A company’s website gives its visitors first impressions and a feel for the company as a whole, so how it looks and how it works can seriously affect business.
Because of this, it’s incredibly important that your company’s website is up to scratch and you have a web developer who is right for you.
Finding a web developer can be an overwhelming process, so we’ve written a quick guide to tell you everything you need to know.
Have a brief
It can be helpful to consider your brief before you consider any specific web developers, so try to put together your brief before you contact any potential developers. When you begin discussing your brief with any developer, make sure you bring up the following points:
- Exactly how you wish to measure the developer’s success with your website.
- Your budget.
- The size of your project.
- Whether your new website is going to need to be responsive.
Bringing up these points as soon as possible ensures that you’re both on the same page and no one’s time is wasted. If you’re struggling to draw up your brief, this website shows you how it’s done.
Check their portfolio
You may find that many web developers claim to be the best at what they do, but that’s not to say that they’re the best fit for your needs, so you should always make sure that you take some time to look through their portfolio.
We had a chat with digital and print agency Liquid Bubble who said: “Any decent web developer should be able to provide you with a full portfolio – you have to actually like what they do and make sure they’re the best fit for you.
“A portfolio is likely to showcase the developer’s best work, so if you’re not keen on even their highest-quality work, it’s probably time that you move on.”
Look for a personality fit
It’s likely that you’re going to be working closely with your web developer for a while, so making sure that you have a similar work ethic, similar values, and that you get on well is really important.
No one wants to fall out with people they work with, so taking these steps to make sure the peace is kept is a good move.
Check their references
Many people overlook the importance of references but, once you’ve got your options down to just a few web developers, it’s time for reference checks. Any decent web developer should have no problem with providing you with at least five references, but you should feel free to ask for more if you want to.
It can be a challenge to find the salient points in references, but reading between the lines should give you a clear indicator of what it’s really like to work with that web developer and how good they are at what they do. If you’re not sure why checking references is so important, this article puts it succinctly.
