How to Hire Web Developers [6 Tips]

Are you looking to hire a web developer?

Wondering how to choose the right developer for your project?

We have got you covered. With such a large pool of developers available, it can get confusing to choose the right people for your project. There are so many things to take care of when hiring a web developer.

Does your project need a frontend developer? What is a full-stack developer? Where can I go to hire dedicated full stack web developers?

In this blog, get all your answers for hiring the right talent for your product development without spending above your stipulated budget. We present a complete guide on how to hire a web developer. But first, do you need a web developer? Let’s find out.

Why Do You Need a Web Developer?

First, let’s understand what a web developer is and what they do.

A web developer is a software programmer who specializes in developing web software like web applications and websites. Anything that runs on the internet or the World Wide Web is built by web developers.

They convert wireframes and designs created by web designers into fully-functioning websites and web apps.

But nowadays everyone can build a website using WordPress or Wix.

So why hire web app developer and spend so much money?

  1. Technical Expertise

    The web developer is technically proficient in web development. While the website you build will be very basic, a web solution developed by a professional web developer will be more technically complex and advanced. They can add in any advanced functionality you require.

  2. Customization

    With low code/ no-code platforms you use, there is little scope for customization. If you are looking for a custom-build web app, with unique design and features, you require experienced web developers.

The best web developers turn their client’s ideas into a reality. They create specific kinds of websites, like news, eCommerce, or gaming sites, to fit the clients’ necessities.

Diverse types of websites need dissimilar applications. For example, a gaming site must be able to manage progressive graphics, while an eCommerce site would want a payment-processing app. The developer chooses which designs and applications will be the best fit for the site.

So when hiring web developers, you need to find the right person who is tech-savvy. But at the same time, he/she should understand your ideas and enhance them. This guide will help you identify the right skills to look out for when hiring developers.

Responsibilities of a Web Developer

There are many tasks and responsibilities that a web app developer is taking care of. Here are some of the main tasks for which you will pay the web developer:

  • Knowledge of the web languages –HTML, CSS and JavaScript that helps in creating website layout and design
  • Knowledge of backend languages such asPHP, Python, Ruby for coding the logic behind each functionality
  • Creating and implementing differentteststo ensure bug-free web applications.
  • Collaborate closely with the graphic and web designersto translate their designs into the website.
  • Regular maintenance of the website andtroubleshootingany errors that might occur.
  • Monitor the user traffic, page speed and other performance metrics to improve your user reach.
  • Meet with management or clients to discuss the design and requirements of a website.
  • Function with rest of the team members to define and plan the overall project.

As you can see, a web developer has a lot of tasks. Therefore it is no wonder, that it is one of the highest-paid jobs today. So when you are working on a web project, it is essential to hire website developer that fits your requirements.

6 Things to Consider When Hiring Web Developer

Before you hire a web application developer, there are 6 main things that you should consider. Here are the most common things to consider if you want to hire web developers that will suit any type of project – small, medium, and big-scale web projects.

  1. Define Your Business Challenges

    Define Your Business Challenges

    All the web development projects are unique. Without understanding your project goals, scale and size, it is difficult to have a proper understanding of what kind of team members you need in your development team.

    So before you start searching for web developers, define your project.

    • Large-scale web projects mention projects like social networks or video-sharing social media apps that need, not only a collection of refined technologies but also incorporation with cloud-hosting servers to stock all the user data.
    • Medium development projects comprise varied project types, including the building of online stores, dynamic or static web apps, and other such services that necessitate the incorporation of third-party services like CMS, chatbots, databases, and APIs.
    • A simple web development project is creating simple, basic web apps or updating an already existing one with 1-2 additional functionalities. The content is mostly static on the website and requires minimal user interaction. The website will have text, a simple menu, a few CTAs, contact or subscription form and a few graphics.

    At this phase, you are also required to outline your explicit business challenges and the motive for which you want to hire a web developer. The companies would search for a web developer in the below-mentioned three circumstances:

    Circumstance 1:

    You need to utilize the technology which no one in your in-house development group has experienced with. Unless you want to wait for your team to acquire the expertise, you can employ a web programmer who has the knowledge of the said technology from a subcontracting agency.

    Circumstance 2:

    You require to expand your local web developer squad with an additional specialist to aid you with an existing project.

    In this scenario, you can opt for outsourcing a developer via a web development organization or a freelance web developer for a particular period.

    Circumstance 3:

    You need to develop a web project from scratch, which is a common situation for start-ups and existing businesses.

    The prime goal for a start-up is to arrive at their niche as early as possible, so they require to hire an outsourcing development team to save money and time.

    And for existing businesses that need to mechanize some of their business procedures may select between a dedicated or in-house web development team.

    Defining the timeline and budget of your project will also help you further along in the hiring process.

  2. Decide A Working Model

    After ascertaining the project scope and complexity of your development project, it is time to choose the hiring model.

    1. A Dedicated Team Business Model

      In this model, you hire web development team for your project instead of getting in-house specialists.

      This model works exceptionally if you require complex functions for your website, namely AI Chabot development or cloud storage integration. But at the same time, need to save costs and time.

      You hire a dedicated web development company that uses its technical and management expertise to develop the whole web application from scratch.

      You can monitor the project roadmap with the help of your in-house members acting as the project manager.

    2. Out staff or Extended Team Business Model

      You can outstaff a web development specialist to your team to extend your team’s capabilities.

      This way your own team of a manager, writers, designers will work on the project side-by-side with the web developers you hire.

      It is the best decision when you already have a few experts with you and need 2-5 specialists.

      With the outstaffed model, you will be held responsible for progress management, tasks assignments, and collaborating with the outstaffed web developers.

    3. The Project-based Model

      This model is popular amongst well-established and start-ups businesses that are developing a minor web development project.

      In this model, there is a pre-defined timeline and budget. You hire developers on a project basis. They work for you till the scope of the web app development project is complete.

      Furthermore, the development team is answerable for all the project management and the selection of technological solutions. In such a business model, all the responsibilities are on the development group.

    Confused whether outsourcing, outstaffing or hiring is better for your project? Check out our guide on outsourcing web development that will help clear all your doubts.

    Looking for a Dedicated Web Developer?

    Hire from a pool of experienced web developers and designers who will work dedicatedly for your project. Let’s discuss your requirements and find the right developers for your team.

  3. Choose The Developer’s Skills

    Choose The Developer Skills Needed

    Now, it is time to choose what kind of jobs you have and what special web development skills you will require. Now that you have the basic details sorted, decide on the technologies you will be using, the basic features and functionalities you require…etc.

    Based on your project requirements, choose the job profile of your web developer. There are 3 different types of developers: back-end, front-end and full-stack.

    These three are the different types of web developers for hire that focus on a diverse facet of the formation of a website. Let’s discuss each of them.

    • Back-end developers are accountable for website construction. Everything that happens under-the-hood of a website is coded by the backend web developer.

      You need to hire backend web developer if you require integrating third-party services, network control, server management, database handling and other technical matters.

      Backend developer uses web technologies like Python, PHP, Java, Ruby, and database management technologies comprising MySQL, MongoDB, SQLite, and PostgreSQL. 

    • Frontend developers make alterations to the front of your website, that is, the portion of the site that the visitors interact with.

      Frontend developers will design the look and feel of your website. Making sure that all the functionalities developed by the backend developer is accessible to the user in a easy manner.

      You can hire frontend web developer to modify the layout and design of your website marginally.

      The front-end developer is responsible turn the site design into completely functional sites utilizing CSS, HTML, JavaScript, React, ASP.NET, Vue, and Angular.

    • Full-stack developers are proficient in building both the frontend and backend of the websites.

      A full-stack developer is capable of understanding the connections between the front end and back-ends of the website.  Hence, they can build effective and efficient programs for all the parts of a website.

      These professionals are becoming prevalent amongst start-ups that have inadequate resources. You don’t have to hire both frontend and backend developer as a single full-stack developer can do both the tasks.

  4. Searching For Necessary Professionals

    Searching The Necessary Professionals

    When you are searching for programmers to hire, think that you are hiring a technological partner who will be a part of your company for several coming years. Therefore whether you are hiring from a web development agency or a freelancer or a dedicated developer for your organization, tread cautiously.

    Hence, you ought to hire web developer with due consideration.But where to look for a web developer?

    Write a job description and post them on popular networking sites.

    To hire a web development team you require a slightly dissimilar tactic.You can search the team on the following websites:

    1. SoftwareWorld

      SoftwareWorld is a review site that makes the list of top-ranked web app developers on the basis of location and customer reviews.  This site also highlights the prime industries the team has experience with. 

    2. Tech Blogs

      Tech blogs are similar to Monocubed blogs. There are companies that share their technological insights and tips for their readers. You get advice directly from the experts who are working in the web development field. If you find these tech blogs or articles relevant and useful for your business, do not hesitate to get in connection with them. 

    3. Clutch

      Clutch is a B2B review platform, where numerous customers share their experience of working with the various development companies.  The website has a rating system as well as search filters.  Hence, you can not only discover an apt web application development team but get an impression about its weak and strong points. 

    But if you are not looking for a website development team and only require only web developers, you can try one of the below-mentioned websites:

    1. Freelancer.com

      Freelancer.com is one of the most popular sites to search for a remote worker. It comes with a milestone payment, online chat, and other such useful features.

    2. Guru

      Guru website has turned out to be a job marketplace for nearly three million freelancers.  It includes diverse payment options as per task, per milestone, or hourly. 

    3. Upwork

    4. Upwork is the most prevalent job marketplace for searching freelancers.  This site has various useful tools, including the time tracking and mechanized payment per attained milestones. 

  5. Absolutely, hiring a developer or a development team is a significant commitment, and choosing the right candidates is crucial. While popular networking sites are good for posting job descriptions, there are specialized platforms to consider too.

    For managing all these potential hires, a candidate management system becomes essential. Whether you’re hiring a full team or just one developer, the system can adapt to your specific needs. It offers candidate tracking, skill assessments, and integration with job boards. This way, you will keep track of all promising applicants.

    Next, let’s learn about the payment model which is one of the important considerations.

  6. Select Payment Model

    If you opt to work with a web development team or a single web developer, you will be required to pay them a salary accordingly every month. The same is essential for both dedicated teams and out staff working models. Nevertheless, for a project-based working model, you can pick between:

    1. Time and Material Paying Model

      This model is also known as ‘Pay as You Go’, which is used for minor, medium, or huge-scale projects.

      When the time frame and the scope of work is not so easy to assess, you start the project and pay as per the time and material spent in the project. It comprises paying the hourly rate of every developer based on real-time spent on web development. 

    2. Fixed Price Paying Model

      This is the best choice for minor web projects with a clear time frame and scope of work.

      In this model, you decide the cost of web app development before starting the project. Based on the features and functionalities you require, you get a detailed work breakdown.

      If any changes occur during the project or any delay happens, you have to pay the extra amount.

  7. Examine Team’s Expertise

    Examine The Team's Expertise

    Before hiring a web developer, you must assess the experience of the development team and examine whether they can handle the requirements of an upcoming project. Therefore, before filling in the contract forms, it is always a great idea to scrutinize the portfolio of the team to find out more about their experiences and previous projects.

    Apart from this, you can also check the corporation’s profile on Dribble, Behance, and Linkedin networks. If the corporation’s expertise satisfies your business necessities, you can get in contact with its team and discuss your project.

    Before the formal acceptance of a non-disclosure agreement (NDA), you also must observe the web developer’s soft skills since they are important for your project’s success.

    What soft skills to consider when hiring a web developer? 

    The collection of vital soft skills comprises:

    • Teamwork is necessary, particularly for a huge and multifaceted project, since it contains, not only developers, but also project managers, designers, business analysts, QA managers, and other team members.
    • With the development team, communication is essential in order to be on the same page. In addition, sharing expectations and effective communication will result in clearer project requirements, less misunderstandings, and lucid features set.
    • Being approachable and helpful are necessary, because, if a developer cannot approach the team members and enquire them about anything, a minor issue may turn into a giant one.
    • A good web developer must be proactive. As it is always good when a web developer can share feedback about technical solutions, share opinions and recommend improvements throughout the product development procedure.

    The best method to validate a web developer’s soft skills is to schedule a video interview with her or him.You can also ask the developer to make a short video and talk about herself or himself and describe the experiences where she or he dealt with intricate technical tasks.

Frequently Asked Questions

  1. Should I hire a web developer?

    Hiring a contract web developer or web development company will render you the finest web tools, like domain management and hosting. The decision on hiring a developer for monthly assistance will also continue to fix errors and keep the website updated during the course of time.

  2. Who needs a web developer?

    If you are willing to update a website with a new design, you are likely in need of a web designer. But if you require multifaceted alterations, a web developer might be worth referring to as sometimes the modifications are deeper than the simple visual changes required.

  3. What is the job of a web developer?

    The job or the duties of a web developer are that she or he must know CSS, HTML, PHP, JavaScript, and other relevant programming languages, can build and test applications, present design specs, collaborate, troubleshoot website problems, monitor website traffic, work with graphics and team members, and maintain and update websites.


Conclusion

In this hiring guide, we detail the right steps to follow when hiring web app developer for web development. It is important to gauge that the web developer’s skills match your project requirements before hiring them.

Want help in hiring professional web developers?

Talk to us. Monocubed has an experienced Talent Acquisition team who have helped us acquire the top web developers working in our organization. We will help you hire the best web developers who will work dedicatedly for your project.

Jeel Patel

Written by

Jeel Patel

Jeel Patel is the Founder of Monocubed and is the main curator & writer of the content found on this site. With ideals of quality, commitment, and perseverance, he believes in creating lasting business relationships with the clients.