As a startup owner, you should be quick to adapt to any changes in your market. Digital marketing has become the go-to method for many businesses to promote and sell their products and services, which means that you have to get in on the same trend if you want to keep up with your competitors.
One way to ensure that is to build a website for your business. Not only will it serve as your platform on the Internet, but it will help make your brand visible to many users online.
As such, your website is an important part of your marketing initiative, and you need to invest in it properly to ensure that it’s effective at delivering results. To make this easier to achieve, you should consider hiring a web developer who can design, layout, and code a website that will meet the needs of your business and attract target audiences at the same time.
Who should you hire?
As the owner of a startup, you need to be mindful of your limited resources when choosing the right web developer. However, this doesn’t mean that you should go for the cheapest option. Take the time to compare your options so that you can find someone you can work with for the long-term. The goal is to find the best fit, as your website is something that has to reflect your business as well as yourself.
That being said, you can hire a freelancer or choose to work in an agency. Here’s how they differ:
1. Freelancers
Hiring a freelancer as a startup may be ideal since they have relatively cheaper service rates than other options. You should invest in a reliable web developer since they will handle your online platform and branding. Therefore, when hiring a freelancer, you should look closely at their skills and professionalism.
Risks or downsides:
- Most of the time, they focus on only one skill. This means that you’ll receive a somewhat limited service compared to working with a full team.
- Since they work only with themselves, you would need to check their work closely and regularly to ensure quality. Freelancers usually take on many different jobs at once, so you will need to set clear expectations.
2. Web Agency
You can hire web developers within a web agency. What’s great about this option is that you can expect a wide range of services that you might not have thought you needed in the first place, such as video marketing and branding assistance. Additionally, you can more easily count on them whenever the need arises as there are multiple people who can address your needs.
Risks or downsides:
- They may have a relatively more expensive service rate
- They may have a wide range of specialists, but you can’t easily ensure that each specialist can deliver the specific result that you would want. This can lead to consistency issues since different people are handling different tasks.
What should you consider?
There are many things that you should consider when hiring a web developer for your startup, and two of them are skills and feedback. Take the time to look into these aspects so that you can find reliable and trusted web developers
1. Professional and Technical Skills
You would want to hire a web developer who is highly skilled and knowledgeable about design and analytics since both are very technical work. You can assess their knowledge by how they answer your inquiries. Aside from asking about their skills, you should evaluate their past work in terms of quality, capability, and delivery.
Review their skills and capabilities by considering the following:
- Technologies they would use for the project
- Advantage of those technologies
- Why are those suited for your needs
2. Great feedback
Freelancers and web agencies will likely show you their past work and make guarantees on what they can do for you. However, you shouldn’t rely solely on these proposals. Make sure to check their past feedback to fully assess their work ethic and the quality of their output.
Try finding reviews and feedbacks about them through:
- Their website
- Social media pages
- Tech review blogs
- Your colleagues and peers
- Other startups that worked with them
Conclusion
As a startup company, you should invest in hiring a reliable web developer so that you can thrive in the digital market. You can either hire a freelancer or someone from a web agency. Whichever you prefer, make sure not to compromise the quality and functionality of your website. You should assess their skills and read feedback from their past clients to ensure top-notch and reliable work.
If you are looking for a genuine web design agency in Massachusetts, get in touch with us today. We offer a wide range of marketing services, including video marketing, graphic design, and search engine optimization (SEO)!
I like that you mentioned how you can determine if a website development company is reputable based on the reviews that have been written about them on the internet. I am thinking about starting an online clothing business this fall, and I need to find someone that will be able to help me create a website before I start my business in a month. Perhaps consulting a reputable professional will help me get my website finished on time.