Tips for Working with Web Developers
Categorized in: B2B Digital Marketing
Digital marketing is a discipline that requires a broad range of skills. It also requires cooperation between other players, such as web developers. Inevitably, digital marketers might orchestrate some website work to improve conversions, SEO, performance, and more. This means that they will need to learn how to work effectively with these web developers, which will ultimately improve digital marketing results over time.
Yet, sometimes it is easier said than done to communicate with developers. Lack of communication can result in errors, frustrations, and projects taking longer than they should. Here are some tips that will help make communication between digital marketers and developers much easier.
Clearly Communicate What Is Needed
The foundations of a good relationship with the developer lie in the way things are communicated. Developers need concise instructions, and digital marketers need to be able to communicate these clear instructions. The biggest tip here is to learn how to communicate instructions clearly and concisely to the developer. Be sure that every detail is clear, otherwise they will feel tempted to fill in the blanks, but when they do that, you may not get what you are expecting. Make sure they really know what they need to do.
Communicating expectations effectively always starts with the project plan itself. So, before you involve developers to do the work, you need to be clear on what is needed. It has to be clear in the project plan, or else the experience of communicating with the developers will be frustrating. In other words, they can’t do the work properly unless there is a clear vision.
Involve Developers Early in Larger Projects
Another important tip is to be sure to involve the developers early on in the strategic process for major projects. Efforts like brand redesigns, website overhauls, and other complex web projects will require developers’ input sooner rather than later. Case in point. If there is a major redesign in the works, it is good to involve them from the beginning to ensure that redesign expectations from digital marketing are possible from the developer’s perspective.
This is one of those strategies that can save a lot of time, and unfortunately, people don’t always think to do it. It’s all too easy to debate a point as part of a large project that really should involve a developer, such as choosing a design element, that the developer really should have been involved in. Depending on the situation, what if the items you suggest are not possible or would be difficult or expensive to implement? A developer would be able to tell right away, and then there won’t be wasted time discussing it.
Another key component of this is to make sure that each side knows its roles and responsibilities. Digital marketing should be able to articulate what it wants and needs, and the web development team should be able to do the work that is asked of them. This basic truth will make it much easier for the two sides to cooperate.
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