Your website development agreement (WDA) – sometime’s called a service level agreement or a detailed spec sheet- is an absolutely critical document. Just by reading the agreement, you can learn a great deal about the web developer you may be working with. Ask yourself:

• Are they thorough?
• Do they understand my business?
• Do they have the technical knowledge to build my website?
• Do they have the design talent to make my site something memorable?
• Do they have the capacity to complete my project in a timely and satisfactory manner?
• Is the company ethical?

A careful reading of the WDA should answer all of these questions for you. A top flight website development company has plenty of experience and that experience is reflected in the detailed description of your website project.

Your WDA should spell out for you:

• Goals
• Computer platforms and software to be used
• Communications processes and approval processes
• Specific timetables for completion of milestones
• Ownership
• Q & A, Testing and Launch
• Post-launch responsibilities
• Specifics of the team assigned to the project

Goals

This is a critical element of the Agreement. If your web developer doesn’t clearly understand your goals for your web project, then there is no way they can create a site that meets your goals. A detailed and accurate “Goals” section not only tells you that you are working with a web developer that understands your business, but one that understands how to translate those goals into specific features, designs and functionality.

The “Goals” provisions should include:

• Overall strategy
• Outline of the technological structure
• Community and outreach features (for maximum traffic generation)
  • Original content (specifying who will be responsible for producing such content)
  • RSS Feeds (allowing you to easily”broadcast” content from your site)
  • Send to a Friend (feature allows for “viral” dissemination of content)
  • Membership (gives visitors incentives to come back)
• User Interface
  • What the site will look like
  • How the navigation serves the business interests

Terms of Engagement

Once the goals have been established, then the “Terms of Engagement” section spells out the specificlegal and financial obligations involved in the project. The Terms of Engagement should include:

• Mutual responsibilities
  • Company should provide a point person (account manager) directly responsible for the success of the project
    • Look for specifics on communications
      • How often will you be receiving updates?
      • How is the approvals process laid out?
  • Client (You): What are your responsibilities?
    • Timetables for approvals
    • Timetables for providing content
      • Note: When the client is responsible for delays in completion of the project, it is reasonable for the developer to include penalties.
  • Extras: Who pays for what?
    • Audio, stock photographs, video, graphics
      • Critical to spell this out
• Ownership
  • Read this carefully and understand thoroughly before agreeing to this.
    • Our standard language:
      • “All work performed by Blue Fountain Media for the Client will be the property of the Client upon full payment for the work performed.”
• “Extras”
  • This can be a minefield, both for developers and clients
    • Make sure all work is clearly spelled out in the spec sheet. When there are grey areas, there is almost invariably a dispute.
    • Our standard language:
      • “Should project exceed number of hours allocated in this agreement because of additional requested work by Client (beyond the services contemplated herein), Client will be charged hourly rate of $__/hr or flat project rate. Blue Fountain Media will notify Client in advance should this happen and will require Client’s approval before commencing.”
• Legal and Jurisdictional issues
  • Spelling out under which state’s laws the contract will governed and, in the event of a dispute, where any issues would be litigated or mediated.
• Post-Launch Responsibilities
  • Quality Assurance (QA)
  • “Bug” fixes
  • Maintenance (if part of the agreement)
• Payment Options and Schedules

Scope of Work

Here’s where you’ll find the proverbial nitty gritty of your web project. The scope of work should be detailed, specific, unambiguous and set in a specific time frame. It should set out the timetable for each element of the project:

• Planning and strategizing
• Website Design (the “look and feel” of the website)
• Front-End Coding (with details of coding languages to be employed)
• Back-End development (including, when appropriate, content management system, e-commerce functionality, etc.)
• Quality Assurance, Testing and Launch
• Post-launch responsibilities (SEO, hosting, maintenance, marketing, newsletters, etc.)

Project Time

The best web project is doomed to failure if it is not completed in a timely manner. Lost days, weeks or months can have a crushing effect on a business’s online prospects.

Make sure that each element of the scope of work is attached to the time required to complete the work.

Payment Schedule

This is always a subject of negotiation. Developers will invariably want a large percentage of the project price to be paid in advance, while clients want to hold on to their money as long as they can. Blue Fountain Media has always tried to work with clients to come up with a payment schedule that protects the interests of both parties.

Clients must realize that a great deal of time, effort and manpower goes into executing a successful web project. Web developers must understand that a client is looking for a little leverage at the end of the project to make sure that the developer has the financial incentive to deliver the full project in a mutually satisfactory way.
As a rule, we find that an initial deposit of 50%  works for all parties, followed by a series of payments tied to the completion of specific milestones.

In Conclusion

Successful website projects are the product of great cooperation between the client and the developer. It takes teamwork to identify goals, strategize ways of achieving those goals, then executing the project that will turn those goals into bottom-line results.
A solid WDA clarifies the roles and responsibilities of the parties clearly, thus taking much of the potential conflict out of the client/developer relationship and paving the way to a happy and mutually beneficial ending.

If you have any questions about WDAs or any aspects of the website design, development or marketing process, please give us a call at 212.260.1978.

Tags: Blue Fountain Media, contract terms, gabriel shaoolian, website contract, website development agreement