So you’re hiring a webmaster to build you a new website or application. You want three things. Quality, you want all the details like SEO, usability and standards testing all from the start. You want it to be built quickly. If it takes 6 months to build, you could miss other marketing opportunities. You also want it on the cheap so you’ll have money in your budget for your other marketing programs. You want it all.
It’s impossible to get all three, without very (1) clearly defined goals, (2) very clearly defined deliverables and (3) clear communication.
Either you get it very quickly and cheap with a lack of quality. Or you get high quality, very quickly with a big budget. Or you get high quality on the cheap without any adherence to release dates and you’re project releases late.
To get everything you want in a website, application or pretty much any project, know the skill sets you’ll need. Know your responsibilities and deliverables and read Sean Carton’s article for successful RFPs at Publish.com.
10 Tips for Successful Web Design RFPs : By? Sean Carton (for project managers and anyone hiring web contractors / web masters)
http://www.publish.com/article2/0,1759,2003582,00.asp?kc=PBRSS05039TX1K0000788
Designing Through the Storm : by Walter Stevenson (for designers)
http://alistapart.com/articles/throughthestorm