If you're a business owner looking for a web developer, you know it is no easy task.
"Will he/she understand my vision?"
"What past projects have they worked on?"
"Is the price right?"
There are many questions you want to ask.
My name is Jake Ni, I work for a web development company based in the Eastside of Seattle (Bellevue, Kirkland, Redmond, Bothell, Lynnwood, Everett).
Today, I am here to give you some tips on choosing the right web developer.
Look for a Web Developer Who Is a Relationship Builder
When I ask my perspective clients if their websites are being actively managed, I always get these answers.
"Oh my web guy moved to Florida."
"My web developer now works a full time job at Amazon."
"Oh I keep calling her and she wouldn't respond."
It is frustrating for me to hear, because it means that there are too many people in our industry that only perform a one-time job. I like to call them "one and done" or "smash and dash" developers.
Jokes aside, we think website should be an ongoing project. It takes continuous work to make sure your website show up in search results and stay there. It takes ongoing work to make sure you have fresh and up-to-date content on your website. Websites come in generations, our company 1 Stop Coder provides free generational revamp every 4 years for all of our clients.
You want to hire a web developer who can not only build your website, but also continue to manage it for you.
Look for a Web Developer Who Is an Active Listener
Earlier in my career, I was stuck in the mindset of a coder, instead of that of a helper. A coder is someone who is an employee that only knows how to code. A helper on the other hand is a consultant, a fellow business owner, an expert in the field, that understands the customer's unique challenges.
A helper focuses on getting you more business and saving you time. The technology is just a mean to achieve that.
Back in the day my pitch usually went like this.
"Oh we have this Node.js server that runs on Heroku cloud!"
"Oh we can do this payment API integration for you."
As impressive as these features are, I was speaking a language my clients couldn't understand.
Over time I learned to listen to the unique demands of my clients. I learned to ask the right questions.
"How would an online appointment feature benefit your business?"
"You mentioned that your clients wanted to have an online payment feature. How would you like to integrate that on your website?"
So look for a web developer who is willing to listen, ask questions and present unique solutions that can solve your unique problems.
Look for a Web Development Company That Is Transparent With Their Pricing
It is common for web development companies or web design agencies to charge clients based on the size of the project. In other words, they use a quote based pricing system.
I understand that bigger projects take longer to build and vice versa. But I think more often than not, agencies use this as an excuse to overcharge clients.
We found that most website projects have similar page counts as well as similar ongoing maintenance workloads.
So we decided to make our pricing completely transparent. We use a tier based pricing system. The price per tier is the same for all clients who fit the criteria.
For example, our economy tier is $399 one time and $79 per month. This tier is perfect for solopreneurs with a limited budget.
Our standard tier is $899 one time and $109 per month. This is a good fit for most businesses who are looking for a website with unlimited pages.
Then we have an enterprise tier for bigger projects.
We encourage you to look for a web developer who is honest with their pricing. I think that honesty goes a long way.
Look for a Web Developer Who Stays Current With the Latest Technology
Technology is constantly evolving.
Hire a web development company that stays on top of the latest trends and is quick to upgrade their clients' websites.
For example, Google updates their SEO(Search Engine Optimization) algorithm frequently. Here at 1 Stop Coder, we are subscribed to their developer newsletter. Whenever Google publish a change in their algorithm, we will study it and then implement it on our clients' websites.
Website design and features come in generations. A website from 2005 looks and functions visibly different than one that was built in 2015. 1 Stop Coder offers free generational revamp to all of its clients. We build a long term partnership with you.
