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4 Crucial Questions to Ask a Freelance Web Developer

Hiring a Freelance Web Developer can be tricky. You want to make sure you’re hiring someone who can do the work you need them to, who can do it in a timely manner, and whose costs align with your budget. How do you ensure that the person you’re talking to has the skills and experience to bring your vision to life? How do you know if they can deliver on time and on budget?

The short answer is that you can’t know these things for sure, at least not before you’ve worked with them. But there are a few questions to ask that can help you get a better idea of someone’s abilities before you pull the trigger and hire them. Here are four of the most important questions to ask when hiring a web developer.

What technologies/programming languages do you know and what technologies have you recently learned?

The main thing you want to know about a web developer is if they have the technical knowledge to deliver their parts of the project. What’s more, technology is always shifting, and it’s therefore important to get a sense of whether or not the developer is keeping his/her skills up to date.

What platforms do you have the most experience developing? Do you have a favorite?

Whether your new website will be built on the current platform you’re using or you’re looking to have it built on a new one, it’s essential that any web developer you hire knows how to develop for that platform. If you’re not sure what platform will be best, you’ll also want to find out if the developer has a preference, or at least an ability to help you evaluate platforms. Whatever platform you choose, you want a developer who feels comfortable working with it. Ultimately, finding someone who can work in your platform of choice will save you time and money in the long run.

Can you tell us about your three most recent projects? What obstacles did you have to deal with and how did you overcome them?

If you’ve ever worked on a web design project before, you know that the road to success is often a bumpy one. It’s important to get a sense for how a freelance web developer works—and what it’s like to work with them. Asking about recent projects can reveal more about the developer’s process and work habits, as well as how they deal with issues and how they resolve them.

What do you need from us to get started?

You might know what assets you have, what your technical requirements are, and other aspects that are essential to ending up with the website you want. This question, however, helps you know whether or not the developer knows what kind of things he/she needs to get the job done.

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