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This recent article over at Pronet got me thinking about what any company should be looking for when it comes to commissioning a website. Maybe it’s also because I have been involved in a couple of pitches recently as well that it has got me thinking.

A recent pitch had our potential client telling us how we had wowed him.

A massive compliment, but aren’t all other web companies giving the same sort of pitch, talking about usability, compliancy, metrics, data sharing with RSS and XML - how to deliver traffic and ROI?

It amazes me looking at the competition in the UK. There are some guys out there who really know their onions, without a doubt. But, there are some companies who really should know better and it’s not sour grapes - I want everyone to have a great website and there is enough work out there for all of us.

It’s just the laziness on the part of the agency and the ‘mis-selling’ of a valuable marketing tool for a business. It’s a big investment on the part of the client and they are a business looking for value for money the same as any business making a purchase.

It saddens me to say that I have met business owners who recently spent tens of thousands of pounds on solutions that don’t deliver traffic and a quick look over their ‘new’ site tells us what is wrong – it’s basic lack of cohesion and vision. It gives us all a bad name.

It strikes me, that one of the key people (if you have all the basics in place), often overlooked in the overall equation, is a great Project Manager. Cameron Cameron puts it nicely when he says,

You wouldn’t let your nephew be your accountant, so why would you hire him to build your website?

Creating a great web site is not just a case of getting a designer, or a programmer who ‘know someone’. It takes a team of people with different skills who can throw their ideas into a (sometimes heated) debate of what is right for a client even when sometimes the client doesn’t even know what they want or what is possible.

Good Project Management

Now, a good Project Manager should understand how all the disciplines fit together. They know where compromise is needed and they have the big picture understanding of:

• The clients short-term and long-term objectives
• What the client actually needs (whether they think they need it or not)
• What the client can afford to pay
• What time the client has to maintain a completed solution
• What is possible for the budget

They should upsell but not oversell

They can bring together the strengths of a team to deliver a great web solution. One that is right for the client, not for someone’s ego and not playing to the only strengths one person has.

Now, such a person exists in this world. We have one or two (but could do with some more) and I am sure other companies do too.

Great Web Companies

There are some great web companies out there – we aren’t the only one, believe me. Please make sure you find one and keep this business geek happy and make sure they have an outstanding Project Manager who knows his stuff.