Tips to Hire a Web Developer or Development Company:

If you are looking for a Web Development Company or a web designer, the search for high-quality web developers, designers and content creators to hire is not an easy task.

To hire a web designer or developer, the search involves classifying tons of presentations and placing bets on the candidates, without being sure of their ability to execute the project according to the standards. While the only guaranteed way to know the value of a contractor is to get to work with them, there are some steps you can take when evaluating and engaging with a web development company that is going to give you a chance to succeed.

Keep in mind these nine tips for hiring a web development company, web designer, and content creator.

#1. Take advantage of your referral network:

It seems obvious advice, but the importance of this is not emphasized enough. Many times, the most qualified candidates come from one or two connections, and a simple publication on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter could yield surprising results.

Try these three methods to get references from the network:

1. Post on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Label people you know work in the industry (as seen in the example above).
2. Ask the employees and contractors you work with constantly.
3. Send emails to your network of contractors or web development companies that you know have competition in those niches.

If you have the resources, offer incentives for contractors and referrals from employees, it can be a small cash bonus or a gift card. If someone makes you a great reference or is constantly making references, be sure to follow up with a small gift or thank you card.

#2. Consider the publication in postcards of jobs and portfolio sites:

There are several good job sites, but sometimes it can be difficult to find one that attracts good candidates for the position you are trying to fill, as well as for projects or contracts. These are some sites you can consider to find a web development company or a web designer:

• For designers and developers: Angel List, Upwork, and Krop
• For developers: Stack Overflow and GitHub

When you publish, look for some job offers from your competitors, to give you an idea of their list of functions and aptitudes. Finally, decide what is right for you and make sure you use the voice of your company. In many platforms, you can publish without cost, but it is also good to invest a little in the platforms, to see if they offer a better candidate.

#4. Review the portfolio carefully:

To hire someone in charge of web development, design, and content creation, the most important thing is to think about your work. Do they have a work history and have a related educational background? Of course. But there are a lot of designers, developers and digital artists who never graduated from college and are doing an incredible job with some years of experience. So the best way to evaluate a candidate is their portfolio.

To hire a web designer take a look at their websites, applications, videos, GIF, photos, etc. and trust your instinct to reduce the options, from many to few. Generally, just by looking at their website, you can get an idea of whether the person is the ideal or not.

Review at least three projects. If the web development company do not have enough projects, the company may not have much experience. Ask the web development company the following questions about the work style:

1. Does your style and level of work fit in with the client’s brand?
2. Do your quality and style fit well with the work you do as a company?
3. Are your quality and style consistent?

#5. Conduct interviews in person or by video conference:

Interviews are an indispensable step in the evaluation of candidates to hire. This will allow you to have an idea of the candidate’s personality, analytical skills, and communication skills. In-person interviews are ideal, but there are several free video conferencing tools such as Skype and Google Hangouts that work well if the candidate is available to work remotely.

The questions will depend on the role you are going to play, but you should try to answer these:

• Does this person really create the works of his portfolio?
• Are they responsible for the deadlines and the budget?
• Will they be good to communicate with team members?
• Are you open to receiving constructive feedback and following directions?
• What are your rates?

When conducting an interview, record the video conference or take notes, so you can remember your ideas from that moment. For a more quantitative approach, compare the candidates through similar criteria in a spreadsheet, and develop a system for ranking the best grades.

#6. Use a trial period:

The real way to know if working with a web development company is going to mean success is simply to work with them. That said, it is advisable to start with something small to test if the relationship will work.

Select a small project or section of a larger project that requires less than a week of work. Protect your timeline and your client, create a backup plan and make sure someone keeps up with you in case the work is unsatisfactory. In this way, you can cover the risk while you are testing new talents.

#7. Write a fair but strong contract:

The goal of the contract is to never have to use it. The best way is to write a contract in which everyone is clear about the exact terms and Policies. On the other hand, the ideal would be to train your contractor to repeat business or full-time employment so you should treat them well.

These are the important things that you should make sure to stipulate in any contract, work declaration or standard service agreement:

• Make sure you own the entire investigation process and that the contractor cannot change the purpose in any way.
• Allow the contractor to show the work for marketing purposes as long as they give credit to your company.
• Make sure you clearly specify all the results in a job statement.
• If you can, create a schedule with the deadlines for delivery and evaluation of project results.
• Make sure to include review periods.
• Agree on the costs in advance.
• In case of finalization, be sure to clearly establish the terms of the partial compensations.

It can be easy to let certain clients and employees loose, to the point that you feel that a contract is not necessary. But it is a wrong idea. You must always have a contract. It is of interest to all.

#8. Pay on the terms according to the contract:

There is always a question in the payment structure. Is it a fixed rate? per hour? per day? or is it monthly? All these questions are quite easy to answer and reflect the payment terms of your contract with a company.

If the terms of the contractor and the client are the same, everything must move at the same pace. This way there will be no problems. Use the same terms (which should not be confused with the same speed) to determine the percentage of deposits, payments, reimbursements, excess and payment schedule (i.e., payment in a maximum period of 30 days) in the contract. If it is fixed rate, make sure that the contractor has fixed rate, as well as that they are in the same conditions the day/hour, etc.

One more thing: pay faster if you have the cash flow.

#9. Ask them to record their time:

If you work with contractors the most important data is information about the time spent on various projects and activities. This will give you an idea of where you earn and lose in the profit margin, and how you can improve the planning of human resources in the future. There are several time tracking applications that you can use, one of the best is Harvest.

If your web development company or web designer are working with hourly or daily rates, just ask them to use a time to track software. If they work with a fixed rate, ask if they agree to keep track only for registration purposes. Not all web development companies or web designer like to keep track of their time and activities.

It is important not to judge them based on their total hours worked and not start micromanagement of their time. Make them know that data is the most important and that the main purpose of the software is to deepen the efficiency and resources of the project.

#10. Turn your web developers into employees at the right time:

Depending on your business model and as your business grows, your goal should be to turn consistent, higher-performing web designer or developers into full-time employees. Web development companies often charge a premium on a smaller commitment and their rates disregard as for the length or volume of the commitment increase.

With this in mind, the web designer that charges $ 200 per hour could bill $ 417,600 per year. It is unlikely but possible. Let’s say that half of your rate with your company for constant work is $ 208,800 per year. If you can retain full time with a salary of $ 120,000, it is likely that you will save a lot of your budget.

Try this process to verify if the conversion of a contractor makes sense:

1. Calculate the annual rate based on the current contractor rate by day or by the hour. If you are on fixed projects, consult documented works with the tracking software.
2. Determine what is needed to offer a rational salary and add the taxes and benefits of the employees.
3. Calculate the conversion margins from web designer to full-time employee.
4. Look at the historical sales and sales history, and determine if there is enough work in the project to allocate for the next two quarters.

If you’re not sure about the numbers, try the ever-increasing gradual increase in contracts to cover the risk. It evolves from base projects, weekly, monthly and quarterly contracts. Then, take advantage when there is no doubt and the cash flow makes sense.

Strong Hiring – Strong Business:

It is usually possible to find new talents from trusted references. Make sure you know that the web development company and web designer did the work presented in the portfolio and that it covers the risk with a trial period. Deal fairly with the web development company when dictating the terms of the contract and payment. Have them record their time and use that data to make full-time hiring decisions.