Many companies choose to create their sites through platforms like Wix and WordPress. However, if you're aiming for something complex and want to stand out from the crowd, consider hiring an experienced web developer.
The right web developer will not only create and maintain your website but will also manage your site's capacity, performance, and search engine results page (SERP) ranking. Some web developers may also be able to create content for your site.
But where do you find web developers who have the skill sets to take your business to the next level with a top-notch website? We answer this troubling question in the following article. Read on, and you'll also discover handy tips for conducting your recruitment process successfully and picking the right developer candidates for your company.
By the end of this article, you'll also learn how to find web developers through talent marketplaces, as these solutions may prove the most beneficial for your startup.
How to Find Web Developers
If you're wondering where to find web developers, worry not. There are many places to find and hire web developers with the right technical skills. These include:
The world's largest professional networking site, LinkedIn is one of the best platforms you can use to find developers. By joining large web development groups like Designers Talk and reaching out to web developers through direct messages and comments, you can source hires for your startup in no time.
If you want to find web developers even faster, consider using LinkedIn Business tools like:
- Career Pages: This is an employer branding tool that helps you drive interest in your company, raise brand awareness, and construct a pipeline of candidates for open roles.
- Recruiter: As an all-in-one hiring platform, Recruiter helps you find, connect with, and manage people you want to hire. It cuts down your hiring time by giving you insights on more than 740 million LinkedIn members, recommended matches, and advanced search filters.
- Talent Insights: A talent intelligence platform that empowers you to make smart hiring and workforce decisions, Talent Insights gives you:
- Workforce benchmarks and snapshots that can help you find and deploy talent effectively
- Real-time demand and supply data that informs headcount and retention planning
- Competitive benchmarking and skills trends to address future and current skill gaps
- Detailed talent pool recommendations and snapshots to create future-proof pipelines
- Talent pool data that can refine your search
Freelancer Sites
Additionally, you can use freelancing platforms like Upwork and Fiverr to find developers for your team. Many freelance web developers on these sites charge budget-friendly rates. Unlike traditional in-office workers, freelancers usually charge by the hour or project. They also don't require benefits in most cases.
It's worth noting these sites often feature other types of freelancers. Upwork, for example, has freelancers in almost every field imaginable, including voice acting, illustration, design, and programming. Therefore, you can use these platforms as one-stop shops for your hiring needs.
Online Communities
Online communities like Reddit and Stack Overflow are also great places to source and hire talent. Here's how:
- Register an account on the site.
- Use keywords to locate hot web development threads and note the best responses to each topic.
- Click on the users who impressed you the most.
- Go through each user's browsing history to see if they have the skills and personality you want.
- Send a message to potentially suitable candidates and ask them if they're interested in your position.
What You Should Consider During the Hiring Process for Your Web Development Team
With so many great platforms to locate dream hires, you may get tempted to start building your hiring pipeline right away. However, before you do that, you need to consider the following factors to determine who would make the best hire for your team:
What the Job Description Requires
First, you need to ask yourself what your job description requires from remote developers. Without a compelling job description, you won't be able to locate the right fit for the role.
Keep the following in mind as you write your job description:
- Be specific: Specific job titles are more effective than generic ones, so include key phrases that best describe the role. For instance, use "Senior Web Developer" instead of the generic "Web Developer." It will help you locate devs with the experience and skill levels you want.
- Start with a strong summary: Provide an overview of your company and the position. Talk about what makes your company unique and include an exact job location. If the role is remote, write it at the top.
- Outline job responsibilities in detail: Be detailed. Mention what programming languages the dev should know and talk about what they will be doing on a day-to-day basis. For example, your Senior Web Developer may be responsible for:
- Leading and supporting a team of web developers, copywriters, designers, and SEO specialists
- Checking the code of junior developers
- Mentoring junior web developers
- Developing new modules for the company site
- Managing third-party vendors and subcontractors
- Running daily and weekly team meetings and quarterly reviews
- Providing direct client training, assistance, and support as needed
- Overseeing your site's ticket management workflow and system
- Maintaining back-end components and performance, including Squarespace themes, plug-ins, and domain hosting
- Include a list of qualifications, including soft skills: You should also mention the skill sets you need. Besides certifications, degrees, and previous work experience, include soft skills like leadership, communication, and problem-solving abilities. For instance, your Senior Web Developer should have the following skills:
- Three years of CSS and HTML development
- Four years of PHP development skills
- Four years of experience with user design experience (UX), SEO, and marketing
- Knowledge of advanced Squarespace plug-in development
- Experience leading a team
- Webflow, WordPress, Wix, Weebly, and Shopify experience as an asset
What Type of Developer is Your Ideal Web Developer Candidate
Next, you should consider the types of developers that would best meet your needs. Here's an overview of the main developer roles and experience levels to help you out:
Front-End Developer
If you already have pre-made designs and wireframes for your site and you only need someone to implement them, consider hiring a front-end developer. Front-end developers are only responsible for working on the user interface (UI) or the place where users interact with your site's designs. The UI typically includes navigation menus, buttons, and display screens.
Front-end developers need to know at least three languages, including HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. In addition, they should also know how to create great-looking content with the following frameworks:
- AngularJS
- EmberJS
- ReactJS
- Bootstrap
- Backbone
- Foundation
Back-End Developer
If you need a developer to manage the technology that powers your website, hire a back-end developer. Unlike their front-end counterparts, back-end developers build and maintain the architecture that powers the website, including the components that enable the UI to exist in the first place. They typically work on more complex projects.
To make the application, server, and database communicate with one another, back-end developers need to know languages like Java, PHP, Ruby, and .NET. They also have to use powerful tools like Oracle, MySQL, and SQL Server to save, find, and change data and send it to users on the front-end.
Full-Stack Developer
When businesses have larger projects at hand, they typically need full-stack developers. These professionals can handle the back-end and front-end design processes altogether.
The skills of full-stack developers run the gamut of web design and development, from graphic design and UI/UX management to databases and back-end coding. Full-stack developers may also be responsible for the following:
- Designing and testing the site
- Writing clean code for the back-end and front-end of the site
- Ensuring cross-platform optimization and compatibility
- Testing and maintaining the site's responsive design
- Working with the UI/UX teams to design user interactions on the site
- Developing RESTful services and application programming interfaces (APIs)
- Considering scalability, maintainability, security, and more when developing
Freelance Web Developers
If you seek design flexibility for your short-term and straightforward projects, freelance web developers can help. These talented people may be a great addition to every company.
Unlike full-time web developers, freelance developers only charge by the hour or project. You don't have to pay them when there's no work. Moreover, freelancers require fewer overhead costs since they work remotely and offer these advantages:
- More specialized: Many freelancers offer special skills such as videography and banner animation. You may not be able to locate such talent if you hire through an agency or locally.
- Multiple talents: Freelance web developers are often more than just web developers. For instance, some can also provide design, illustration, and animation services. If they're open to it and you have enough funds, freelancers can give a complete service for your development projects.
Part-time Employee
Consider hiring a part-time web developer if you have multiple short-term or simple projects throughout the year. Part-time employees work 30 or fewer hours per week.
There are many reasons why you may want to hire web developers that work part-time:
- Easy to schedule: Although freelancers make an excellent choice for short-term projects, their main priority is developing their own business and portfolio. You may need to structure your assignments around their schedule, not yours. In contrast, part-time web developers work according to your schedule. They'll also be up to date with changes since they'll be part of your team.
- Increased loyalty: Part-time employees are also more likely to want to grow with you. Accordingly, they may be more motivated to add to the bottom line, which we can't always say for freelancers.
- More budget-friendly: Hiring part-time may get you a higher-caliber developer for lower costs. For instance, if you can only spend $40,000 a year for a new web developer, you may only be able to hire full-time fresh grads. However, let's say that you use that $40,000 to hire a highly-experienced part-time web developer. Since this developer has much more experience, they may be able to accomplish more in a 20-hour part-time week than a fresh grad can in a 40-hour full-time week.
Full-time Employee
If you have many long-term projects throughout the year, you may want to hire a full-time web developer. Unlike part-time employees, full-time employees work 40 hours a week. They are the standard in many industries and provide many benefits, such as:
- Ease of scheduling: Full-time web developers have the same work hours as everyone else, making it easier to schedule meetings and tasks.
- Fewer employees to manage: Many companies opt for full-time employees because it means fewer people to manage. Case in point: it's easier to manage one full-time dev than two part-time employees.
- Increased loyalty: Most companies still view full-time employees as more committed to the company and less likely to job-hop than freelancers and part-timers.
The Communication Skills Needed to Be Successful
Before you hire web developers, make sure they have the right soft skills to follow their technical mastery. Here's a list of the top soft skills for web developers:
- Empathy: Since they will work with UI/UX designers, copywriters, and other team members, web developers need to be empathetic — that is, they need to understand the feelings of other people. If they don't practice empathy, developers may have a difficult time working with other team members, leading to disagreements, miscommunication, and delays.
- Leadership: Web developers should also know how to lead your team. Although they typically don't do as much guiding as software engineers, web developers need to lead SEO experts, copywriters, and others to complete specific tasks. They should also be able to resolve issues quickly and compromise as needed.
- Self-awareness: Look for confident web developers who are still not afraid to admit their weaknesses. Self-awareness will prompt your hire to seek proper mentorship and training from their colleagues and managers.
The Type of Project: Long-Term or Short-Term
Last but not least, your business goals and needs should heavily influence your final decision. If your project is short-term and lasts less than six months, consider hiring a part-time or freelance web developer to cut costs. However, if you're creating a long-term project that lasts years and requires frequent updates and maintenance, a full-time team of web developers may be a better option. Only a full-time web development team can seamlessly create, deploy, debug, maintain, and update your site on a long-term basis.
The Benefits of Using a Talent Marketplace to Find Web Developers
Finding the right web developer for your startup can be challenging, despite the broad offer of online communities and freelance marketplaces you can join to meet these professionals. With these solutions, you still need to sift through resumes manually, test and vet candidates yourself, and much more.
Fortunately, talent marketplaces are there as a more convenient and cost-efficient alternative. You can use them to hire your next web developer without spending too much time and effort in the process.
Here are the main benefits of using a talent marketplace to find your web developer:
Vetted Talent Pool
Most talent marketplaces boast candidates who have been pre-tested for their web development skills and English proficiency. Revelo, for instance, has web developers tested for a wide range of tech stacks, including:
- HTML
- CSS
- JavaScript
- AngularJS
- SQL
- MySQL
- SQL Server
With Revelo, you can be sure you have access to the talent tested for expertise and experience without lifting a finger yourself.
Learn more:
What You Should Look for in a WordPress Developer
Shopify Development Services and Consulting
Quick Solution for Hiring Needs
Talent marketplaces provide quick solutions for hiring needs. After you've determined what kind of goals you want to accomplish and what kind of dev you're looking for, reach out to your chosen talent marketplace. The platform will send you a list of vetted candidates in just a few days. You can then interview and select the candidates you want.
Less Risky for Businesses
You may face various challenges when hiring internationally, such as payroll, immigration, and compliance issues. Many countries — such as Cuba and Venezuela — have strict labor laws that make it difficult for foreign companies to hire locals. This is where talent marketplaces come in.
Unlike LinkedIn and freelance sites, which do not guide hiring and onboarding new hires, talent marketplaces will help you deal with compliance, payroll, taxes, onboarding, and more, giving you more time to focus on building your team.
Some marketplaces may also give your hires additional benefits, such as:
- Packages: Talent marketplaces may offer packages with the following benefits to help your hires feel like they're part of your team:
- Dental
- Therapists
- Gym membership
- Meal allowance
- Culture (i.e., trips to museums and cultural events)
- Community engagement perks: Community events and enterprise-level offices are also part of some marketplaces' offers to keep your hires engaged and excited.
How to Quickly Find Web Developers with Revelo
If you seek an all-in-one solution for your nearshoring needs, consider partnering with Revelo. We help you find web developers, hire, and handle them all in one platform.
The largest tech company in Latin America's human resources sector, Revelo matches startups with FAANG-calibre web developers in an agile and humanized manner. Moreover, our developers have been rigorously pre-tested for their English proficiency, experience, and knowledge, so your manual work is reduced to a minimum.
You only need to reach out and tell us about your goals. In three days, we'll send you a list of the best picks for your team. If you don't think they're a good fit during our free 14-day trial, we cover the expenses.
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