Whether your business has grown to the point that you need to take on more staff, or your website is just not performing to the level you would like it to, you may have found that the time has come when you need to hire a webmaster. The thing is, hiring a webmaster is not something that is easy to do, especially when you are, in effect, entrusting the future of your website, potentially your entire business, to this person.
However, there are a number of ways in which you can ensure you are getting the best webmaster available who will help you to achieve all of your aims.
We looked at a number of questions you can ask that will get you started as you aim to take your website and business to the next level.
Where Can I See Your Work?
You could be in contact with someone who is new to being a webmaster, so you might not always be able to do this. However, if they have experience at the role, asking about the sites they currently maintain is a must.
Not only will you see what they can do first-hand, you will also be able to ask how working on your site will fit alongside their current portfolio, especially in terms of the time they are going to dedicate to each one.
This will also give you the opportunity to ask about their current clients, and pick up some contact details so you can get in touch and ask about important things such as their reliability and attitude.
Which Websites Do You Like?
This may seem somewhat random, but by finding out which websites they are a fan of, you will get an indication of where they look for inspiration and perhaps get some foresight into what ideas will potentially be heading onto your own site soon.
Speak to your potential webmaster about the difference between taking an existing an idea and tweaking it to fit your brand versus producing a carbon copy. ‘How would you make that site even better?’ could be a great starting point.
What Would You Do To My Site?
If someone is pitching to work for you, then you would hope that they have taken the time to look at your existing site and come up with their own ideas. After all, they have already told you how they would improve random site that they happen to be a fan of. If they answer with “I’ll need to take a look,” that may be a sign that you’re not getting the person you want.
Dealing With…….
Put a number of scenarios to any potential webmaster, all that start with “How would you deal with…” This could be anything from discovering that someone has plagiarised content on your website to severe problems on your host server. Either way, you want to know that the response is going to be swift and not leave your business open to any dangers.
Hiring a webmaster is a big step for your business. Ensure that you take the time you need and ask important questions so that you get the best person possible for the job.
Robert is an online content writer across a variety of industries, with a particular interest in online services and the roles performed by webmasters, and how platforms such as VPS hosting are used within these.