Guide to hiring a freelance web developer on Fiverr

Fiverr is home to an extensive list of freelance web developers. Depending on who you ask, the competence of said freelance developers on Fiverr might range from very good to downright bad.

I’ve been on both ends of the spectrum before and what I’ll say is that when it comes to hiring developers on Fiverr, it takes in-depth knowledge about how the Fiverr platform works to guarantee a right hire.

In this guide to hiring Fiverr developers, I outline all the checkboxes you need to tick and everything else you need to hire a web developer on Fiverr.

First things first, can you hire a good web developer on Fiverr?

The straight answer to that question is yes; yes, you can hire a skilled and experienced freelance web developer on Fiverr. The mistake many people make, which is what leads them to the less-skilled developers (yes, there are unskilled web developers on Fiverr too), is signing up for overly cheap web development gigs on Fiverr.

You see, Fiverr has an agelong reputation of providing extremely cheap services. Every now and again, a startup founder logs on to the platform expecting to hire a freelancer who’d build a website rivalling the official PayPal site with a budget of $200.

The beauty of Fiverr is that they’ll actually find a developer to take up the project at that rate, but at the end of the day, the quality of their web development build would never rival the PayPal website or any other high flying website for that matter.

Great quality websites are built by skilled devs who know their worth in a world that’s running scarce of excellent web developers. These guys (and gals) charge premium fees. So if you’re in the market for a freelance web developer, you must understand that top-quality sites don’t come cheap.

The ideal Fiverr web developer

Skip the hassle; check out handpicked list of top web devs on Fiverr

But, freelance developers with sky-high rates doesn’t immediately mean skilled web developer. Here is a list of web developer traits that objectively define a skilled freelance web developer on Fiverr.

Expertise with both front end and backend web development tools

JavaScript, the language of the web, is the baseline requirement for any freelance web developer. Excellent developers will know more than just JavaScript anyway; they’ll have a firm grasp of the programming knowledge and tools required to build both the frontend (what you see) and backend (what runs behind the scenes) portions of a website.

Programming tools are numerous these days, and most web developers work with a collection of some rather than the whole lot of them. As a point of reference, however, skilled web developers will know how to create websites or web solutions with programming languages like;

• React
• Typescript
• ExpressJS
• Python
• MongoDB
• MySQL

How to test this

A good way to objectively assess how good a developer is with popular web development languages is to check their GitHub page.

GitHub is something of a professional social media site, workplace and developer tool all bundled into one. When a developer works on a project either singly or in collaboration with other developers, they can post details of the project complete with a timeline of events on their GitHub feed. You can use the activity of a developer on GitHub to estimate their expertise with specific programming languages.

Good web developers will have significant activity in projects completed using JavaScript, React, NodeJS and other associated web development programming languages. I cover the bits and pieces of what makes a skilled web or app developer on GitHub in assessing a developer using GitHub guide.

A healthy number of case studies and past clients

A successful freelance web developer should have a good number of case studies and past clients. Going through case studies and past testimonials allow you to assess the actual quality of their work.

How to test this

Fiverr allows freelancers to display past clients and projects executed on their gig page. If you can’t find any, don’t hesitate to ask the freelancer for a link to web development projects they’ve completed. As for testimonials, Fiverr reviews serve that function.

Check their reviews on Fiverr

Fiverr allows past clients to drop reviews that appear on a freelancer’s profile. Reviews are graded over five. Anything short of 2.5 is considered a negative review; anything above that is a positive review. For a web developer on Fiverr, you want someone who has an excess of positive reviews. The problem, however, is that positive reviews can be faked on Fiverr. Read the section on reviews and testimonials in this guide to hiring a freelancer on Fiverr for more information.

Finding and hiring a web developer on Fiverr

You now know what makes an ideal web developer on Fiverr. The next step is actually finding these developers. Here’s what you need to do, but if you’d rather skip the hassle, check out the recommended web developer gigs below – they’re sorted based on the criteria I outlined in this guide.

You don’t want the cheap web development gigs

There’s no running away from it, skilled devs know their worth and price their services appropriately to reflect that worth. While it is true that the going rate for a freelance web developer on Fiverr works out to be cheaper than that on other platforms like Upwork, you’ll still need to pay quality money for a quality website.

But what’s the threshold for too cheap on Fiverr? Well, that depends on your needs. If you’re looking to build a full-scale website with in-built functionalities and a dev quotes, say $100, that should trigger your spider senses – just payment for web hosting usually goes beyond the $50 mark, and that’s talking about hosting starter plans.

Search for a Fiverr web developer based on your specific needs

Need a portfolio site built or an E-commerce store for your business? Simply type the words into the Fiverr search bar to get a list of freelance web developers best suited to your needs. Fiverr periodically rates the web developers on its platform and uses a powerful algorithm to present only top developers based on that rating to would-be customers like you.

Don’t be quick to sign a contract, or in this case, purchase a gig

Get in touch with as many developers from your search as you can possibly manage. I’ll say the minimum number should be about three. Present your job requirements, screen the developer using this guide to hiring a freelance web developer and then request for a quote.

Compare and contrast using all you’ve learned from this guide and the other guide to screening a web developer I linked above before making a pick. Usually, the best developer for your needs should be apparent if you screened diligently using the outlined rules.

Understand what you’re getting with each web development gig

There are different ways to build a website, and every website you know varies in terms of integrated functionalities, performance, and capability. I talked about hosting just now, and it is just one of the many ways websites differ from each other. Hosting could be from a hosting provider, in which case it can be shared or dedicated, or it could be self-hosted.

Most freelance web developers will use a hosting provider, and each hosting provider has hosting plans that cost more as they increase in service provided.

If your website is expected to receive just a few visitors, there’s a plan for that; if it’s a heavily trafficked site, then there’s a plan for that as well. When you hire a web developer on Fiverr, it makes sense to inquire about the hosting situation – you shouldn’t be paying for a high threshold plan (which can be very expensive) if your site is, say, a portfolio site. And vice versa – you absolutely should subscribe to a robust hosting plan if you expect a lot of users. Failure to do so and you’ll experience downtimes in the future.

Hosting is, however, just one differentiating factor. There’s also the tech stack on which the website is built. WordPress (built with PHP and some jQuery) is a popular web platform, but other platforms might offer better performance, functionalities, and capabilities depending on your use case.

Inquire about what stack and platform the developer uses before signing the contract. I’ve seen business owners commission websites built using some very niche tech stack that then caused issues later.

Sign a detailed contract

Who owns the IP rights to whatever website a web developer on Fiverr develops for you? What happens if the developer defaults on an agreed deliverable? All that and more should be covered in your contract document.

I should note that Fiverr offers some sort of contract document when you purchase a gig on the platform. You’ll be asked to provide requirements that double as a placeholder contract document.

This is, however, limited in scope. While it does help if you do run into issues with the developer before project completion, it doesn’t explicitly address things like copyrights and non-disclosure agreements. You’ll need a contract for those; check out the contract segment of my guide to hiring a freelancer for more info on creating a contract document.

Are you protected in the case of a botched web development job?

Are Fiverr web development gigs safe? Yes, absolutely!

One of Fiverr’s strong points is the protection and cover it gives buyers of services on its platform. Through the Fiverr buyer protection program, you’re entitled to an amendment of a botched project or an outright full refund if the completed site falls short of expectations.

For an amendment or refund request to be considered valid, it must note which requirements were not met in the original project brief. This is one of the reasons why I emphasized signing a contract document with all the project details covered.

What kind of web development services can you get on Fiverr?

Whatever kind of website you want to build, I’m sure there’s a capable and willing freelance web developer on Fiverr ready to take up the task. But just so we’re objective, here are some web development gigs you can purchase on Fiverr.

WordPress development

Over 455 million sites run on WordPress today, and if you’re looking to create a portfolio site or a generic blog site like mine, I’d advise you to go with WordPress. WordPress is excellent for its ease of use, relatively good performance and huge bank of plugins that allow you to integrate both simple and complex functionalities with a few clicks. Need to integrate an e-commerce store on your site; there’s Woocommerce for that. Need a service to collect emails from your visitors; there’s WP subscribe for that.

Even better, you might not need a developer to continue running the website once you’re done setting it up. There’s a learning curve to running your own WordPress site, but I’m sure it is something you can do if you’re committed to it.

Ecommerce development

For when you need a full suite e-commerce site for your business. As I just said, WordPress paired with Woocommerce can deputize as an e-commerce store (and many Fiverr web developers use WordPress for their e-commerce creating gig). But, sometimes, you might need a bespoke e-commerce solution for specific e-commerce needs. 

This is where knowledge of custom web development frameworks like React and its associated dev libraries come into play. The good thing is Fiverr also has a growing population of developers very well skilled at using tools like React to create custom, client-specific website solutions.

Webapps and applets like chatbots

Other times you might need a custom web solution (like a chatbot) deployed on your already running website. These apps are called web apps, and they can be built using a variety of programming languages such as JavaScript or Python. Web apps could be simple or complex, depending on the functionality you plan to integrate.

An example of a simple web app would be a calculator, and a complex web app could be a stock tracking widget. Whatever the case, Fiverr is home to expert JavaScript and Python devs who can whip up even the most complex web app or applet in a matter of days.

Blockchain and cryptocurrency web development

Skilled Blockchain web developers are a rare breed, but there are some lurking around on the pages of Fiverr. If you’re looking to hire a blockchain web dev, you probably already know what you want out of them, but for the uninitiated, Blockchain and cryptocurrency are projected to usher in web 3.0.

It’s still early days for web 3.0. Still, if you’re a business owner looking to create a point of differentiation online, it makes sense to check out some applications of the technology and how they fit into your overall business strategy.

User testing

Sometimes you already have a functional site or web application, but you don’t know how it functions in the real world in the hands of real-world consumers. You can either hire a service like UserTesting for the real world, real people tests or contract a developer who’s familiar with websites and web apps like yours to speed run tests in a controlled environment.

Testing usually covers everything from UI/UX, that’s the feel and operability of the website, to performance and stress tests. If you’re on a budget and need some valuable insight on how your website handles in real hands, then the User Testing section on Fiverr will provide some utility.

To conclude

Contrary to what you might have heard, Fiverr has great web developers; you just need to know where and how to look for them. I’ve addressed how to do this in this guide but to recap;

• The golden rule is you get what you pay for
• Don’t forget to check portfolios and testimonials (reviews) thoroughly
• Talk to as many prospective web developers as possible
• Make sure to sign a detailed contract before committing to anyone freelancer.