What you should do when choosing a web development firm

Choosing a web development firm, especially if it’s your first time, can be quite nerve-wracking. How to pick one right for you? You may end up rummaging through all sorts of web development company names and ads in hopes of finding clues on which firm will create a perfect product.

Read on to discover the six most important aspects of making sure you and the web development company are compatible. Whether you’re looking for a UX/UI design, backend, or front-end development company, our tips will still apply.

By the way, check the rest of our blog if you want to learn more about design and development, particularly SaaS or fintech. For example, here are our articles about the joys of fintech automation and the main deliverables of the front-end projects.

Web development: overview

In our day and age, apart from social media, a website is the main source of digital representation for any business - from retail to crowdfunding. What’s more, your website has to be competently developed for it to be both an archive of valuable information and the main point of communication with your customers.

In order to create a website, be that simple static pages or complex dynamic multi-faceted web pages or applications, one has to deal with the client side and server side of things. The former includes everything your clients specifically interact with, while the latter covers behind-the-scenes stuff with the servers and databases.

All of the above is the work of web development companies and crews. Let’s learn a bit more about the specifics of web development professionals’ jobs and duties that, in the end, result in the creation of functional websites and applications.

What do web developers do?

Front-end, or server-side scripting, has developers writing code that is solely executed in the browser. On the other hand, server-side scripting runs code on web servers.

Both scripting types are used interchangeably when building a website from scratch. The only difference is that bigger projects have more visible separation.

Managing the visual aspects of the website, the front-end part of web development also deals with the design of said components, called user interface design, which is the physical layout of each web page and navigation, plus the graphics of the interactive elements.

The backend is responsible for the application’s structure, logic, database, cache, API, etc. Hosting and maintenance are usually also part of the web development company’s duties.

How to choose a web development company

A few important questions are a must before attempting to choose the right web development firm. Figure out first what type of website you need - eCommerce, fintech, or perhaps SaaS.

The scope is crucial, too, since web development for small businesses differs from those for corporate-class. After working out the requirements, here’s what you need to consider.

Overall experience

Ideally, your future partner has to have experience in a full scope of web development services, such as product discovery, UX/UI design, front-end and back-end, quality assurance, maintenance, and support, even if your project doesn’t require every single one of them. Study their portfolio first.

Similar projects

Look for similarities in their previous projects, mainly regarding the industry or project’s scope. If you’re trying to build a data-heavy SaaS solution, look up if a company has made SaaS-related products in the past.

Same with the scope. Pick a company that has created enterprise-level sites before if that’s what you’re after.

Social proof

Typically, you can find all kinds of client reviews on the web development company’s website since respectable firms want you to know how well they’ve done on previous projects.

However, go even further than that by checking out social media and open platforms such as Glassdoor or Clutch, where people freely leave their testimonials.

Established processes

Any web development company or startup has its own established development processes and methodologies. The most common are Waterfall, Agile, Scrum, and Lean IT.

Ask your potential partners which one they are using and why they have chosen it in the first place. Also, look for as much transparency in the development process as possible.

Communication

One major component in providing quality web development services is communication. For example, how they deal with changes midway through the project and how well they understand requirements will play a massive role in the end result.

The communication aspect also covers the frequency of team updates, their availability on multiple communication channels, and the heartfelt nature of their responses.

Level of support

When going through any web development companies list, investigate beforehand what level of pre-launch and post-launch support they offer.

Would you like a company to just put up your site as a “one and done” job, or would you prefer they provide maintenance afterward? Ask how regular their updates are and how well they handle post-deployment adjustments.

Get developers that understand your business goals

On-time project delivery. Latest coding standards. Data security.

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Wrap-up

Creating an efficient and user-friendly online presence nowadays is imperative for business success. To choose a web development partner that’s a good fit, we have listed six primary factors that we believe will help you differentiate between those suitable for your project and those that are not.

To sum it all up, look for projects in their portfolios comparable with what you’re trying to create. Examine how varied their overall experience is and check the social proof in the form of reviews and testimonials.

Don’t forget to also look into their communication skills, development processes, and level of product support.