Recently, I saw a friend post a request for someone to help with her website. And I was instantly moved to send her a note to find out if she’d found anyone, because I would be happy to help her find the right person.

And let’s talk about that for a moment. What do I mean by the “right person”?

Easy. It depends.

What?!

That’s right. It depends on what you want to do with your web site.

Say for example you want to make your website look beautiful. Perhaps it does what you want it to do, but could use a bit of a makeover. Or let’s say it looks fine, but doesn’t do what you want it to do. And then of course, it may not only look awful, but also doesn’t do what it should.

Get a web person to fix it for you, right?

Not exactly.

That’s because web people are not created equal. — And I’m not talking about basic human qualities like honesty, integrity… or even professional qualities… like timeliness or attention to detail.

I’m referring to the fact that there are distinctly different skills required to make a site “look nice”… as opposed to making a site “do what you want it to” (as in functionality).

Let me be more specific.

You may either be looking for:

• a Web Designer (in the case of making it look nice), or…
• a Web Developer (in the case of making it function differently).
• and quite possibly both (in the case of it looking awful and not doing what it should).

Now it’s possible to find someone who can do both, but important to know that Not Everyone Can. — There’s a significant right brain, left brain dichotomy here (designer / developer).

So, with all that said. How do you know who to select?

Good question.

This is very important. Start first with figuring out what you want to do. – In detail.

And if you don’t have the details ready to roll off your tongue, or spelled out in writing… then figure out the general description of what you want. Then drill down from there, for each of the larger components you’ve described.

This will help you (and the person you hire)… tremendously.

When I’ve consulted with businesses, I’d be on-the-clock when we’d be working on what we term as Requirements & Specifications. So, if you don’t do your homework, it could cost you more to “figure that out” with a Web designer or developer.

However, if you have the budget and are willing to invest in a dialogue to get through this phase of it, great.

If not… Do Your Homework.

Okay, now that your homework is done. It’s time to start looking for the person to help you. — Which is it? Designer or Developer? Look nice, or do what you want it to do? Or both?

The better you understand and define what you want to do, the better your chances of picking the right person and ultimately getting what you want completed to your liking.

At this point, you might be asking “What does a producer know about web site technology?” — And to that I’d say “Oh, nothing.”