So, you are about to create a website. Do you know what to look for when choosing a web studio to create a website? We recommend asking prospective developers the following questions, and then thinking carefully about the answers when making your final selection. This will probably save you a lot of time, money and, most importantly, nerves.

What will your website be built on?

Specify the programming language, database, framework or CMS used. This is the most important point, because it depends on:

  1. the cost of improvements (the cheapest option is developers with the most widespread knowledge, developers of paid CMS are more expensive, it is even more expensive to modify unknown CMS and “self-made” sites);
  2. the quality of the site (there are “buggy” engines, for example, the use of CMS Made Simple as an online store);
  3. site protection from hacking and virus infection (there are very “leaky” CMS, just look for information on the request for the name of the CMS + “vulnerabilities”);
  4. search promotion capabilities (not all CMS are equally well promoted in search, some of them do not even provide the ability to edit meta tags and page titles);
  5. the ability to change the project support contractor (not everyone will take on someone else’s project, especially poorly documented, written by no one knows who and how);
  6. the ability to hire your own developer or an outsourcing specialist (difficulties in finding a specialist with the necessary knowledge and a desire to take on your project);
  7. ease of support and updating (for example, popular CMS WordPress and Drupal allows you to update the site automatically).

Ready-made CMS or custom development?

If you are talking about creating a simple site on a CMS from a web studio of their own design, then we recommend that you immediately refuse such proposals. In this case, you will be tied exclusively to this studio, you will not be able to change the project support contractor, and possibly the promotion contractor. It also usually means the highest cost of modifications, with perhaps the lowest quality of execution.

With a high degree of probability – all this means redesigning the site in the future, but at a much higher cost, because you will have to transfer the existing content of the project to the new site structure.

Do not forget that no studio will exist forever. What will happen to its development then? Who will develop and support it?

The only exceptions are a number of cases where a unique development is really required. Like the development of high-load projects for the customer, where the use of CMS will create an unjustified extra load or when creating projects that require exceptional security measures and closed code (for example, in the banking sector). However, in such situations, it is worth considering using a popular framework.

Framework or custom development?

Large projects are usually written according to the individual requirements of the customer. Is it worth starting from scratch using a “pure” programming language, or you should take a ready-made structure (project framework)?

Among the advantages of using the framework are:

  • significant acceleration of development (the basic elements are already there, tested and documented);
  • detailed documentation and developed community (useful for solving typical tasks/problems);
  • relatively low cost of support and improvement (it is easy enough to find a programmer with knowledge of the chosen framework);
  • good level of protection (a huge number of people are involved in the process of testing and developing the framework).

Of the downsides of using the framework, it is worth mentioning:

  • limits and restrictions introduced by the framework;
  • loss of performance (especially when using “heavy” frameworks like Zend);
  • open source framework (in case of developing projects requiring exceptional security measures).

As always, when choosing, a compromise should be sought between the cost, speed and quality of project development.

CMS paid or free?

Let’s get back to simple CMS projects. Which one to choose paid or free?

Paid CMS are attractive as ready-made kits from the box at an inexpensive starting price, aimed at a specific business. However, this is where all the positives usually end. Of the minuses of paid CMS, it is worth mentioning:

  • monthly or annual license fees, and this can apply both to the entire site, and separately to each module of the site;
  • more expensive support, because there are obviously fewer specialists with the necessary knowledge (due to the cost of a CMS license) compared to free counterparts;
  • a low level of documentation and complexity in solving problems (usually paid CMS do not have or have a minimum number of participants in the community for discussing problems and documenting CMS features);
  • sometimes it also means low quality paid CMS (the CMS is developed by an office with a small number of developers, a small number of users use the CMS, hence a large number of still hidden errors arise).

Are there any guarantees?

It would not be superfluous to ask – will there be a guarantee for the created project?

We guarantee the absence of software errors in all our developments within 12 months after full payment and launch of the project. This means that if an error occurs and it was present at the time the project was handed over to the customer (not due to code modifications or incorrectly installed updates), then it is fixed completely free of charge.

Will you have documentation?

Specify in advance – will the documentation for the created project be provided?

We provide user documentation for all our projects. The documentation describes the main functionality of the site and has everything you need for daily work with the site. Contact us and check for yourself!