There is trust involved in any kind of transaction. When you buy something online, you trust that the vendor will fulfill your order promptly and accurately. Say you ordered a purple, XL size shirt: you trust that the shirt you receive will be both purple and size XL.

You also trust that your credit card information is secure; otherwise, you don’t make the payment and there’s no transaction. The same applies to making purchases in a retail store: you trust that when you run your card, your details are not getting stolen. If you don’t, as in the recent debit card warnings, you pay with some other method.

This is a basic level of trust. It gets more involved in situations with financial planners, banks, lawyers, physicians, etc. who have access to sensitive, personal details about you.

Then there’s your Web services provider. There’s a whole lot of trust involved in clients’ relationships with us, as well. We have, after all, the keys (as it were) to your Web site, your email accounts, and all the other workings of your company’s presence online. There’s a lot involved there; it’s more than just ordering a color and size of shirt!

The point of all that is to say that whoever you choose, you should make sure you have a high level of trust in your Web firm. Do your research; call references; vet them out thoroughly before you engage them.

The consequences of not performing due diligence can be disastrous. One client recently engaged us to finish a site that their previous developer presented as “completed,” when in fact it was only about 60% done. Another client recently came to us for help after their existing developer hijacked their site and annihilated it.

Sad to say, there are plenty of problem Web firms out there. Do yourself a favor, and when you pick a provider, make certain that you can count on them to treat you right.

Image by Aidan Jones