Through my ongoing efforts to reach small businesses with my “Digital Empowerment” services, I stumbled upon ‘PeopleAlsoAsked’. Seeing the authentic concerns of real-World users’ search queries mapped into a graph format was instantly mesemerising, I could have played for hours. One specific search term stood out though: “Is a Web Developer really worth it?”.
I can empathise with anyone asking this question (especially small business owners): how can anyone trust the services of a professional in an industry chock-full of complicated jargon and opaque processes? When the product is finally delivered, how can you verify the quality of the service you received besides waiting for customer complaints? With 3 years of experience as a professional PHP programmer, I know this problem, and there are no easy answers. There are, however, a few key practises which can help:
- Meeting at eye-level - regular micro-check-ins take the client from passive bystander to active passenger in the development journey. Course corrections and adjustments to project scope are less costly and easier to identify
