Over the past few days, we’ve been talking about how to hire a web development company.  Yesterday I published a list of questions you can ask the companies that you’re looking to hire.  Other than those questions, what should you be on the look out for when you’re interviewing other firms and reading through their proposals?

Specificity. Vague proposals lead to miscommunications and unsatisfied expectations.

Does their proposal spell out exactly what you’ll be getting? If it just outlines how many pages you’re getting and how much it’s going to cost, then you’re likely getting just that. Don’t expect that you’re getting the details that need to be in there in order for it to be successful.

Did they say anything about testing? No. Did they say anything about keyword density? No. Did they say anything about css? Did they say anything about code to text ratios? No. Then don’t expect that they’ll be paying attention to any of those things when they develop the site. And don’t expect the results that come from including those things.