Hiring a web developer is just as hard as finding any other kind of vendor, especially if you are not familiar with web development yourself. You’re in a tough spot because you ultimately know the end result you are looking for but in the quest to find the team that can make that happen, you’re likely to skip a few important factors you need to consider when evaluating any kind of vendor.
I’ve hired a lot of people and established relationships with a lot of vendors and I can tell you that when I wasn’t organized, I only went based off of my gut instead of a solid criteria for evaluation, I wasted a lot of time and got the wrong person for the job.
Here is an approach you can take to help you find a great web development agency:
Define What You Need
This is the most important step. If you are going on a road trip, you’d pick the furthest destination you’d like to reach and stops along the way, right? You won’t find what you are looking for if you don’t know what it looks like when you see it.
Before you can choose the right web development company, you must have a list of all the factors that are important to you. Write a list of your needs, and make sure you keep it updated as you go through the process. It is a good idea to come up with a short list of the factors that are most important to you. Then, you can narrow down your list by rating what are must haves versus nice to haves. Narrowing down the list will make it much easier to choose a web development company to work while also establishing your true criteria for the vendor.
Get Organized
Before you fire up Google and start poking around the internet, take a minute to plan your search. To beat the roadtrip metaphor into the ground from the last tip: you wouldn’t jump in your car and not look at a map before taking a cross country roadtrip so why would scouring the vast internet be any different? Take a moment to plan where you are going to store leads so you can easily find them again, keyword searches you are going to use based on your criteria, and a timeline for when you’d like to have your long list done versus your short list of vendors reviewed.
Do Your Due Diligence
The internet is filled with information about web development companies. Use this information to your advantage. Look for web development companies on sites like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. You should also conduct a search online to find reviews of these companies. Take the time to get to know each web development company before making a final decision. Once you have narrowed down your list of web development companies, research each one individually. You will find information such as examples of work, biographies, and videos to help you get an idea of the company's personality. You should also look at the company's portfolio and analyze its work to see if the company is a good match for you.
Talk to the Team
Once you have narrowed down your list of web development companies to a few, you should talk to each of them to get a personal feel for them. A web development company with a strong team will have employees that are responsive to your questions and concerns. Find out more about the other services the company offers, and ask them about their experience working with companies in your industry. Consider this an interview. If the company is new and doesn’t have a lot of the above material, that doesn’t rule them out if they have experience in your industry and you find you can work well with them.
Check the Work Samples
Showing you their portfolio is one of the best ways for a web development company to showcase its skills and experience. Take the time to look through their work samples and analyze the work they have done. This will allow you to make the most informed decision. You should also review the website itself and make sure it is easy to use and looks good. If their site is lacking, it could be because they are new and just getting started on it or it could be a sign they don’t pay attention to those kinds of details, why do you think they will treat you any differently? If you do spot an issue on their site, call it out and see how they react. How they respond will tell you a lot about what it will be like to work with them.
There are many sites like Design Rush that allow you to look at many agencies and they all include at least a few examples of their work on the platform you can review.
Conclusion
Choosing a web development company to work with can be quite challenging. However, if you follow the tips above, you will have a better chance to find a company that is a good match for you.
Should you be in need of a web design partner, come to Torch Digital Labs. We partner with small and medium-sized businesses to create achievable digital strategies to meet their goals. Try out these tips on us and see how we do!
