Posted January 4, 2010 02:55 PM
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Today it seems like there are as many website vendors as there are websites on the Internet.  That can make finding the right vendor for you feel like a complicated task.  But there are 5 questions you can ask a website vendor that can tell you the quality of the vendor.

1. Will my website be tested in multiple web browsers?

Different web browsers can display the same website differently, sometimes making the website unusuable.  In some cases, different versions of the very same web browser can have the same problem, like Internet Explorer 6 vs. Internet Explorer 7.  Making sure a website looks consistently good in all versions can be a tedious task, but if not taken seriously, it can make it impossible for your site to be viewed by large portions of your audience.  Make sure that your site will be tested in the following browsers: Firefox (all major versions), Internet Explorer 6.0 or better, Safari (3.1 or better), and Opera (current version).

2. Will it be easy for me to add content and make changes to my website?

A website without fresh content is almost worse than a website at all.  So having a simple to use way to add content to your website is critical.  If adding content to your website is complicated task, your staff will probably put it off or ignore it, making your site stale, and giving your visitors the wrong impression.  Make sure your website will include a way to easily add photographs, blog entries, news items, calendar events, and press releases. 

But that's just half of the question. Posting a press release or blog entry is one thing, but what about making a change to the actual pages of your website?  Imagine your campaign was just endorsed by a high profile group, and you want to get your candidate's biography page updated as soon as possible to reflect the endorsement.  If a vendor tells you that you just need to give them a call or send them an email and they'll make the change for you, it's a red flag.  What happens when they're on vacation/out of cell coverage/etc.?  If you can't make minor edits to your own website easily without needing to learn HTML, you may be in trouble when it comes time to make a simple but urgent change.

3. Will my website be backed up?

Web servers, like any computer, can have bad days.  Even the best website vendors can have a server crash.  Make sure your website's data is backed up daily, and that those backups are stored at a location different from where the webserver is.  This means that in the off chance that something bad does happen to your web server, your data is safe, making it easy to quickly recover.

4. Will my website integrate with social networks like Facebook and Twitter?

Update your website, update Facebook, update Twitter... it can sometimes feel like a never ending loop.  Keeping the content fresh on your website and social networks can be tough if you have to do it all manually.  A good website vendor should make it easy for you to post once, and see that content end up on multiple places, without you needing to worry about the difference between a "tweet," a "status update," and a "blog post."

5. Will I be able to accept donations via whatever provider I want?

Accepting donations via your website is a critical feature for any campaign.  But there are many different ways that you can accept donations online, each offering uniqe pros and cons.  Being able to choose between them is important to ensure that you don't pay too much for your online donations.  Some campaigns prefer services like ActBlue, while others like the value of using their own mrchant account.  In any case, make sure your website vendor will help you pick the method that best suits your campaign.  Additionally, make sure that whatever method you pick, your provider makes it easy to monitor those contributions in a central.  You shouldn't have to go sign in to another website to see how your ActBlue contriubtions are doing. 

That's it.  A quality website vendor should answer "yes" to each of these questions, and be happy to show you a live demonstration of of each feature.  This way you should be able to see what your vendor believes is "easy" and "simple" for yourself.  Asking these questions of your current or potential website vendor should give you a good feel for the quality of the website vendor your dealing with, without needing to become an expert yourself, and ensure that you get the most value from your website now and in the future.

Chris Marshall is the CTO of Blue Campaign Solutions, a company dedicated to more effective and efficient campaigns through the use of software and other technologies.

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