Guide to hiring a freelance web developer

If you’re a business owner or entrepreneur looking to go live with your own website, it makes sense to go the freelance route. Freelance web developers deliver most if not all of the advantages of the typical in-house or dedicated developer with very few tradeoffs.

Not everyone will agree with that statement, and that’s fine. But from experience, I’ve seen that going freelance delivers more value for small to medium scale web projects.

If you’re building a multifunctional Web application for a global fortune 500 company with stringent technical and security requirements, then yeah, it probably makes sense to hire a dedicated team.

If you’re here, you’re most likely not on a mission to build the next best website for a Fortune 500 company. For your business needs, a freelance web developer will do just fine. How do you hire your first freelance developer with little to no hassle? Let me get you started.

The hiring pitfall

Web development is a skill, and as it is for most skills, there are skill levels. As you attempt to hire a web developer, you’ll come across thousands of web developers all fitting to a low to high skill spectrum. The high skill guys will price their services at astronomically expensive rates. In some cases, it might be high enough to sway you towards hiring a low skill web developer – who’ll expectedly charge lower fees.

That’s a mistake many before you have made. It’s a mistake that’s expensive to fix. It’s a mistake you cannot simply waltz over. If your site is to serve a purpose (whatever that might be), it needs to be built right from the ground up. You need a skilled freelance web developer who understands the through and through of web development, so you don’t go spending X10 of your initial budget fixing ‘issues’ and bugs after launch.

More so, hiring a skilled dev also helps you skip the self-inflicted brand assassination that can come from floating a botched website for users and customers.

To summarize, when hiring a freelance web developer, you don’t want to be a cheapskate.

Of course, not every freelance web developer who charges high is worth his/her onions; I’ll address how to weed the quacks masquerading as professionals later in this guide.

Defining your needs

The first step to hiring a freelance web developer is understanding what you need from a freelance web developer. Although most websites appear similar on the front-end (what you see when you load up a website in a browser), websites can vary in their complexity or expanse.

Take the Wall Street Journal’s official website as an example. On the surface, it looks like just another news-blog website; you might even think it’s just another WordPress blog if you load up one of their article pages. But far from the typical ‘basic’ WordPress site, it’s actually a behemoth of a website built with frameworks like Firebase, Express, PHP, Java EE, Perl and ASP.net.

There are myriad functionalities hard-coded into the website (like the dynamic stock ticker that tracks the stock performance of any US company mentioned on any page) too! It’s obviously different from the average website (like mine). What goes into developing a site like that is expectedly more than what goes into developing a site like mine.

For your site, what do you want it to look like, feel like and have in terms of functionalities? Are you looking to float a blog? A news site? An e-commerce store? Or a fully-fledged multifunctional site like the Wall Street Journal? Note what you need somewhere.

Your needs will determine the kind of freelance web developer best suited for the job. If you want a basic WordPress site like mine, for instance – all you need do is hire a freelance WordPress developer, and those are very easy to come by.

The types of freelance web developers

With your needs clearly defined, now’s the time to find someone who can satisfy those needs. But before you can do that, you need to have an idea of the kind of freelance web developers you’ll meet on your search.

Front end developers

Front end developers handle the technical bits of everything you’ll meet on the ‘front-end’ or visual side of your website. They have a particular set of tools (programming languages like JavaScript, frameworks like React) to do their magic.

Back-end developers

Conversely, back-end developers handle the back-end stuff, the programmatic machinery that underlies all the functions your website will have. The back-end is the backbone of your website, and like front-end developers, back-end developers have a particular set of tools they use to build websites from the ground up.

Full-stack developer

A full-stack developer is basically an amalgam of the two. So they have both back-end and front-end expertise – jack of all trades style. Full-stack developers usually have a ‘stack’ of programming tools they use to build websites. Such stacks could affect the final results but more on that later.

Worthy mention – web designers

Much like an engineering team builds on the architectural plans of an architect, web designers provide the blueprints both front-end and back-end developers use to create a website.

There are two kinds of web designers; UI designers who develop the visual aspects of the website and UX designers who handle the flow – how clicks work, transitions move and all the nitty-gritty that makes user interaction on a web page smooth and engaging. Many times you’ll find a web designer who’s both skilled in UI and UX design. Other times you’ll find a front-end developer who can also deputize as a web designer.

Why’s all this important?

Why don’t you just go ahead to hire a full stack developer who can handle all your needs? Well, that’s something you can do; however, as with most jack of all trades, the quality of craft tends to dilute with more skills. In essence, they’re usually masters of none.

If you’re looking to build a nice blog, website or medium-scale eCommerce site, then a full stack developer might be a great idea. However, if you want to float a state of the art website with myriad functionalities, you might need to hire individuals and integrate each freelance web developer as part of your own mini web development team.

It’s fair to note that some purely front-end or back-end developers take up freelance gigs and then go on to outsource components of the web development job that falls out of their scope to another professional. And that makes sense. It’s not uncommon to see an acclaimed freelance front-end or back-end developer offering full web development services with pretty stellar results to match.

The keyword here is they have stellar results, and really, when the chips are down, this should be your main zero down point when hiring a freelance web developer – what’s the quality of websites in their portfolio. We’ll talk about accessing quality of both websites built and developer skills next.

Skills to look out for in a developer

As a starter point, you want to know what tech stack they use in developing their websites. The tech stack is important because not all programming languages are created equal – some are better for web development, others are suboptimal, and some are not mainstream enough.

Why would a site built with a mainstream programming language have an advantage?

Well, mainstream means larger community which in turn means frequent updates and assured relevance well into the future. It also means you won’t have a hard time finding someone else to work on your site if something goes wrong with your current developer. Some website owners have had to rebuild their site from the ground up on the exit of their lead developer because it was built with some niche stack in the first place. In summary, popular = better.

Mainstream programming languages include;

• JavaScript
• Python
• PHP

Experience using whatever frameworks they claim to be master of

And that experience should be quantifiable and verifiable. How many websites have they built using the said tech stack, and what evidence shows they actually built said website. When you’re shopping for a freelance web developer, you might come across a good amount of posers who’ll present the works of others as theirs.

How to test this?

Don’t be shy to ask for verifiable proof that they built the websites they include in their portfolio. Even better, ask for their GitHub portfolio if they have one. That’s a better solid proof of ownership, and usually, developers who have GitHub profiles with well worth projects to their name turn out to have the skill and experience they claim.

Front-end development skills

The ideal front-end developer is good at one or more of these front end development technologies. JavaScript, Angular, React, VueJS, sometimes Python and its web development frameworks Django and Flask, plus auxiliary tools like Tailwind CSS and Bootstrap.

Anyone who claims to be a front-end developer should have a THOROUGH understanding of HTML and CSS. And like I said earlier, some front-end developers are also skilled with the designing bits of front-end development. So it’s a big plus if your would-be front-end developer understands how to use tools like Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator (or InDesign).

How to test this?

Good front-end developers create excellent and visually captivating websites. What do the websites on the front-end developer’s portfolio look like? Try accessing them from your PC as well your mobile phone. Is the visually captivating element of said site still present on both the mobile and desktop versions of the site? 

Back-end development skills

Compared to front-end developers, back-end specialists use multiple programming languages, frameworks and tools to deliver web-based solutions. Practically every programming language in existence today can function as a back-end stack,’ but the most popular of them all right now include; JavaScript (NodeJS), Python, PHP (Laravel), Ruby on Rails, and Java.

Any back-end developer skilled with these programming technologies can easily whip out a robust back-end to cater to whatever functionalities you want integrated on your site.

How to test this?

Again, portfolios but this time, you’re looking at functionalities of a website rather than the visual aspect. A good way to go about this would be to ask an intending developer if they’ve implemented any of the features you want on your new site on another site. They should’ve implemented at least one, so check if said functionality works as is intended on the portfolio site.

Clean code

It’s one thing to implement stunning visuals and functionalities on a website, and it’s another thing entirely to do it the best way possible. Clean code is an all-encompassing term that describes properly formatted, maintainable, easy-to-understand, and optimized code.

As a website owner, you want a developer who can code clean code. Clean code is easily maintainable code, even in the absence of the original developer. I’ve seen businesses that had to redevelop their websites from scratch after a developer left because his code was almost unreadable.

How to test this?

Testing for clean code is more technical because you have to dive into code to see how it’s formatted and everything else. You can, however, gauge the code performance of a freelance web developer by checking their past and current work experience.

If they’ve worked for reputable business corporations before now, chances are higher that they understand why clean code is important and how to go about implementing clean code.

Where to find a freelance web developer

Most web developers are freelancers! So that’s good news for someone like you looking to hire one. But where exactly do you find these freelance web developers?

The jury is split on the best place to find and hire a freelance web developer. Some people swear by so-called agency sites. Others like me have had good experiences sourcing web developers from dedicated freelance sites like Fiverr.

Anyhoo, let’s just quickly go over the best places you can find freelance developers. I’ll outline the advantages of each and give my final verdict at the end, but it’s still up to you to make your final choice.

Agency sites

If you hired, say, an ad agency or a graphics design agency in the past, it’s the same thing. Basically, agency sites are specialized sites that curate a selection of freelance web developers for hire. The difference between freelance and agency sites is that you get a managed service. The best ones will have a management team responsible for tracking job progress and ensuring strict compliance to project deliverables.

Top agency sites include; Rno1.com, UPQODE.com and toptotal.com

See my review of the best web development agency sites available now for more info.

The advantages

A managed service

With most agency sites, you don’t bother yourself with managing the freelance web developer. That’s all up to the agency, and usually, all you have to do is provide your requirements and settle your invoice.

Usually better quality talent

Reputable agencies have a thorough vetting process. This usually means only top-tier web developer talent gets onboarded onto their service.

Easier to use

Finding a compatible talent on agency websites is somewhat easier since most of their developers are vetted by a technical team. The risk of dealing with a hack is significantly lower.

A la carte

Agencies usually have the entire cop of freelance professionals you need to complete any web development project. No need to bother yourself with searching for and hiring a web designer for instance, everything is usually on premise for your convenience.

The disadvantages

It can be expensive

You’re paying for both the freelancer services as well as the agency’s management and overhead cost. Usually, the fees are also non-negotiable.

Little flexibility

Agencies leave little room to wiggle once the contract is signed. Identified a new feature you’d love to integrate on your site? Or perhaps you changed your mind on the color scheme? Well, except your contract covers the implementation of other features (which means it’ll be more expensive), then you’ll have to negotiate additional payments for even the most minute of changes.

Freelance websites

Freelance websites like Upwork or Fiverr are global melting pots for all forms of freelance professionals – web developers included. You’ll probably find a more diverse pool of freelance developer talent on a place like Fiverr than you would Toptal.com, and that has its upsides.

Top freelance sites include; Fiverr.com, Upwork.com, freelancer.com.

See my full review of the best freelance sites for hiring web developers complete with my recommended list of freelance web developers

Advantages

It’s hella cheaper

You might end up paying 20% of the price you’ll pay for a developer on an agency site if you decide to hire directly on a freelance site like Fiverr.com.

Greater flexibility

You’re dealing directly with the freelance developer here, and more often than not, they’re enthusiastic about making it a pleasant experience for you. Small changes to the original plan will be tolerated, and even in the case of major changes, the cost basis will be more reasonable.

The disadvantages

You’re the manager

And while you might think that that’s a good thing, in many cases, it’s not. If you’re new to programming, you might not know when and if something is being done wrongly (ditto my earlier point on clean code). Also, if you’re a business owner, I’d reckon you fancy spending your time on more productive pursuits rather than hounding a freelance web developer around.

Higher risks of pairing with a hack

Freelance web developers on sites like Fiverr don’t necessarily go through any professional vetting procedure. I could up today and create a gig on Fiverr claiming to be the best React developer on the planet. Asides from reviews from other clients (and this can be faked), there’s no direct pointer saying, okay, this guy/girl is vetted for whatever skills they claim to have.

I should note, however, that some freelance websites like Fiverr have introduced certain vetting programs to address this issue. Fiverr calls it Fiverr Pro, and freelancers with the badge are ‘handpicked and vetted’ for their skills.

Nevertheless, there are still many other web development freelancers without any sort of vetting on-site. Best believe you’ll come across them and their tempting offers, sometimes even before you come across the so-called Pro sellers.

Web development forums and boards

Web development forums and boards like GitHub and StackOverflow are great for meeting particularly skilled talent. However, except you’re entirely sure of the role you want to fill and have a decent idea about web development in general, I’ll advise against using this route.

Why? It can be tricky to find a perfect match for your needs. First off, freelance web developers on these sites are not exactly looking for work. Secondly, there’s no clear cut vetting or review mechanism; you have to rely on reputation, and if you’re not conversant with how these sites work, that might be a challenge on its own.

Which is the best

As always, it’s down to your needs.

• Go with a freelance site like Fiverr if you’re working on a budget and are comfortable with micromanagement. Provided you do your due diligence; you’ll surely find a skilled and professional developer who can handle your needs.
• Agency sites like Toptal.com are for those who want the best without too much stress. You don’t need to manage any developer you hire yourself but remember you’ll pay top dollar for agency services.

Doing your due diligence – the hiring process

If you’ve settled for a freelance site for your web development needs, how do you ensure you’re getting top brass talent? First off, let me start by saying freelance sites are heavily laden with quacks and hacks.

A lot of people on these sites are not exactly who they say they are. Many are subcontractors, so they get the gig from you and then go on to subcontract it to another developer probably living in India or Nigeria.

You want top brass talent if you’re serious about getting top quality web development results. Here’s what you need to do anytime you plan on hiring a web developer from a freelance site.

Start by searching for a web developer on your freelance site of choice

This is as opposed to posting a job offer. Freelancers on sites like Fiverr and Upwork are ranked based on performance. When you search for a freelance web developer on these sites, the results will be an ordered ranking of the best freelancers for your search term based on an algorithm graded performance metric.

Job offers, on the other hand, are free for all. So every freelancer, regardless of their skill set or performance, gets a chance to apply. There might be some gems amongst your applicants for a job post, but the major bulk of freelancers applying will be less skilled than the top results of your search.

Your search term will be a summary of the needs you defined earlier on. So if you want an eCommerce site, feel free to type in ‘e-commerce site’ into the search bar. If you’re thinking of building a portfolio site with WordPress, simply search ‘WordPress portfolio site.’ Both Fiverr and Upwork have algorithms smart enough to deliver relevant results.

What do the reviews say

Reviews provide an insight on the quality of service provided by a freelancer, and this is one advantage dedicated freelance sites have over agency sites like Lemon.io. From your search results, identify developers who fit the bill based on how relevant their profile and gig description are to your needs.

Now, you need to be careful with reviews because they can be faked, especially on a site like Fiverr.

Here’s how I approach reviews

Ignore the five-star reviews for the most part

Five-star reviews all say the same thing, and usually, if a review will be faked, it will be a five-star review. Focus on the non five-star review. Is there a complaint about the technical ability of the developer? Are there multiple complaints? Is there a theme with the complaints? When two or more reviewers say the same thing about a web developer, chances are it’s true. Both Fiverr and Upwork provide filters that allow you to sort reviewers based on star count.

Of course, the ideal situation will be to find a developer with a perfect five-star record. These are rare. It’s not unusual for a great developer to have a few not so positive reviews. What you need to consider are the claims made, the frequency of the same claims and the developer’s response to said claims.

Create a pre-selection list

From your review assessment, you should be able to pick out two, three, maybe four freelance web developers.

The next step is to access their skill. For that, you need portfolios. Ask for portfolio samples, and as I mentioned earlier, make sure to verify that they’re the original creators of their portfolio websites. Basically just follow the procedure I outlined in the skill-testing segment of this guide.

Optional – schedule an interview

Sometimes it might be necessary to schedule an in-person online interview. Interviews are for gauging the soft skills of the developer – things like how they communicate, approach challenges and their professionalism. You can ignore this step if your web development task is the typical run of the mill stuff. If you’re hiring for a complex and expansive web project, then it’s an absolute must.

Here’s a template interview question list to get you started;

• What will you consider your most prized skill when it comes to web development – this is to access the level of technical fit with the project requirements
• How often do you run into challenges while working on a project and what’s your process to resolve said challenges – to test the problem-solving ability of the developer
• What’s the toughest web development project you’ve worked on before, and why was it tough – also for assessing problem-solving ability and to assess dedication.

Pick your freelancer

From the skill assessment and interview, you should have a solid idea who your final freelancer is; if you do, it’s time to offer them a contract.

How much should you pay a freelance web developer?

Contrary to what you might’ve heard or read, there’s no fixed rate for hiring a developer. It’s really down to the scope of work and the developer’s skill level. That said, if you’re going freelance, you’re deffo getting the best rates available;

To give you an idea, if you’re hiring for a basic web development project, expect to pay anything from $30 – $100 per hour.

More complex projects will require you to pay in the high $100 – $200 or even more range.

Usually though, I pay developers per project rather than per hour. In my experience, I get better value for every dollar spent. Plus, I know the exact budget for every project from the get-go compared to the per hour alternative, which can drag on and, in effect, drag on the cost.

A fair warning – cheapskates get cheaply made websites

Good developers know their worth! Except in very rare circumstances, no excellent dev will underprice themselves. If it’s too cheap, you’re probably dealing with someone who’ll cut corners or who’s inexperienced and unskilled.

A note on contracts

Before signing off on a project, make sure to detail all the project deliverables, including details on code copyrights and non-disclosure agreements. You can never be too detailed, so make sure to capture all the details in the contract for the freelance web developer to sign. This is important to protect yourself from whatever issues might arise in the future.

To conclude

Hiring a freelance web developer is something you want to take your time on. Like I said there’s a lot of unskilled devs out there. Steering clear of them is a function of doing your due diligence. Do it right – according to what I’ve described above – and you’re well on your way to a website that’s worth every penny.