Hire A Web Developer

How to Hire a Freelance Web Developer

First impressions are everything, right? Right! Well, your website will be many people’s first impression of your business so you want to make sure that it represents your products/services well.

However, creating an impactful website isn’t always easy. It requires a specific set of skills to carve out your own space on the internet. Whether you need to make a website from scratch, spice up a landing page, or integrate client-side web service to your existing website, hiring a talented web designer can go a long way for your business.

That being said, it’s important to know how to find, hire, and work with a web developer to ensure that your project stays on track and runs smoothly. To get rid of the guesswork for you, we’ve prepared a quick guide on finding and hiring web developers. Let’s get started!

What is a Web Developer

A web developer is a programmer who specializes in or is specifically engaged in the development of web applications using a client-server model. They use a coding language to write lines of code that transforms a web design into a full-fledged website. They create what’s under the hood of a website or application. They construct the functional aspects of sites and apps such as signing up for accounts or clicking buttons.

They are involved in the following tasks:

• Developing new applications and websites. A web developer can help you with designing the architecture of an application or website. They can also determine the best programming language that suits your project. Furthermore, they can also integrate graphics, audio, and video assets in an application or website. In addition, they can also perform quality assurance testing and troubleshooting across different browsers and platforms.
• Fixing bugs or problems on existing websites or applications. They can run an audit of an existing application or website, find the source of any issue, and fix them.
• Adding new features to live websites or applications. If you have an existing website or application that needs sprucing up, a web designer can help design, develop, and test new features.
•  Creating application program interfaces or APIs that are optimized for speed and agility.

Types of Web Developers

There are three kinds of web developers that you can hire depending on your needs including front-end, back-end, and full-stack developers.

Front-End Developer

This type of developer takes a website design (typically created by the client, a design team, or a web designer) and writes the code needed to implement in on the web. They typically use programming languages such as HTML, CSS, and JavaScript to turn design ideas into lines of code that computers can understand and then translate into visual elements of a website.

They often work on client-side programming which includes adding content to a website and splitting them into headings, paragraphs, and tables. They can also change the style of content including its colors, size, and borders. In addition, they can include interactive elements such as buttons.

Back-End Developer

On the other hand, is responsible for service-side programming. Typically, they work on creating the code and programs that are needed to power a website’s or an application’s server and databases.

They often use languages like PHP, Python, Java, Ruby, and JavaScript to build complicated programs that have clean and efficient code that does what it’s supposed to do in the quickest time possible.

A good back-end developer comes up with creating an efficient program that is secure, scalable, and easy to manage and maintain.

Full-Stack Developer

These web developers understand both the front and back-end strategies and process and can, therefore, build efficient and effective programs needed for a website. They can handle databases, servers, systems engineering, and clients. Full-stack can apply to a web stack, mobile stack, or a native application stack (i.e. software programs for specific devices).

A crucial thing to remember about full-stack developers is they don’t necessarily have to write all of a site’s code by themselves. Of course,  they can do this if the project is small enough or if they are the only developer working on the project.

These developers spend the majority of their working hours on either the front-end or the back-end code of a site or application. The point of their skill set is that because they have a thorough understanding of both coding processes, they can jump in anywhere should any issue arise.

What Does a Web Developer Do?

Web developers work on three main aspects of building a website. This includes client-side programming, server-side programming, and database management.

Client-Side Programming

Client-side programming involves creating programs that users interact with. Some examples include generating dynamic content and interactive tools such as wizards, price calculators, and other resources.

One of the biggest aspects of client-side programming is building out the back-end of a user interface. They ensure that specific results happen whenever a user interacts with a visual element on a site or app.

Server-Side Programming

involves bridging the webserver database to a user’s web browser. A web developer creates programs that tell a web server what to do when a user performs a certain action.

Web developers are responsible for ensuring that a web server can show the correct images, videos, audio, and other data correctly when a user interacts with a web page. For example, when you click on a video thumbnail on YouTube, the program that a web developer has created will tell the web server to show and play that specific video for you.

Database Programming

This is a technical backend of most websites. A web developer is in charge of programming databases to determine how data is stored, sorted, or deleted.

How to Find a Web Developer

Hiring a web developer who can complete your project starts with knowing where to find them. If there’s someone in your company who can accomplish the task for you then that’s well and good. But sometimes, you need to look outside your organization to find the best fit.

Freelance Marketplaces

Freelance web developers offer services that an in-house developer does but without the accompanying overhead costs. Typically, they work on an output-based arrangement or on an hourly basis.

You won’t have to worry about things like health benefits, insurance, and daily allowances because you’ll only be paying for the services you contracted. Furthermore, you don’t have to think about investing in new office spaces or equipment because freelancers typically work from home and have gear of their own.

Freelance websites and marketplaces like FreeUp is an excellent place to find the best freelance web developers today. It provides companies with a platform to find a private contractor with the right expertise, experience, and pricing.

The best part about using a freelancer marketplace when you hire web developers is that the search process is streamlined and simplified. All you need is to input your requirements and you will be connected to a pre-vetted and qualified freelancer in no time.

Furthermore, since these marketplaces are open in various parts of the world, you’re not limited to the talent pool in your locality. Sometimes you have to look beyond geographic borders to find the best candidate.

Outsource to a Web Development Agency

Sometimes, you need the help of more than one person to complete your project especially if you need all the bells and whistles that a web development company can provide. However, depending on your location, the cost of local agencies can be a tad higher than the budget that you have.

This is where outsourcing comes in. As with freelancers, outsourcing your web development projects to an agency gives you access to talent overseas.

Offshore web development agencies can reduce your limitation when it comes to specialists’ availability, highly-demanded expertise, and budget.

Much like local professional web development companies, they can provide extensive expertise and relevant experience which translates to high-quality services and reasonable solutions.

How to Hire a Web Developer

Whether you have a small, medium, or big-sized web project, knowing how to hire a web developer is important. Follow these simple steps and you’ll be onboarding a new web developer in no time:

Identify the Project You Need Help With

Before hiring a web developer, you first need to identify what your project goals are. Why do you need the help of a web developer in the first place?

For many companies, this is because they need help accomplishing projects of different scopes and sizes.

Simple web projects will often involve building a simple website or integrating additional features like contact forms, a new CTA button, or an additional subscription button.

Meanwhile, medium to large projects may include developing web apps, online stores, or integrating a CRM, CMS, chatbots, APIs, or databases.

Sometimes, a company might need help with using technology that its in-house development group has no experience with using. You can hire a freelance web developer who is already familiar with the technology so you don’t have need to wait around for your developers to learn it.

Decide on the Skills Your Project Requires

Like we discussed above, web developers can work on the front-end or back-end of a project. Furthermore, you can also find full-stack developers who are knowledgeable about both aspects of the web development process.

If you need a front-end developer to update the user interface of your website, go for a professional with experience using tools like HTML, CSS, JavaScript, PHP, Node.JS, ASP.NET, React.JS, Angular 8, Vue, and other technologies.

Meanwhile, you need the help of a back-end developer, you need a specialist that knows how to improve your website’s speed, integrate third-party services, and solve technical issues on your website. They should be fluent in technologies like PHP, Python, Ruby, Java, and databases, including MongoDB, SQL – MySQL, PostgreSQL, SQLite, and others.

On the other hand, if you’re looking to hire a web developer who can do both and you have a limited budget, then a full-stack developer is what you need. They should have an understanding of coding languages used in both back-end and front-end development, web architecture, database and storage, and basic design skills.

Of course, regardless of the kind of web developer you need, there are certain soft skills you should also be looking for to ensure a smooth working experience. This includes analytical skills, time management, curiosity, attention to detail, creative vision, patience, and communication.

Understand Your Budget

When you hire a freelance web developer or web development agency, you’re not necessarily paying for a monthly salary with benefits Instead, you’re paying for a service depending on a predetermined price.

You can go for a fixed pricing model for small web projects that have a clear scope of work and time frame. You can either pay for the work upfront, during evert milestone or at the end of the project.

Likewise, you can use the Pay-As-You-Go model if the scope of your project as well as the time frame isn’t easy to define. For this, you’re going to pay the hourly rate set by the freelancer or the rate that you’ve agreed upon based on the actual time they’ve spent on the project.

Create a Project Brief

Once you know what you need help with, it’s time to create a project brief. This is an important document that you can use on freelancer marketplaces and on social media to find the right web developer for your project. The main goal of the project brief is to provide candidates with all the pertinent information about a project.

A good project brief should include the following details:

• An Overview of Your Business and Current Website Situation
• The Objectives of Your Web Development Project
• Your Target Audience and Market
• The Problem You’re Facing
• Project Specific Information
• Competitor Information
• Project Timescales
• Project Budget
• Contact Information

Once you have this document, you can then share this on a freelancer marketplace, on social media, or on other platforms that potential candidates can find.

Begin the Interview Process

Conducting interviews is one of the most important parts of the hiring process. Not only do you want to make sure the candidate has the skills you need, but you also want to ensure that they’re a good fit for your company. FreeUp allows you to interview any candidates you’re interested in.

Here are a few things to keep in mind during the interview process:

• Ask to see the candidate’s portfolio. Experienced web developers will have portfolios of their previous work. This can give you an idea of the types of things they’ve done in the past and whether or not their style fits with what you’re looking for.

• Discuss the timeline of the project. Freelance web developers typically make their own schedule. So you’ll want to make sure that the timeline of your project and their availability.

• Will you be available to make changes and updates in the future? Web development isn’t usually a one and done thing. Even after the site is up and running, you may find that things needed to be changed and/or added over time. Get an understanding of whether or not the candidate will be available to help you with things even after the project is complete.

• What type of web development do you specialize in? It’s important that the candidate’s skills align with what needs done. It doesn’t matter how talented they are if their expertise isn’t what you’re looking for. Get a good feel for their particular skill set by asking about specific projects they’ve done in the past.

Overall, you want to use the interview to get as much information about the developer’s professional history as you can. If you’re unsure of what else you should ask, check out this helpful resource.

Once you’ve found the right person and made an offer, the next step is to begin onboarding. A good onboarding process is critical, especially when outsourcing any kind of work from freelancers. It helps to remove any sort of ambiguity about a project early on. When you’ve decided on a developer to work with, have an onboarding meeting before starting on the actual project.

This will give you and the developer the chance to ask and answer questions that can clarify details about the project.

Clarify the terms and conditions of the project. Reiterate your requirements and their tasks and responsibilities. This is also a good time to talk about milestones and detailing the cost breakdown to avoid future confusion.

In Conclusion…

Don’t let your website be the reason people decide to spend money with one of your competitors. Hiring a web developer isn’t just about finding someone who can write code or use the proper technology to build a website. It’s about finding a partner who can help you in taking your business to the next level.

If you’re ready to add a web developer to your team, we’re here to help. By hiring a web developer from FreeUp, you can rest assured that you’re working with one of the top freelance developers in the business. If you’re ready to add a web developer to your team, get started today!