A well-designed and functional website is your most powerful asset, shaping your brand's first impression and driving customer engagement. And a talented web developer is how you can bring your website vision to life.

The catch? Hiring a website developer isn't as easy as you may think. You need someone with the right skills who also understands your brand. Luckily, following certain best practices makes the process smoother and more effective.

In this blog, we'll cover how to hire a web developer who checks off all your requirements.

Should you hire a web developer full-time or freelance?

When it comes to hiring a web developer, you have two options: full-time or freelance. Each has its unique perks and drawbacks.

A full-time web developer…

Provides consistency and availability—they ensure your brand's design remains cohesive and handle updates promptly. Over time, they deeply understand your brand, creating designs that fit your vision without additional input from your end. Plus, being part of your team means they can contribute to broader marketing and development strategies.

However, hiring a full-time developer also means a higher financial commitment. You'll need to cover their salary, benefits, and other employment costs. Sometimes, the workload may not justify a full-time position as well.

A freelance web developer…

Offers flexibility, letting you scale your design efforts based on project needs. They are more cost-effective, as you pay only for the work done without additional costs. No employee benefits or long-term commitments. More importantly, freelancers bring diverse expertise to the table, offering fresh perspectives that can be useful for building impactful websites.

On the flip side, freelancers might not always be available when you need them. You'll need strict guidelines to ensure design consistency and may have to deal with slow initial progress—new freelancers often need time to understand (and align) your brand.

How to choose

• Evaluate your needs: If your business requires constant development work and frequent updates, a full-time developer might be your best bet. But if your design needs are project-based or sporadic—or if budget constraints are a concern—a freelancer might be better.
• Consider long-term goals: Think about your business's future. A full-time website developer can grow with your company and become an integral part of your team. Freelancers, on the other hand, are great for short-term projects or when you need specialized skills for a specific period.
• Assess your budget: A full-time designer requires significant investment—make sure your budget can handle their salary and benefits before hiring. Working with freelancers means you can allocate funds as needed without long-term commitments.

Best practices for hiring a web developer

Follow these best practices to shortlist web developers who truly align with your business goals and needs:

Define your needs and goals

Clearly define what you need from a web developer. Are you redesigning your entire website? Or do you need specific web design elements such as an ecommerce section or blog integration?

Define the scope of the project in detail. This includes:

• Understanding your target audience
• The user experience (UX) you want to create
• The core functionalities your website should have

Additionally, you must set and outline your goals—whether it's improving user experience, boosting conversion rates, or enhancing mobile responsiveness. Clear goals will guide the designer’s work and keep the project on track.

Offer competitive compensation

You can't attract top talent without offering competitive compensation. It's a prerequisite, really.

Here's how to go about it: research current market rates for web developers in your region and industry. Determine a salary or freelance rate that reflects the quality you expect. According to Glassdoor, the average salary for web developers is $93,187 annually in the U.S.

Don't forget to consider additional benefits—such as flexible working hours and opportunities for professional development—to make your offer more attractive. This is especially useful when you're competing with larger companies or those with a strong industry reputation.

Set clear expectations in the job advertisement

Many companies overlook how crucial a well-crafted job description is to set employee or freelancer expectations. The choice of words and the length of your post, among other factors, can make the difference between a flood of applications and just a trickle.

Create a job ad that's detailed and targeted to attract the right candidates. You should clearly outline:

• Candidate responsibilities
• Required skills
• Projects they'll be working on

Additionally, be specific about the proficiency needed in design tools like Adobe Creative Suite, Sketch, or Figma. And the desired understanding of web development (HTML, CSS, JavaScript) and UX/UI principles.

Top tip: Mention your company culture and the qualities you value in a team member. This helps filter out unsuitable candidates and draws in those who align with your values and work style.

Create clear criteria for candidate evaluation

Next, you want to establish clear criteria for evaluating candidates to ensure a structured and fair hiring process.

Create a scoring system or checklist that includes essential skills and attributes. For example, you might rate candidates on their proficiency with development tools, creativity, adherence to deadlines, and ability to understand and implement your brand vision.

You can also consider assigning a practical design task that reflects your brand’s needs, such as creating a mockup for a specific page on your website. This task provides a real-world assessment of their skills and how well they understand your brand and vision.

Use the interview wisely

Treat the interview stage as your chance to dig deeper into a candidate's web dev abilities and fit for your team. Ideally, you should prepare a mix of questions, such as:

• Technical questions: Ask about their proficiency with specific web design tools (like Adobe Creative Suite, Sketch, or Figma) ad web development tools (like VS Code, Github or JQuery). You can also inquire about their approach to solving common web design challenges. 
• Behavioral questions: These help you understand how they work under pressure, their teamwork and communication skills, and how they handle feedback.
• Situational questions: Present the candidate with a specific project scenario to see their problem-solving process and creativity.

We'll be discussing the different questions you can ask the candidate in a bit.

Additionally, review the candidate's portfolio carefully during the interview. Ask about their role in each project, the challenges they faced, and the outcomes they achieved. This will help you gauge their experience and approach to real-world web design problems.

What to ask during the web developer interview process

When interviewing web developers, you should be focused on asking questions that go beyond surface-level skills and truly understand their capabilities, working style, and fit for your project.

Here are key areas to focus on and specific questions to consider:

Candidate's technical skills and experience

• Please walk me through your development process from concept to completion. This will help you understand the candidate's approach to website design, website architecture, and project management.

• Can you show us examples of your work and explain the impact these designs had on the client’s business? Also, mention the website tools and technologies you used to create each design. Look for tangible results like better user engagement or higher conversion rates to gauge their effectiveness—ask for proof! You'll also learn about their experience with popular development tools and skills.

Candidate's creativity and innovation

• How do you stay updated with the latest web dev trends and technologies? Continuous learning is crucial in a fast-evolving field like web design.

• Describe a project where you had to be particularly creative to solve a problem. This assesses their ability to think outside the box and innovate, which could give you a competitive edge over your competition.

• How do you balance creativity with functionality in your designs? A great developer ensures their work is both aesthetically pleasing and user-friendly with great backend architecture.

Candidate's problem-solving and adaptability abilities

• Tell me about a time you had to overcome a significant challenge in a web development project. How did you handle it? This reveals their problem-solving skills and resilience.

• How do you handle tight deadlines or multiple projects simultaneously? Time management and prioritization are critical skills—ones your ideal candidate should have.

• What steps do you take when you receive negative feedback on your designs? Understanding how they handle criticism is important for collaboration and improvement. You want someone with a positive and flexible attitude.

Candidate's understanding of UX

• How do you approach user research and usability testing in your design process? User-centered design is essential for effective web dev, and the best candidates should understand it.

• Can you give an example of how you improved user experience on a previous project? Look for specific examples of UX improvements and their impact.

Candidate's cultural and team fit within your organization

• How do you collaborate with other team members, such as developers, marketers, and content creators? Teamwork and communication skills enable a cohesive project outcome.

• What is your approach to working within brand guidelines while bringing in fresh ideas? You want someone who can balance adherence to brand standards with a creative approach.

Candidate's vision and alignment with company goals

• What do you know about our company and how do you see your designs contributing to our goals? This indicates the candidate's preparedness for the role and understanding of your business.

• Can you provide a mockup or a concept that you believe best represents what we need? Practical demonstrations of their understanding and creativity can be very telling of their talents.

Candidate's practical development knowledge

• What strategies do you use to ensure websites are mobile-friendly and responsive? Having mobile-friendly landing page designs is mandatory in today's digital landscape.

• How do you incorporate accessibility into your website projects? Similar to mobile responsiveness, accessibility is increasingly important and legally required in many cases.

• What metrics do you use to measure the success of your designs? Look for an understanding of metrics like bounce rates, conversion rates, and user feedback.

Candidate's keenness toward continuous improvement and learning

• How do you keep your skills up to date in a rapidly changing field? What recent learning experience has significantly impacted your approach to web development? You'll learn their approach to ongoing education and continuous improvement.

• Can you tell us about a design trend you believe will shape the future of web design? This indicates their forward-thinking and awareness of industry trends.

Red flags to look out for when hiring a web developer

• Lack of a portfolio: A solid portfolio is like a developer’s highlight reel, showing off their skills and creativity. If they can't provide one, that’s a big red flag. This could mean they're inexperienced or haven't tackled enough projects to build a portfolio worth showing.
• Poor communication skills and inflexibility: If your developer struggles to explain their ideas or ghosts you with late responses, you're looking at misunderstandings and delays. And if they’re inflexible and unwilling to tweak designs based on your feedback, expect friction down the road.
• No understanding of UX/UI principles: Aesthetics and coding aren’t enough—the site needs to function smoothly for users. If the web developer doesn't grasp key UX/UI principles, you’ll end up with designs that look good but might frustrate users.
• Negative reviews or dodgy references: Would you buy a product with terrible reviews? Probably not. Check out past client reviews and ask for references. If you hear about missed deadlines, poor-quality work, or unprofessional behavior, consider it a big red flag.
• No clear design process: A pro developer should have a clear, structured design process. If they can't explain it or seem to work on a whim, you're in for chaotic project management and subpar results. Plus, if they're stuck in the past and don't keep up with current design trends (like AI in web design), your website could look outdated before it even launches.

Why MarketerHire is the best choice for Hiring Web Developers

MarketerHire is a platform built to streamline the recruitment process, connecting you with pre-vetted talent within days for hourly, part-time, or full-time roles.

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Source: MarketerHire

With over 25,000 successful matches, some of today’s best-known companies, like Netflix, Skillshare, eBay, and HP, have used MarketerHire to recruit top marketers.

MarketerHire does all the heavy lifting. Their in-house marketing experts pre-screen candidates through a multi-step vetting process that includes:

• In-depth skills reviews
• Video interviews
• Test projects

Note that only the top 1% of applicants are accepted, and their work is monitored to ensure perfect client satisfaction. Many have worked with the likes of Postmates, Unilever, and Yelp.

To get started, simply describe your hiring needs, and MarketerHire will find a match in no time. Using a system called MarketerMatch, which combines AI and hand-matching, they pinpoint the top candidate for you. Plus, you’ll get support from a dedicated representative throughout the process.

Moreover, MarketerHire offers a free trial week to assess the fit of each match. If you’re not satisfied, you’ll get a replacement for free. Plus, a short-term and flexible contract means you can scale up, scale down, or cancel whenever you like. 

Final takeaways

Ultimately, hiring the best web developer boils down to your strategy. Start by defining your needs and goals and determine a competitive compensation to attract the best talent. Write a clear job description to set expectations, and use interviews to explore their skills and team fit.

Want to simplify the hiring process? Try MarketerHire. This AI-powered platform connects you with pre-vetted freelance designers, marketers, and strategists. You'll find the best match for your web development project quickly, leveraging top-tier talent without a lengthy hiring process.

Yes, hiring a web developer can be that easy. Learn more here.