So many people are utilizing the World Wide Web to communicate their message to the masses. And why not, it is an extremely effective and efficient mode of communication. However, getting to the starting line can prove to be a bit more difficult than many understand. Most organizations cannot afford to employ a Web master to create and maintain their site. So what do they do? Try to do it themselves? Enlist the help of a friend? Borrow from existing sites? Or contract the site to a Web developer? Many choose the latter believing it to be an easy process…but it’s hardly as simple as it sounds.

Working with a Web developer can be an arduous assignment. It can turn out to be a complete disaster, especially for those of us who are not well versed in site development. Here are six tips taken from Small Biz’ June/July 2007 edition that will help you make your design/build experience a success.

How to make sure you get what you expect from your Web developer:

1)Register the domain name yourself, in your name or that of your company.
2)Stay local. You may have success with an offshore designer, but if things get dicey, a face-to-face meeting can do wonders for your relationship.
3)Check references-lots of them. And look at as many of the developers sites as you can.
4)Get a clause in your contract with the developer explicitly stating that you have the right to use the material on the Web site, to reproduce it, and to distribute it and publicly display or modify it, perpetually and irrevocably.
5)Be as clear as you can about what you expect. Schedule payments based on milestones.
6)Ask the developer to produce a shadow site on his own server that you will approve before your site goes live.

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