WordPress Tips

Hiring a web developer is a big decision—putting your number one employee in the hands of a stranger requires some trust. Making sure that your website is professionally designed, developed, and maintained is the best way to ensure that your brand is set up for success. Consider these factors whether you are building a new site from scratch or looking at an upgrade of an existing site.

What coding languages do they speak?

There are 9 main coding languages, and each has its own specific purpose. Aside from basic HTML and CSS, SQL, Java, Python, JavaScript, C++, C#, Perl, iOS Family, and PHP have all become highly in-demand. While it’s possible to design a website using only one or two of these languages, having a developer who knows how to utilize each in the proper instance is extremely valuable.

Will you get a team of developers and designers?

As with most marketing materials, websites are visual creatures. It’s extremely important that as you begin looking for a company or individual to develop your website, you also keep in mind the design direction. Your web developer should be your go-to contact for questions on functionality, but they should be working alongside a designer who can bring your vision to life behind the screen.

What sort of work samples can they provide?

Ask for past examples of your web development team’s work before making any choices. Keep in mind the industry you’re building the site for, the specific functions you need it to perform, and the main demographic you are targeting. All of these factors play into your choice to hire a developer or development team—and their previous websites will be a good reference point for you to determine their skill and precision.

What is their web development process?

The most important step in any web design or development is to have a thought-out process and implementation strategy that you, as the client, are an integral part of. As a new website build begins, your developer should communicate with you directly to make sure the usability, navigation, and aesthetics of your test site all match the goals you have for your new site. If there are any bumps in the road, they’ll be able to address them long before your site is set to go live.

Will they be available to maintain the site once it goes live?

Once your site goes live, make sure that your web developer will be accessible and able to help you with issues that may arise in the future. As codes change, links become updated, and Google updates its search algorithm, making sure that your website is maintained is just as important as the initial development phase. Your web developer should help you make sure that your SEO values don’t dip below normal, its security isn’t breached, and either do maintenance directly or provide you with training to make sure your site is always up and looking its best.

Skillset

You clearly want your web development done well. Especially because this is a technical field, where a lot could (and does) go wrong. You want someone who knows how to put out fires that come up consistently in development–so this is an important place to evaluate.

An established web development company usually has the advantage of having a whole team of developers with a variety and depth of experience to get unique jobs done. In hiring someone yourself, you’ll probably have to build that diverse team over time.

In order to have a quality site, it takes many different skills– front and back-end development, web design, content creation, systems integration, digital product design, the list goes on. And again, while it’s always possible that there is someone who can do all of these things well, it is rare.

This is important to keep in mind in your search to hire someone.

Consider how unique and robust the development you’re looking for is. Is it fairly standard stuff, or is it more specialized?

If you’re looking for help doing something that requires an advanced skill set, it may save you a headache to hire a company that you know can handle it.

In any decision like this, we suggest interviewing anyone you’re looking to hire–in-house or not.

Involvement

Along the same lines as communication, you need to evaluate how involved you want to be with the web development process. You may want to be heavily involved in designing and decision-making. Or, you may prefer to not have to worry so much about the little details.

Outsourcing web development may limit your worries if you can step back and let them worry about it for you, but as a business owner it may stress you out to not know what’s going on along the way.

This factor is very personal and depends on how you work best.

Another aspect of this factor is understanding how much you know on the subject–how involved is it possible for you to be?

If you’re not a CTO or have a technology background, it may be difficult to manage your own in-house hire since their job can be so technical.

Don’t take this the wrong way, because you’re probably successful and great at what you do– but if you don’t know how to manage their job or have someone else in your company that can, this can be a major roadblock. Or it could become significantly more costly if you have to hire a technical manager.

One option to get around this issue is to hire a consultant to aid you in the process of finding a great developer.

You can usually hire out consulting work for a temporary, specific project, and they will help find, hire, and onboard your in-house hire. This can help you tremendously since they have the knowledge to ask the right questions and be involved where necessary while helping transition you into that role.

NOYO Web Development can help you create a website that is beautiful, functional, and successful—no matter where your business is located. We’re always happy to answer questions about your local San Diego web design needs, and we also serve clients across the country. Contact us today to get in touch with a developer.