Quebec Online Store – 10 Tips Before Hiring an E-Commerce Consultant / Developer

Avez-vous l'intention d'embaucher un professionnel pour construire votre boutique en ligne? Si vous n'êtes pas un développeur et avez des connaissances techniques limitées, il peut être difficile d'embaucher la bonne personne pour votre projet. Ne vous inquiétez pas, vous n'êtes pas seul. Nous sommes là pour vous aider!

Do you intend to hire a professional to build your online store? If you are not a developer and have limited technical knowledge, it can be difficult to hire the right person for your project. Do not worry, you are not alone. We are here to help you! We have heard too often that in Quebec, the agencies’ budget was too important without necessarily meeting your needs and that you did not know where to start, without also counting the developers who say they are ‘experts’, without really be…

To help you make the best decision, we’ve put together the 10 questions to ask before hiring an ecommerce developer to build your online store. These tips are valid of course in Canada, but everywhere in the world … for the little you read this post in French!

Make sure you have answers to these important questions before spending time and money.

1. With which e-commerce software do you have online stores?

You should do thorough research before interviewing candidates. You want to find a powerful, intuitive and easy-to-manage e-commerce software. After all, when the developer realizes your site, you will be the one working with him on a daily basis.

During your research, be sure to look at all the expensive e-commerce software out there. You do not want to be stuck, not paying excessively excessive monthly fees (shopify, ecwid etc ..), Prestahop is perhaps the right totally free solution with all the tools you need, allowing your developer to customize to your shop to your taste.

2. What is your experience building ecommerce websites?

Do not let the developer feed you a bunch of techno jargon. Ask for real examples of the site he built before. Pay close attention to the user experience, features, and design of each site they share. You should also give him a basic idea of what you are looking for and ask him to show you examples of online stores out there that he would be able to replicate.

3. What are the terms of our contract?

Whatever the case, you absolutely want to have a written agreement that describes the following:

Fees and Terms of Payment – Some developers prefer to be paid by the hour for their work and others will give you a price for a project.

Additional Fees – You want to understand exactly what is included in the fees. Some common « surprise » charges you want to negotiate in advance are: hosting, SSL certificate, additional features, themes, and backup solutions.

Deadlines – Set a date or milestones for when the project or the different elements of the project should be complete. Include a clause in your agreement that addresses directly if there is a delay.

Include all expectations – Write down everything that needs to be delivered and what you want to find on the final site.

Post-development – What are the maintenance costs after the end of the project? How often can I wait for help?

4. How do we communicate?

This question is often forgotten, but it is important to establish the means of communication throughout the development of your site. You want to be involved throughout the process, not just when it’s over.

Decide if you’ll be using Skype, Hangout or the phone to talk regularly (not Canada Post, it would be too long haha). I strongly suggest using a project management tool such as Asana or Basecamp to keep all communications organized and keep you informed of your site’s progress.

5. What special features can you develop for my online store?

This is a technical question, but you must know what you want and the ability of the developer (s) to do it.

– Do you use an existing theme or do you create a custom theme?
– Will you build features from scratch?
– Do you want to use a special payment interface?

6. Mon site e-commerce sera-t-il mobile?

Today is an obligation. You want to be able to offer your customers a seamless shopping experience from a mobile device and tablet. Ask your developer what they will do to make sure your site is mobile and responsive.

7. How will you make editing and managing my site easier?

Once your online store is up and running, you’ll need to update content, photos, banners, and more. You may even be able to add or edit features on your site. Find out what your developer is going to do to make sure that editing your site will not be a headache every time. At Quidd we have trainings that will help you:

Have a look on our prestashop training in Canada

You should have access to absolutely everything! One day, this person may no longer be your developer and you will need to share passwords and code with a new rental. Make sure all files, connections, and passwords are shared with you. You must own all accounts associated with your site. In addition, I highly recommend that your developer explains how will backup your site.

8. What are the fundamental SEOs you want to integrate?

Your developer should implement SEO best practices and make them easy to have the best SEO strategy. All the money you spend on your online store will be wasted if customers can not find you!

Have a look on our prestashop training in Canada

9. How will you help me follow the key performance indicators?

This is something you want to address in advance. Understand how you can measure the performance of your site. Tons of KPIs are automatically displayed in your PrestaShop back office. However, you need to know how to measure specific elements of your site using Google Analytics.

10. How will you perform tests?

Your online store might look good, but if it does not work properly, what’s the point? Your developer needs specific good practices to test your site. Make sure the developer is using a test environment and does not directly edit your live store without testing it first. Ask him to explain his testing process of your entire site!

This type of information will help you to not have to for additional support once the project is finished. You want to make sure that the tests are done from different mobile devices, browsers, computers, and countries.

Now you are ready to go out there and find the perfect developer to build your online store!

Contact us to set up your Prestashop store in Quebec – Rates starting at 499$ !

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