How do you choose a firm? Testimonial, Locals, Better Business Bureau?

I am curious, how do you choose what firms get your business? How do you know, especially in the current climate that the firm you choose is reputable? Do you stick only with the Better Business Bureau (BBB), or maybe the local Chamber of Commerce? But, how do you know, wouldn't you be better checking references?

I spent sometime thinking about this recently. The BBB wants a fee to be listed, so can't anyone pay to be listed so long as no one takes the time to complain to the BBB a company can appear reputable. How about the local Chamber of Commerce, you pay to join those too, and you can pay more to be a featured business or a Platinum or Premier Member. But does that make one firm better or more reputable than another? Does the local Chamber or BBB only accept fees and list firms they check references on? Maybe some, but I doubt they all do. But, I think that they should. Sure, it's time consuming, but these types of organizations are asking for consumers to turn to them and use a firm they list. Some consumers might take that to mean these are honest reputable firms, not just someone who paid their annual dues.

I don't know of an organization that actually checks references on businesses, I know I have heard of a few online places where individuals can rate contractors, which has promise if they are not anonymous ratings. I think it would be a great idea for the BBB and Chambers to check references prior to accepting new members and regularly check them on existing members. We have had the unfortunate experience of using local businesses, high-lighted in the Chamber as well as being in the BBB, only to find they are not reputable at all.

Do you have a way of selecting a firm that honest and reputable? Do you use word of mouth, check references, or something else. I think in the current economic/business climate we all need to help each other. If that means offering a testimonial or reference for a firm that has done a great job for you I think we all as business owners can take the time to do so....doesn't the future of all of our businesses depend on it?

Do you have web development needs outside of a new website?

If so, SYDCON Web Development can help. Yes, we are a custom web development firm, so one is safe to assume we offer web development! What we also offer is Application Development and Maintenance Plans designed to meet the needs of firms that do not staff developers full-time, or are looking for a new alternative (Partnership) because they may not have needs that require a full-time employee.

SYDCON offers a variety of solutions to meet your needs. Do you need regular maintenance, maybe 10 hours a week or 10 hours a month? Are you tired of trying to find a dependable freelancer who is available during business hours or is reliable? We can meet your needs, no matter how big or small, and in a timely, efficient manner. We can create custom applications to supplement an existing site or to streamline your business. We can edit code, tweak design elements or add functionality. Our language base is wide, ranging from PHP, ASP, .NET, ColdFusion, etc. Whatever your needs or ideas to make your business function better or increase your revenue, contact us to see how we can bring your ideas to life!

Check out our Services page at www.sydcon.com to see what services we offer that can benefit your business.

Is Monthly Fee Web Software Cost Effective?

So, more and more I am seeing monthly fee "web software" out there. Are these tools really so useful that they are worth a never-ending monthly fee to use? Do you think you can customize them for that steep monthly fee? Maybe--but doubtful. Is maybe worth a monthly fee that translates to hundreds or thousands of dollars over the course of its use? Probably not!

There are all kinds of software titles available, from actual web site creation software, to software that adds customer reviews to your site. And rest assured, these one-of-a-kind problem solver applications don't come cheap! We just heard of one today (that shall remain name-less) that starts at $80 per month....PER MONTH! That's $960 a year...for 1 year! This is software to add reviews and/or testimonials to your website.

Part of what we here at SYDCON have to offer that falls under the term "Custom Development", is that we can make additions to your current site, add functions, create custom applications that may not even be been seen by your customers. Applications that make your daily business life easier and more cost effective....and, we won’t charge you a monthly fee to do it either! Want to add customer reviews or customer testimonials to your site? Well, it won’t cost you $80 a month indefinitely to do that with us!

Another aspect of the custom difference you find here at SYDCON versus monthly fee applications is that you are probably limited in how it looks and what fields are available, etc. Not with us! When you ask SYDCON to add functionality to your site, you get what works for you, you can name your fields, have varying fields based on your business and only your business. You get what you need not what somebody else decided they think you need to help your company, then mass produce it and sell it to every other firm interested for $X a month. We create it your way, give you a fixed price and once its done it’s done, and you will probably be surprised to see that it will be at a fraction of the cost of these boxed type solutions.

So, in a nutshell, if you need a custom application, whether it be to showcase your business by way of reviews. Or maybe you need an application to make your business run smoother, contact us and ask us how we can make it easier and more cost effective for you! Best of all...we have references to back it up!

Understanding the Lingo

Custom Development, Web Developer vs. Web Designer....what's the difference?

For prospective clients, there is a lot of lingo out there, and the definitions can vary based on who is selling the answer. We get asked often "what is custom development", or "what's the difference between a web developer and a web designer?". I will try to differentiate those here.

Custom Development

What is custom development? Well from SYDCON'S perspective, it is everything entirely from scratch, hand coded for each specific project, based on each specific clients needs.

You may say "all shopping carts are the same, can't I just use the plug-in from yahoo?" Well, here at SYDCON we create our e-commerce sites based entirely on your products and target consumers, making it "custom" to your business.

You may also ask, "how long will the site take to build?" Well, if you want it to work and be exactly what you asked for, then the old saying "Good things come to those who wait" is fitting. When we give a time-line, it is based on creating your site from scratch based on your detailed specification, customization and quality testing, these things take patience.

Web Developer vs. Web Designer

What's the difference between a developer and a designer? We were once told that they are one in the same, but in reality that couldn't be farther from the truth!

A developer is a programmer or a coder, a technical person...some may say a geek! A designer is artsy/creative person...basically the old right brain vs. left brain theory. Essentially you will need both for website creation, however some designers can do minimal code, enough to get by, but nothing custom or detailed.

So, which do you need then? BOTH! Here at SYDCON we have a talented staff of developers skilled in a multitude of languages to suit your needs as well as designers to bring YOUR ideas to life. Another aspect of "Custom" is that here at SYDCON our designs are products of your ideas/direction. It is YOUR website for YOUR business, why should it look the way we want it too?

Deciding between firms?

When you are shopping for your website needs, ask yourself if the firm that is selling you "quick turn-around" based on a system where you can "plug in" your own information and PRESTO your site is up in a few days vs a custom site, is what you want. With the "box plug in" your site is in most ways a copy of another. Your business is unique, and your website in many cases is your 1st impression, do you want it to be just a copy of another with a different cover?

Here at SYDCON, we don't use any premade templates, design or programming. So, you won't see your site anywhere else (unless someone loves it so much they hire someone to copy it!). So, the bottom line is, if you want it your way, and want it right and unique give us a call. If you want a 5th edition copy of a best selling novel with redesigned cover that is done in a few days with limitations, maybe call the other guy.

Why website statistics are important?

Monitoring website statistics are essential to running any website. Highlighted below are a few reasons why they are important and what information you can gain from them.

Page Popularity
Web statistic software will log every page that is viewed on your website. Knowing this, you can display important information or special offers on the most popular pages.

Referrals
Referrals will tell you exactly what website your visitor came from. This is extremely important if you run pay per click (PPC) advertising.

Search Engine Keywords and Phrases
If your visitor came from a search engine, your statistic program will log what keyword(s) they entered to find you.

These are just a few items you can use to determine how successful your website is and expose areas in need of improvement.

Welcome to the SYDCON Web Development blog! It is our hope that this blog will get some of our ideas out there, give some insight into the world of web development, and show you what sets SYDCON apart from the rest.

I think it is safe to say you will find a wide variety of topics discussed here, which will help current and future clients relate to us and gain a better understanding of who we are and what we do. You may find topics on websites in general, world news, life and what-not, maybe some sports topics, or anything else that peaks our interest. In the mean time, I invite you to view our site at www.sydcon.com to see what we have to offer, and then check back here with us soon!