Hiring someone to fix your website? or to redesign it? or to add new features? Here's what you need to realize.
It's Okay When...
Using Wordpress? OK to hire someone to build say a Wordpress theme and then use it on your site.And similar things that you can choose to use or discard at will.
Not Okay For...
- Building your new web site.
- Rewriting your existing website.
- Redesigning your website.
- Adding features, extensions etc.
Why not?
Programming work isn't a "do it once and it's done" time of job. Rather someone has to maintain it over the years as long as it's being used.When you call in a contractor to do the job, as soon as he is finished, the standing question will be then -- who fixes the on going problems and necessary changes that will arise over time?
The contractor might be here, might not be here, might ask for an exorbitant rate for future works. And if you call in a different person -- the first thing he will say is that the existing work of that contractor is a mess. And it has to be rewritten again to be fixed.
And most clients I see revert to this later option after some time. Rewrite. And then you are bound with this new contractor who yet again might not stay here to fix your problems over the years after his rewrite.
Rinse, repeat.
So, the solution?
- Small sites
- Use off the shelf tools to build your own site. Like wordpress, site builders and so on.
- Large sites
- Or build it in house, with your own programmer's team when your site is complex and large. You can afford it, as your are building a complex site.