Your online technology has become such a critical part of your operation, you need to consider your developer as a business partner who shares your interest.

The relationship with your web developer or development team needs to be built on trust. If your developer upsells features and add-ons you don’t use, you need to ask yourself - do you need these or are you being taken on a ride for your technology budget?

As a web user for fifteen years, programmer for ten years and running an agency for six years, I’ve seen a lot of web development, developers and technology trends in my short time.

A common business mistake is rushing into a website or technology because someone else is doing it. I firmly believe businesses who offer offline services or products should be harnessing web technologies for two reasons:

- solving an immediate business problem

- achieving a measurable technology goal

An immediate problem could be enquiries trying to price shop or aren’t clear on your service details. A technology goal might be allowing online bookings to increase event/function bookings.

Both of these issues can be easily addressed with well-known solutions like a pricing page, services page or online booking form.

Online credibility is a critical goal, but that shouldn’t be a major investment, that should be a small investment and trust in your developer.

Your website is far more than an aesthetic hub for your online audience - it can be the backbone of your entire businesses operations. So what problem does your website solve?

Spending big and micro-managing a small site is a giant mistake you shouldn’t make.

Chris Long - Co-Founder & CEO of FourPi App & Web Development.

"Chris has just returned from an overseas trip with VideoMyJob, a video-based recruitment app making major waves here at home and overseas - see how they're changing the business recruitment game here."