Website Audit for Non Tech People Required

odeamarcas

Hi all,

We are a small but growing Irish business, that up until late 2019 were based on Wordpress.

In 2020 werushed into getting a custom site built, to suit our e-commerce and back-end needs.

We're now just about to replicate that custom site for a new business venture.

However, we have been let down to some degree by the original build. We have limited ability to edit text or layout (a trade off between wordpress and custom build).

We are looking for independent advice on the technologies that have been used in our current site, and the implications of same for the future site.

To be straight, we have a suspicion, be it right or wrong, the the incumbent developer may have intentionally held back on making areas of the site editable. And we are being asked for siginifant chunks of payment now to make additional areas of the site "editable".

We haven't a clue what we are looking at when interacting with the developer. We know nothing about the technologies, or the time needed to do specific jobs on the site.

If we can find somebody that can give us some education or advice we would be grateful and we are happy to pay for somebody's time.

Naturally, we will have to stay private as we don't want to damage relationships with existing developer.

Can anyone point us in the right direction or enage with us on this?

Best.

John_Mc

The issue with custom website/application development is that everything comes down to the original specification of requirements which were agreed on, priced on, and delivered.

Many issues arise where the customer says "I know I said this, but I actually meant that". Try saying that to a builder who is building a house or office block for you and see what they say when you ask them to move a load-bearing wall. Nevertheless, this happens a lot with software development for some reason.

Did you ask the developer for specific things to be editable? He/she/they will not take on extra work unless they are asked and they have priced for it.

I would be happy to take a look at the technologies used and general build quality but ultimately, it all goes back to what you asked them to deliver when the work was first undertaken.

Tails142

odeamarcas wrote: »

Hi all,
Naturally, we will have to stay private as we don't want to damage relationships with existing developer.

You know there's a link to your website in your signature right?

Jim2007

To put a bit of prespective on this, how much did the original site cost and how much are you being asked to pay for the modification

odeamarcas wrote: »

To be straight, we have a suspicion, be it right or wrong, the the incumbent developer may have intentionally held back on making areas of the site editable. And we are being asked for siginifant chunks of payment now to make additional areas of the site "editable".

If you did not specify in the original requirements that some thing needed to be editable, then it will obviously much more expensive to make the change later, because the solution was not designed with your new requirement in mind.

odeamarcas wrote: »

If we can find somebody that can give us some education or advice we would be grateful and we are happy to pay for somebody's time.

So who are you going to know who is right? A second developer who may be interested in getting your business???

beauf

There's a few ways of looking at this.

Was the developer deliberately given a very limited scope. Either though specification, budget or time constants.

Was the developer deliberately not including features so that they could be paid to include them later.

Was the developer simply what was asked and absolutely no more. Maybe because that's economical viable or that's just the way they do things.

So how to move forward. Imagine it was a mechanic or tradesperson. You'd simply keep changing until you find one that you are happy with. It's never perfect and there are always compromises. You have to decide at what point those work for you, or they don't. Also at some point you have to learn about how a car works, you don't have to become a mechanic but you need enough knowledge at least to make informed decisions.

beauf

Perhaps all you need to do is revise your expectations for the site. Document the new requirements and get a quote from the current developer to eliminate all these issues going forward. Maybe get another quote for another developer or even a company.

You'd have to evaluate the quote for changes vs replacing it with a new system as you would fixing a new car.

CodeApples

sounds like you have a good offer for help there. As soon as you engage a contractor the trust barrier goes up. And rightly so, as everyone has different goals. You want to drive traffic to your site and generate business, the developer wants to get paid for....well developing and as others have suggested there is always a psychological contract (what you think you are getting) that differs from what you actually put down in writing, if at all. "Replicating your custom website" for a different business venture. That in and of itself would concern me. Because by thinking you can replicate something that is custom for a different purpose, suggests that you might be undervaluing the significance of any custom development. Also happy to take a quick look and point you in the right direction.

Jim2007

Kathyel wrote: »

I have an app development and marketing company that can help.

Sure you can.... come lets here how you'd approach it then?

AndrewJRenko

You'd probably spend as much on auditing your website as you would building a fresh website from scratch.

You might be better off going for a full rebuild anyway. Make sure the domain is registered in your name, and not in your developer's name for a start.

A good starting point would be sit down with a diverse group of 4-8 potential users, diverse in terms of age, gender, ability/disability, education level, knowledge of your industry/sector and ask them to complete a key task on your website (such as place an order or get a quotation, depending on how your business works). See how easy or hard it is for each of them to complete these tasks to review how well your website flows for particular users. Insights arising would be extremely valuable in writing your spec for your new site.

FionMc

Im happy to advise if you DM me. I've been working on WP sites for 8 years