Who should build your Drupal website?

Every week we speak with companies who tell us the same story, it goes something like this:

"Well, we had a web design company build us our website in Drupal and we like the way it looks but there are some problems that need fixing and our current web design company doesn't appear to be able to fix them. So, that is why we called you - we figured we needed to bring in Drupal experts to solve these problems."

The issues these companies talk to us about can usually be boiled down to one singular problem; their web design company doesn't understand how to effectively leverage the power of Drupal.

The most common issues are things like:

• Slow page load times
• Functionality not working
• Inability to edit certain pieces of content
• Warning and errors
• SEO performance problems
• Security update requirements

What continually shocks us the most is the majority of these sites were not inexpensive and quick site builds but rather expensive and time consuming projects which just didn't meet expectations. We still haven't found a gentle way of saying "You paid the right price to the wrong company. You should have used a Drupal only shop to build your Drupal website in the first place."

We certainly don't blame the customer, they trust a web design company to build a website. The web design company also wants to pay the bills, so there is an understanding that often they might bite off more than they can chew. The problem is that Drupal sites are a very different kind of animal to many other content management systems such as WordPress or SiteCore. To really be able to benefit from what the Drupal framework can offer takes deep Drupal knowledge, and that typically means people who specialize in Drupal. A general web design shop can have all the best intentions in the world and yet still run into issues as the Drupal project unfolds.

So, the question of "Who should build your Drupal website?" is best answered in four little words "A Drupal only shop".

Contact us to discuss your new website project or to quiz us about any issues you may be having with your current site.