How to Hire a Web Developer: Practical Recommendations

(2)

Julia Sakovich , Author at Geomotiv
Published: Sep 29, 2022

The software development industry is gradually growing these days with the increasing interest from companies of all types and sizes in launching their custom products for their business needs or the needs of their clients. Web development is one of the most highly-demanded kinds of services, given all the benefits web-based software solutions can offer businesses. If you are also considering a variant of launching a web product, it is high time to think about hiring web developers. In this article, we tell you more about the role of these specialists and share some practical tips that will help you to hire a web developer (or developers).

What is a web developer?

Before considering hiring a web developer, it is sensible to ensure that you fully understand what this job presupposes and who web developers are.

Web developers are programmers specialized in building websites, web portals, World Wide Web-based applications, or distributed network apps that are usually created following a client-server model.

The work of these engineers is typically related to the use of such programming languages as HTML/CSS, C#, Ruby PHP, and Java, among others. You can read more about the web tech stack currently applied here.

Moreover, when you are going to find web developers, it is crucial to remember that there are three types of web development:

  • front-end;
  • back-end;
  • full-stack.

While front-end engineers build a part of a software solution/ website that users interact with, back-end developers create a website/ web-based app structure and, in general, are responsible for how it will work. Full-stack developers cover the tasks of both back-end and front-end developers. We will talk about their responsibilities in more detail a little bit further in our article, and we hope that it will help you faster understand what specialists you need to look for.

When and why do you need to hire web developers?

The answer to the necessity of hiring web developers is quite obvious. You need to employ such a specialist when you are going to launch a web-based product. However, many companies believe that when they are not going to build complex portals, their needs are limited to a simple website. They can avoid web developer hiring and can do everything on their own. Thanks to a wide range of website constructors available today, it is not very challenging to build a website on your own. But will it fully meet your requirements? And will you fully cope without any assistance from tech experts? Let’s analyze the benefits that web developers can bring to your project. With their help you can:

  1. get any type of web software product you need to satisfy the needs of your business;
  2. build a fully unique app as your imagination and creativity won’t be restricted by ready-made templates;
  3. add fully customizable features;
  4. focus more on your key business activities when you have a reliable web app development team by your side.

What can web developers do for your projects?

The list of key responsibilities of web developers includes but not limited to:

  • to write and test code for developing web pages and web-based solutions;
  • to build websites and user interfaces using the principles of HTML/CSS best practices, incorporating data received from back-end services and databases;
  • to design workflows for ensuring the necessary visibility of all processes and workload balance for teams;
  • to develop testing procedures for checking the compatibility of web apps with all browsers and various devices to make sure that all users can access all the provided content;
  • to stay up to date with all the latest trends, technologies, and tools that are being continuously introduced to the market.

Key skills of web developers

How to hire a good web developer? Probably that’s the main question that you have in your head when you have decided to find web developers for hire. Yes, nobody is interested in just expanding their staff with additional talents. Everyone wants to have excellent experts with strong skills and knowledge in their sphere. Of course, there are some general skills that a professional should have, like communicative skills, readiness to take responsibility, punctuality, problem-solving, etc. But what about programmers who work with web-based software?

We’d like to share with you a list of the required skills. As we’ve already noted above, there are three types of web development, which means that depending on developers' specialization, their skills and knowledge will differ.

Front-endBack-endFull-stack
SkillsStrong knowledge of HTML, CSS and JavaScript frameworks;
Understanding of responsive design principles;
Experience in working
with web building and automation tools;
Cross-browser development;
Testing and debugging.
Strong knowledge of
back-end technologies and basic understanding of
front-end tools;
Database management;
Experience of working with data structures and algorithms;
Knowledge of security compliance principles;
Server handling.
Back-end + front-end
TechnologiesHTML
CSS
JavaScript
JSON
AJAX
Node.js
MySQL
React
Java
Python
Java
PHP
SQL
Git
HTML
CSS
JavaScript
Back-end + front-end

Of course, the skills that we’ve enumerated above are just a very basic standard set that can be and should be required when you are hiring a web developer. Nevertheless, when trying to find web developers for a particular project, you may have some additional requirements, for example, expertise in some particular business domains or experience working with a chosen tool or tech stack. When you have a very specific project, the list of requirements can be a rather long one. It is completely okay as you need to find the best experts who will perfectly match your project. Do not forget that the success of your project greatly depends on developers. That’s why do not ignore the necessity to devote enough time to choose the most appropriate specialists.

At Geomotiv, we know how to help you! We will provide you with the most skillful and experienced programmers based on the needs of your project.

Where to hire a web developer?

Suppose you’ve already decided to hire a  web developer and maybe even have decided on your requirements. But what is the best way to hire web developers? What are the models for establishing cooperation with programmers?

There are three key options:

  • Onboarding in-house developers;
  • Finding freelancers;
  • Hiring a dedicated team.

Which one looks attractive to you? It’s time to dive deeper into this topic. Our short questionnaire will help you to understand your needs better.

Hiring in-house web developers

  1. Do you already have an in-house development team?
  2. Are you ready to pay salaries to programmers even when an active phase of your project ends?
  3. Do you have enough resources to deal with all onboarding and administrative issues?
  4. Do you want to execute full control over development?

If you’ve answered “yes” to these questions, this option can be a good choice.

Freelance web developers

  1. Are you ready to spend your time looking for web developers via platforms for freelancers?
  2. Do you have enough time to analyze freelancers’ portfolios, skills, previous experience, and other factors that will help you to understand whether this or that specialist suits you?
  3. Do you understand that you practically have no control over freelancers?
  4. Are you ready to face a situation when you can’t immediately contact your developers when you need their help?

Though our questions may seem a little bit “frightening” as it may seem that working with freelancers is not a very attractive idea, it’s not so. We just want you to understand that despite the benefits of working with freelancers (like access to a global pool of talents, flexibility, etc.), there are some risks. A freelance web developer won’t be fully focused on your product, he may have other projects, and you can’t control this situation. Moreover, even when the product is released, you may need some help (for example, you want to enrich your app with new functionality). It can be found that a freelancer simply doesn’t have free time to work with you.

Dedicated team of web developers

  1. Do you want a team of web developers who you can control?
  2. Do you want to have time to find the most appropriate programmers?
  3. Do you want to rely on somebody else for the administrative questions?
  4. Do you want to hire web developers who will be fully focused on your project?
  5. Are you ready that you may have different time zones with your developers (especially if you choose to hire offshore web developers)?
  6. Do you want to be sure that everything is done on time?

If you’ve given positive answers to all these questions, a dedicated team model deserves to be considered by you. You just need to find a software development company that provides such teams, share your requirements, and get your perfect team composed of the talents you need for your project. Such teams are very flexible. It can be done easily when you see the need to add extra skill. And when you understand that you can decrease the number of team members and reduce your expenses, it won’t be a problem either. If you are interested in this model, we recommend you read more about its peculiarities in our blog post by following the link.

If you are interested in this model, we recommend you read more about its peculiarities in our previous blog post.

Read now

How much does it cost to hire a web developer?

And last but not least. We need to tell you about the financial side of the question. Rates of web developers can greatly differ based on such factors as region, level of expertise, years of experience, etc.

While according to the data provided by Upwork, rates per hour start at $15. According to Arc, the average web developer's hourly rate in the US is $61-80.

As for annual salaries, they also differ significantly. In the US, on average, front-end and back-end developers earn $82,000 and $94,000 per year. In Eastern Europe, they could be around $23,000 and $29,000. That’s one of the reasons why the region where your developers are based matters a lot.

If you want to build a basic website, you need to allocate a budget of around $500-3000.

Final thoughts

As you see, modern business models provide a lot of freedom and flexibility when hiring web developers. You can choose the variant that will be the most comfortable for you and the most appropriate for your project. While some companies still prefer to have in-house programmers, many others (especially those not focused on software development as their core activity) prefer to establish cooperation with reliable IT agencies and fully enjoy the benefits of outsourcing.

Contact us via our online form, and our experts will reach you back and tell you everything you want about our services.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE

Blog

Recommended Reading

Choosing the right tech stack for web development is one of the crucial...

The main goal of a web portal is to serve as a platform...

In this article, we talk about different types of customer service software, their...

In this article, we are going to explain the importance of UI/ UX...

Ecommerce development has become a staple of commerce for modern buyers. Experts stat...

Twenty years ago, web tech stacks were simple. You were to opt for...

01
/
05