpy Programming: Switching developers around to save a few dollars here and there really sets merchants up for a big fall later. And the irony is that the fix will most likely cost more than what was saved through the cheap-technique of “shopping development agencies.” Find a group that can do most of what you need and stick with them for consistency and accountability.
Who Should You Hire?
The model ecommerce development agency will have solid project management protocols, high quality standards, central communication and convenient scheduling programs in use, ecommerce developer /designer / data redundancies in place in case of unexpected loses, and a strong record of good customer service. Do it right the first time to avoid unnecessary jarring in the future!
Reader feedback request: How do you qualify your developers?
