How to Find and Hire a Good Web Programmer
Published January 29, 2010
If you are an online entrepreneur, surely you realize the importance of hiring an efficient Web programmer for building your online storefront. Even the most ambitious and intelligent business owner will almost never be able to create a website which is well functioning and professional looking enough to ensure their success. Not to mention that do it yourself website design can eat up countless hours which you could be using to build and grow your business. However, one of the greatest challenges for online entrepreneurs is to find a web programmer who they can be confident in working with long-term. This article will provide you with a step-by-step strategy selecting and hiring the best web programmer possible.
Common Mistakes Made When Hiring a Web Programmer
The following are a few of the most common and costly mistakes which are made when hiring a web programmer:
- Hiring Cheap
To anyone starting a business online, it can be extremely tempting to hire the Web programmer who is offering you the lowest price However, low-priced web programmers are normally those who are not able to demand higher prices for their services because they are not delivering the best quality. This lower quality of work means more potential errors which can be very frustrating and time-consuming to have fixed.
Not to mention that low-quality Web programming often needs to be corrected by a high quality web programmer. This means more money out of pocket to hire a second person for the job which should have been completed correctly I the first one. This is how hiring cheap can end up being very costly.
- Not Having Clear Expectations
No matter how good it your web programmer is, they are only able to meet your expectations according to what they understand them to be. Many online business owners make the mistake of hiring a web programmer to complete a job while having unclear or poorly communicated expectations about the finished product. As a result, the project becomes overly complicated as the business owner and web programmer try to work out an end product by means of trial and error.
- Not Valuing Communication Skills
This is probably the most common and costly mistake business owners make when they hire Web programmers. No matter how good of a craftsman your web programmer is, their communication skills make all the difference in whether or not they deliver the correct finished product. Although it is often very cost-effective to hire Web programmers who are in parts of the world where they can offer you the lowest rates, you have to take into account that breakdowns or misunderstandings in communication can dramatically sacrifice quality.
- Hiring Programmers Who Don’t Understand Marketing
Marketing is a part of everything that you do in business and you need to hire a web programmer who understands the principles of good marketing. If you hire a web programmer who does not understand marketing, the structure and navigation of your website may have to be changed in the future in order to be optimized for conversions. It’s better to hire a web programmer who understands the principles of Internet marketing and who can provide suggestions and feedback as to how your site needs to be built and optimized from the beginning.
Finding and Hiring the Right Expert
The following are the most important things to do as you are searching for and hiring a web programmer:
- Check Results
Anyone can claim that they are an efficient Web programmer and probably even gather a few positive testimonials from customers. However, nothing speaks louder than solid results which they are getting for the customers they have built sites for. Always ask to see examples of websites which they have designed and check the websites for professional appearance, ease of navigation and ease of usability.
- Speak to them by Phone
Since clarifying expectations and measuring communication skills is so important, you MUST schedule a phone call to speak with your web programmer and make sure they understand the project for you decide to hire them. If your web programmer is in another country, you can use Skype (a free international communication software) to connect with them on a phone call from your personal computer.
When speaking to your web programmer, make sure that they have good listening skills and that they take the time to understand your project before making commitments or quoting exact prices and delivery dates.
- Test Their Marketing Expertise
Since marketing skills are so important when it comes to hiring a web programmer, you must test their expertise during your first phone meeting. Instead of telling them exactly what you want to have designed, start by explaining the objective of your site and see if they have well thought out suggestions for how to build a more marketable site. The quality of these suggestions will testify to their marketing expertise or the lack of it.
- Use Escrow for Payment
Never do business with someone who you have just met without using escrow services for the payment process. Since there are many escrow sites which are scams, simply stick with the escrow service provided by the site where you hired your web programmer (see resources below). If you do not hire them on one of these sites, use www.escrow.com instead.
Conclusion
Follow these guidelines when hiring a web programmer and do not falter from them. If you do, you will save yourself a lot of money and heartache and end up with a website site design that you can be confident in.
Resource Links
The following are sites where you can locate and hire Web programming experts. These have been listed in the order of quality:
Link to Skype communications software:
Legitimate escrow service site
To gain access to the most up-to-date SEO strategies, fill out the form below to sign up for our newsletter. This newsletter will help you know what Google's up to as well as how you can get your website ranking higher without raising any red flags.
{"http://www.seositecheckup.com/articles/60":{"data":[]}}
Read Related Articles About How to Avoid SEO Pitfalls
- How to Prevent Good Websites from Being Harmed by Algorithm Changes
By choosing to use SEO as a main marketing technique, we give up a portion of our control to a third party. That third party is Google. This is a mutually beneficial agreement, so the trade of control is usually worth it. Google has a new website which will hopefully provide the answer to their user?s search queries and we internet marketers get targeted traffic. - Black Hat SEO (Part 1): Strategies That Can Hurt Long-Term Success
Learn about the sneaky or "black-hat" SEO strategies that you should avoid when optimizing your site for long-term success. - Black Hat SEO (Part 2): Off Page SEO Myths That Can Hurt Your Rankings
Learn about the off-page strategies that black hat marketers employ which can be harmful to your SEO efforts. - Is it Time to Diversify Your SEO?
In the past few years, internet marketers have weathered some massive updates from Google. The first update came in May of 2010. This update is commonly referred to as the ?Mayday Update.? This update hit niche marketing and ?Google sniper? websites extremely hard. - How Buying Links Can Affect Your Off Page SEO
If you’re in a hurry to accomplish a favorable page rank and a high position in the search engine results, you’ve probably heard about or even considered the possibility of purchasing links. Is this a good SEO or one which should be completely avoided? - How to Prevent Duplicate Content Penalties and Control Your Indexing
Four rock-solid methods for controlling your indexing and avoiding duplicate content penalties. - The Importance of Avoiding Keyword Stuffing
Learn about the dangers of keyword stuffing, how to detect it, and how you should correctly approach keyword usage. - Using Hidden Comments to Improperly Stuff Keywords
Learn how hidden comments can be improperly used to stuff keywords for search engine purposes.
All Categories:
- Basic SEO (19 articles)
- Online Marketing Tips (18 articles)
- On Page SEO (22 articles)
- Off Page SEO (13 articles)
- Social Media Marketing (12 articles)
- Seo Product Reviews (4 articles)
- SEO News (6 articles)
- SEO Content Creation (14 articles)
- SEO Programming Topics (14 articles)
- SEO Outsourcing (6 articles)
- How to Get More Traffic (10 articles)
- Advanced SEO Strategies (2 articles)
