Hiring a reliable website developer in Singapore can be a tricky & tiring task.
Especially, if you are building your website for the first time, you may not know the required skills & qualities that your website developer must possess.
It’s not only about technical skills that you should check for when hiring a website developer. There are several other qualities as well that make a developer competent & reliable.
What are the qualities that a great website developer must have?
In this blog post, I have shared 8 signs that show you have hired a great developer.
#1 Multiple coding skills
A great website developer would always know multiple coding scripts rather than just one or two.
How does it help when your developer knows multiple coding languages?
- Your developer can handle any kind of challenges that may arise during your website development.
- Your developer can easily integrate 3rd-party software with your website.
- Your developer can take care of design aspects too if he knows CSS, HTML, etc. He doesn’t have to rely on any website designer.
- Your developer can complete your website designer faster than usual because he doesn’t need any assistance from other developers or designers for different coding scripts.
What are the coding scripts that an experienced website developer must know?
If your developer knows most or all of the below coding scripts, then you have really spotted a great web developer.
- PHP
- AJAX
- HTML
- CSS
- Open Sources
- JavaScript
- XML
Additionally, an experienced website developer will also be able to work on CMS platforms such as WordPress.
#2 Technical explanation
Any website developer can possess the technical skills that are required to create a website. Of course, that’s the basic requirement of website development.
But are they able to translate the various technical terms into a layman language and explain them?
Are they able to explain the logic behind their web development technologies?
The quality of breaking down the technical jargon and explaining them to their clients in easy-to-understand language is what a great website developer does.
As a web development consultant in Singapore, I always take this responsibility of explaining & sharing most of the relevant technical terms with all of my prospects and clients.
This technical knowledge then empowers my clients to compare different quotes and make an appropriate decision.
#3 Communication skills
A great website developer would always possess excellent communication skills. It’s not a fancy requirement that a developer should have. But it’s crucial for every developer to have good communication skills, if not great.
Why communication is so important for a website builder to have?
- Your developer should be able to understand your business & website requirements.
- Your developer must be able to put up the relevant questions when required.
- Your developer must be able to understand and take action on the feedback given by you.
Communication skills may not be a pre-requisite for creating or coding different webpages, but it is essential for successful website development.
#4 Flexibility
Flexibility is very important for website development.
Since the coding can sometimes be unpredictable, a great level of flexibility could be required at different phases. Not just coding, but sometimes there may be some changes in the project scope.
The experienced website developers would always be ready to adopt any kind of changes that may occur during website development. Although they may charge some additional amount to accommodate these changes, they won’t ever refuse to do the modifications.
So, if your website builder is flexible enough, you have really found a reliable website developer.
#5 Support & turnaround time
When it comes to website development, support is crucial. Not all website developers provide great support to their clients.
I have a few clients who complained about their previous developers. After finishing their jobs, these developers never attended the calls or answered any of the emails of my client.
Some of my clients even never complained about the quality of work that their previous developers delivered. They were just not happy with the support & turnaround time of their developers.
If your website developer is always available for you and quickly resolve all of your queries & problems, then you have definitely hired a great developer.
Finding & hiring a website developer is not a challenge but engaging a responsible one is not that easy.
#6 References
If you want to check how great is your website developer before even you hire him, you must check their references from their existing clients.
Before you engage a website developer and award your website design project, you can ask your shortlisted developers to share some of their clients’ details with you so that you can contact them and ask about their experiences working with your developers.
Most of the existing clients of your shortlisted developer would be happy to share their feedback. So, do not hesitate and ask them.
A great website developer would always have dozens of references to be shared with you.
#7 Problem solving
There are two kinds of website developers. One who will keep giving explanations to you for the problems that you face with your website and the other one who will always propose a solution to those problems.
During your website development & maintenance journey, it’s very much likely that you will face different kinds of technical glitches or bugs.
Experiencing issues & bugs on your website is not a problem as long as your developer is able to fix it efficiently. But living with those bugs could really be a problem for you.
A reliable website developer would always possess a problem-solving attitude, no matter what.
#8 Reasonable pricing
We all know that website development is not a one-time thing. You do need the assistance of your website developer every now and then.
For instance, if you need any additional feature(s) on your website, you do need your developer’s help. And if you need to fix any bug(s) on your website, again you need your developer to fix them for you.
If the pricing structure of your website developer is reasonable, it helps you a lot to reduce your overall website development cost. On the other hand, if you hire an expensive developer, you may end up paying more than your estimated budget.
If your website builder charges reasonably for your website development & changes, you’ve certainly hired a great developer.
Recommended post: How much is the website design cost in Singapore?