Issues You Will Confront When Using Third Parties To Build Out Sites
One of the many reasons why people choose to build their website or application with third party services is because they are looking for ways to save time and money when it comes to development, and while this sounds like a good idea in theory, there are so many pitfalls which can be easily avoided. Below you will find some of the things you should keep in mind when using third party services or any kind of external development company. These thoughts should help you be aware of a few issues that could arise and allow you to make an educated decision about how things will turn out.
Some of the more common issues can and will still arise even when you use reputable companies and services, so it's important to be aware and be prepared when using a third party developer.
Most of these issues are very easy to avoid or can be fixed but because there are so many factors involved with website creation, using same company or service multiple times for different projects, you have no idea which way things will turn out.
In this article we'll cover the following topics: Requests for Forks , Dependencies , Code Review , Copyrights , Payment Methods , Third Party Terms Of Service Violations , Security Issues & Vulnerable Services .
I would like to stress that these are issues I've personally experienced, so I'm not trying to pick on anyone in particular, but most of these just happened and I had very little control over it.
Just like every situation there is a silver lining! The good news is that aside from a few issues here and there, the majority of problems can be resolved without too much hassle. In some cases if you follow some simple rules or even guidelines the outcome will be much better.
There is also a very good chance that whatever issue you may have will be something that a lot of other people will eventually face so it's always good to know what you're getting yourself into so you are better prepared.
Decide on your budget from the start because money always seems to be the main factor when dealing with third party services and projects. If you want quality work, expect to pay for it, especially with smaller companies or bootstrapped services. If you want a "do anything" type of service, most likely your wallet will feel it too.
Don't use the same company for multiple projects because this can be problematic, especially if they don't work properly together or if you have a negative experience with one of your sites. You should be careful about choosing a developer who has worked on multiple projects with the same company because this is how things can easily turn out.
Use a reputable contractor or third party service to build your website and be informed about what type of code will be written and maintained by someone else with different skills and experience. If you decide to use someone else to do the coding, make sure they are quality people you can trust, otherwise make sure they are accountable for all their decisions throughout the project.
If you use multiple services for different parts of your website, make sure they are working together and all the pieces are properly connected. Don't use a service or company that is building a custom application for your site and then outsource the design to someone else. Everything should be done by one person or company because many problems can arise when these things are not done correctly.
You should have all possible details hammered out in your initial conversation with the developer, including the type of code used, where it is stored, how often it will be updated and so on. It's better to discuss these things openly beforehand than hope everything is going to work out okay because you don't see any issues coming up on day one.
Remember that your website is a business and you need to be as knowledgeable about copyright law as you can be. If you hire a third party service to create your site, they should know about every possible copyright issue that may arise. Another point about this is that if your site is hosted on someone else's server, make sure the developer has written and re-written the code so that it does not contain any copyrighted material in itself.
When entering into a contract for an external development project it's important to spend some time understanding the Terms of Service (ToS) and also any other legal documentation which might come with it. Most of the time this is not discussed and you have no idea what you are getting yourself into. These things should be included in the ToS so that all parties involved have an idea of what is going on and make sure that nothing surprises them when it comes to final delivery.
The point here is to make sure that everything is spelled out in the ToS, including any benefits which might come with a service or product, as well as any penalties for non-performance. For example, if you choose to use a service which has an initial free plan but you can't get your application built because they don't have a specified quota of hours, they will cancel your account and so on.
Keep in mind that if you don't have a good quality, credible and secure web hosting service, your website will not function as it should be expected to. You should find out which company offers the best web hosting package for your needs, how many resources they allow you to use and whether they have any special deals or packages available.
Make sure that all of the parts of the website are properly secured and/or protected in case of some sort of hacking problem or any other type of security problem. This is very important because many websites get hacked everyday so you should have a plan in place to prevent them from getting into your server or site.
It's always good to have some sort of web forum or community within your application to allow users to ask questions, post suggestions and so on. This is a great way to keep your application fresh and updated with new features and ideas.
Make sure that all the code written by the service providers is open source code or at least licensed under an acceptable license. If you are planning on using Drupal, WordPress or similar already developed websites as part of your project, make sure they are open source because that's what they should be built on.
Always ask for a written agreement from the developer with all of the above highlighted in it so that you can be certain full compliance is being met by them. You should also have someone review the agreement to make sure it hasn't been modified or altered in any way.
If you are not happy with the service you are receiving, don't be afraid to voice your opinion and concerns and see if anything changes for the better. No matter how good a service may be, there is always room for improvement. However, if you never tell them their work is sub-par, they will never change anything about it so make sure that you voice all of your concerns loudly and clearly.
Your website can help generate traffic to your business or website but you need to know what will work best for your individual needs.
Conclusion
You should know by now that your website is the most important thing you will ever build in your entire business and that it will be the one thing which people will judge and make conclusions about. It's important that you get everything right when building a website, especially since this is a long-term item you plan on having for a long time. If it's not strong and well-built, the number of potential visitors to your site might decrease over time because people will get tired of seeing bad code, slow downloads, sloppy navigation or something else entirely.
When building a website, it's best to take time to ensure all of the details are covered with everything being complete and functionally stable.