Your eCommerce store concept is ready, the language to use is chosen, the website features plan is discussed, and your store development is finalized to outsource. Now it is high time to hire a strong team of professional Magento developers who are on the same page with you and will help you to sail the project toward the rewarding revenues.
As far as there is a big difference between an eCommerce store and an eCommerce store that sells, the web team you hire will define which way your company is going to move.
When it comes to finding a reliable company there are so many things that have to be taken into consideration. In order to help business owners get a better understanding of which issues to consider during the hunt for the perfect Magento development company, we collected a list of the FAQs that an entrepreneur should ask Magento agencies to ensure stellar results and efficient cooperation.
Is Your Company a Certified Magento Partner?
If you want to make sure that developers are skilled enough to work with this CMS – ask for the certificate. Magento offers various certification options to justify the company’s expertise and guaranty the highest code quality. We don’t recommend to deal with a company with uncertified developers, as the result of their work can be unpredictable.
However, apart from the certification, another question to ask a development company is “Are you an official Magento partner?”. Magento partnering is a commitment of mutual growth and benefit which allows businesses to become a part of the largest ecosystem in the world. Gaining a status of a Magento official partner is an honor for companies. But we don’t want you to think that only big firms of repute deserve to be ranked as partners. The platform offers different partnership forms so that any company regardless of its capabilities and services can become one. But what benefits does the status bring?
First of all, it is Magento partners who are the first ones to know about the new platform’s features, vital updates, and upcoming events. Moreover, these organizations get access to lots of valuable services and tools that are designed to make customer businesses grow. As a result, these companies are likely to be more ingenious and insightful in comparison to other ones.
How do you handle urgent situations?
“What happens if my checkout is broken or my entire website goes down?” – this one of the most common questions Magento developers hear. As far as software development is concerned, even a slight error may be fatal. As such, a Magento company should have a plan in case if anything goes wrong. Since business owners invest their budget, they expect to see a high-quality product, free from bugs and errors. However, it is impossible to prevent all the issues, even more so, it is important to know that a company has an outlined plan to resolve them as soon as possible.
Therefore, we recommend selecting a company with 24/7 support to keep your website up with continuous maintenance and regular updates. Thus, business owners or a duty holder can address the team if a problem arises to solve it right after identifying. As well, the list of people who should be contacted upon emergency must be provided.
Can the client control the development process?
There are two types of clients: some of them don’t want to intervene in the development process completely relying on professionals, others prefer to be fully involved in the project, suggesting and asking for changes at every stage. From our point of view, the close collaboration between a client and a company is the most efficient way to make up new, workable solutions and achieve incredible results. Of course, you should trust the company to which you entrust your website, however, only you, as an owner, know what you want the project to look like.
As far as every client has a right to know what is going on with their website, the Magento company is responsible for getting the communication process going, even more so, transparency should be at the center of this communication. Besides, a company location does not matter. A reliable Magento services company with in-house skilled developers can be located far from Silicon Valley, say, in Eastern Europe. With modern tools like Skype, BaseCamp, Zoom, Slack, Google Talks, Telegram as the communication channels, overseas companies can ensure that their team will be in touch throughout every step of the project development and long after its completion.
Moreover, it is important that company representatives establish regular calls and organize meetings (if this possible) to keep their clients update on the progress.
If the agency cannot guarantee that they will be quick in executing inputs and is undecided about the means of communication, we strongly recommend looking for another firm.
How long will it take to develop a Magento website?
No wonder that this time-related question is among the most common ones. Since a web development process is based on milestones and strict timelines, it is important for the clients to know the time of its completion. As such, planing the store online presence and promotion is impossible without knowing the deadlines of the website development. Make sure that the company you select respects deadlines and delivers the project by the time fixed. How it can be verified? The best way to do so is to check client references on third-party websites. Also, it is a good practice to ask about the methodology the company follows, as well as ask them to make up and share a detailed plan that mentions all the milestones along with the deadlines of their completion.
“Let’s get started and then we’ll see” – if a company answers you something like this, referring to the complexity of your project, opt for another firm, then. After the preliminary talk, experienced developers are able to evaluate your project and the number of working hours it requires.
Can you help the client with search engine optimization?
SEO is crucial if you want your store to be at the top of Google search results. The fact is that the money you invest in the building of a polished eCommerce store will go to waste if your future customers can’t find it.
The good news about the Magento platform is its SEO-friendliness. The platform includes basic technical optimization, general configurations, header settings, optimization of categories, products, and templates, it deletes duplicate content, unnecessary links and cleans up a code automatically. However, if you need SEO assistance, some full-service agencies can help with marketing issues and provide recommendations on search engine optimization of websites.
Final Word
Building an eCommerce website is a complex challenge. Magento, in comparison with other platforms with a drag-and-drop mentality, requires deep technical expertise. As such, our biggest advice would be: DON’T RUSH.
Do not accept an offer from the first company you meet. Take your time to compare different firms, analyze client testimonials, ask for a portfolio, and make up your mind how seamless it would be to work with this team. The development process is lengthy enough and requires the investment of both money and time, so bear with us.
