Do you have a website that you are not happy with? Are you wondering what options are available to you because your previous web developer is not getting back to you? Does the process seem overwhelming because:

• You don’t know where to begin
• You don’t have a lot of time
• You are not technical

It is not comfortable to be in a position where you feel overwhelmed by both the process and by thinking of all the things that you don’t know how to do. It you would not hesitate to call an electrician or a plumber to deal with a problem because those are not your areas of expertise, then please don’t hesitate to reach out because a website is not your area of expertise.

My Expectations

When I speak with a potential customer who is in this uncomfortable position I expect that:

• I will need to have more meetings with them than I would with someone that doesn’t have an existing website
• That they will not know all the answers
• That they will listen and work with me

My Hope

My Hope is that:

• My potential customers do not feel judged
• My potential customers know that I don't expect them to know everything
• My potential customers will feel comfortable at the end of the process and have some tools at their disposal to help them in the future.

The Process

The process for me to begin work on an existing website includes me learning what type of website you currently have and what you need to change, as well as what your relationship was with the previous person you worked with, specifically what they are contractually obligated to provide. I will also need to know about your domain and your hosting providers.

With the information that the client provides, I do provide them with information about the options that are available to them, for example how they can retain rights to their site and grant access to the account to me by enabling delegate access and what delegate access allows.

Additionally, I am happy to participate in conference calls with the client and their vendors as needed to help them work with their existing vendors, most likely their domain and/or web hosting providers, so that I will be able to access their site. I have done this before with an existing client, and for another one once I provided them with the information they were able to set it up on their own.

At Completion

At the end of the process, I want my client to feel that they received the assistance that they needed at a good value and that they are confident that they know what to do in the future. My goal is to help my clients understand how their site works and how to access it if they need to. I don’t want them to feel that they cannot make changes because they don’t know how things work. To do that I create a document at the end of the process providing them with the information that they need. If you are interested in seeing what would be included in that document here is an example, it was created for a client that used a Content Management System (CMS), and I have removed identifying information about that client. While that example is for a CMS built website I can create a similar document for a site in which the individual HTML and CSS files would need to be edited directly.

And if you would like to skip the back and forth to find a convenient time for a meeting, check out my schedule on Calendly! Schedule Now

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NOTE: I am not being paid for my mentions of people, articles, products, or books I used above nor do I receive referral compensation. The links I provide are for your convenience only.

Unless otherwise indicated I sourced the links provided while researching a post. Links that I provide at the request of another person/business will be noted, and if I am paid to provide a link I will disclose that information on the post in which it is applicable. All opinions are mine, regardless of whether or not I am compensated, and are not in any way influenced by the requesting party.

DISCLAIMER: This advice is general in nature and not to be taken as personal professional advice. This blog does not provide legal advice if you need legal advice, please contact an attorney directly.