In the online era of business, web design has become increasingly vital for companies of all kinds. Whether you're creating a new business website for your freshly founded startup or recreating an old one as part of a rebrand, almost all companies will need to consider the specifics of creating a website.

While there are tools out there to help the average person create a website on their own, these platforms can be limiting and generic, unable to provide the flexibility you need for a functional website. That's when working with a web designer is your best bet. But how much does getting your website from a professional web designer, custom-built and complete with security features and all the other essential elements, cost?

Web designers typically charge about $75 per hour. A company website, even for small businesses, could cost between $5,000 and $10,000, with $6,760 being the average cost to set up, design, build, and create content for an essential website. This figure also includes maintenance and training for the client. You should also note that a fully custom website will cost more, according to Website Builder Expert.

Whether you're looking to hire the right web designer for your business or a freelance web designer yourself, understanding the typical website costs is vital.

Steps to Hire a Good Web Developer

We recommend following these steps when you plan to hire web developers. They will help you find a suitable person for your project.

Outline your Business Needs.

Before jumping right into the Internet surfing and googling "how to hire a web developer," you should do some homework. Defining your business needs will give you a clear understanding of which web developers will best suit your project.

Give answers to the following questions:

Why do I need to hire an outsourced web developer?
What are the minimum and maximum times for our collaboration?
What do I expect to get as a result?
What is the scope of work?

The needs may sound like this.

You need to hire a web developer to:

Develop high-quality code adhering to the best practices in web development.
Focus on responsive design to ensure optimal display and functionality across various mobile platforms.
Build user-friendly websites and interfaces using standard HTML/CSS practices.
Integrate and manage data from back-end databases and services to enhance website functionality.
Design and maintain efficient workflows for the development team, ensuring clear visibility of tasks and a balanced workload.
Ensure robust security measures are in place to protect website data and user privacy.
Continuously optimize website performance for speed and efficiency.

Take your time and make a list of requirements. Devoting some time at the very beginning will help you find a web developer for hire who best suits your project.

Choose a Cooperation Model

Once you have listed your needs, you will have more clarity on what to do next. The next thing you need to do to hire professional web developers is select the right cooperation model.

There are different options to choose from. We'll dig deeper into each in the next block, but here is the overview:

1. Freelance: Ideal for short-term, flexible, or specialized tasks. Hiring freelancers is the most cost-effective solution, but freelance web developers may have multiple clients.

2. Outsource: Suitable for entire project development. You can outsource web development teams that manage your project from start to finish.

3. Outstaff: This model means that you hire a website developer or a couple of developers to work alongside your in-house team. The outstaff model balances control and flexibility, and you can scale up and down your team based on your business needs.

4. In-House: Hiring a developer as a full-time employee offers the most control and integration with your team, but in-house web developers usually cost more and demand more engagement from your side.

Define the Developer's Skills Needed

Okay, your business needs are listed, and the cooperation model is picked. Now, it's time to figure out what type of web developer you need for this project.

This is where you should think of the types of web developers' skills, and you know exactly what you need, whether you need just one developer or maybe more.

Here are the skills and qualifications to help you determine the best-fit candidates.

Front-end developers: make changes to your site's front – the primary responsibility is ensuring that users can easily interact with the website. Web language front-end developers use HTML, CSS, Javascript, PHP, Node.JS, ASP.NET, React.JS, Angular 8, and other technologies. ‍
Back-end developers: make changes to the website architecture hidden behind the front end – the primary responsibility is to ensure that the website works with no errors. Back-end developers of web languages/databases use PHP, Python, Ruby, Java, SQL, and others. ‍
Full-stack developers: make changes to websites' front and back end. Note that full-stack developers have a higher hourly rate compared to the developers focused on one part of development, but, in the end, it is cheaper to hire one front-end specialist than the front and back-end developers.

List your Selection Criteria

The choice is always about compromise. To hire a web developer, you need to understand what you can compromise on and what your top priority is.

There are a few key things you should think of:

Number of web developers you need;
Seniority level of a web developer;
Level of experience in your industry;
Price you ready to pay;
Tech skills;
Soft skills.

We suggest making a table and ranking these points from the most critical to the least important.

Discover the Hiring Platforms

Congrats! You have all the necessary information and can proceed to the next step—finding web developers on the platforms.

Depending on the cooperation model you choose, the platforms may vary. For example, if you decided to hire in-house web developers, the best ways to find them are:

Searching on LinkedIn;
Hiring a recruiting agency;
Having a Recruiter in-house.

If you are looking for web developers on a freelance basis, here are the sources to check:

Upwork;
Fiverr;
Toptal.

Finally, if outsourcing or outstaffing models suit you best, here is where you can find and hire web developers—recommendations from your friends, founders, and people with experience working with outsourcing and outstaff companies.

How to Evaluate the Quality of a Web Developer

Hire Web Developers

Once your project is online, you will see the applications rolling in. The big question is: How do you decide who to work with? Below are a few guidelines to improve your chances of picking the right candidate.

1. Technical requirements —We have discussed the skills needed by different types of developers above. The first thing you should do is make sure your candidates check these boxes.

2. Response time — Being able to reach your freelancer is essential. If you need to change something about the project, you don't want to wait several days to hear from them. Write back and forth a few times and see how long they take to get back to you before you hire a web developer.

3. Communication skills — At the same time, check their overall communication. Do they talk clearly? Answer all of your questions. Do they seem like people you would like to work with? You will be talking to them a lot, so make sure the experience is productive and pleasant.

4. Previous projects — Ask for and check the past work of your web developers. That way, you better understand their experience, strengths, and weaknesses. This can also be on their website through screenshots or even code snippets.

5. Customer rating—Many of the job portals mentioned above offer customer feedback. Before you hire a web developer, don't just look at the overall rating but also read the comments from previous clients. This is a good way to learn more about a person's work ethic, turnaround time, and other features.

6. Experience—Experienced developers make fewer mistakes and have shorter turnaround times but cost more. Beginners cost less but might take longer and create more issues. It's up to you to decide what works best for you, and it is most often dependent on the project timeframe.

7. Paid tests—When you have whittled down the list to just a few candidates, it's a good idea to ask them to complete a paid test. Give them a small task to accomplish and see how it goes. Pay attention to both the work and their communication throughout. It's a good prediction for future behavior.

What to Avoid When Hiring a Designer for Your Website

While it is essential to seek a designer who is compatible with you, qualified, experienced, and has the same sense of style as you, there are also a few things to avoid while hiring a designer.

Some of the most common mistakes made in the process of hiring a designer to build a website include:

Not Paying Enough: Of course, everyone loves a great deal. There is no better feeling than receiving a high-quality product at a discount or a staggeringly low rate. However, it is essential to avoid hiring designers promoting suspiciously low rates. Professional designers understand the time and effort that goes into creating modern, attractive, relevant, and properly optimized websites.

If a designer offers to build a complex or robust website for less than minimum wage, they are likely scamming you or planning to provide low-quality results. Experienced and professional designers understand and know the value of their time and the skills they bring to the table when building new websites for clients.
Overspending: While it is important to avoid spending too little on a complete website, it is also essential to avoid overspending or spending beyond your budget. If you need a simple webpage and a designer is attempting to charge you thousands of dollars, it may be time to look elsewhere for the required services.

Whenever you are looking to work with a new web design professional, it is highly advisable to schedule multiple consultations before choosing a designer who is truly the best fit for the project you are working on.
Working Only With Designers: If you choose to work with a web design professional unfamiliar with CSS or manual HTML coding, you may run into issues. Be sure to hire a designer who specializes in creating banners and implementing color schemes and understands the importance of a well-designed layout. You only have one opportunity to make a lasting impression on your website visitors, which is why the structure and design of a website matter just as much as the look, feel, and aesthetic of a site.
Not Researching Enough: Did you do your due diligence and research all of the designers who are available in your area? Have you conducted research on individual designers to review their portfolios and to learn more about the type of design and development services they have to provide? Always be sure to get to know more about designers you may want to work with before connecting and scheduling a consultation to avoid wasting your time and the designer's time.
Choosing Not to Use a CMS: If a designer is unwilling to use a CMS or is unfamiliar with CMS solutions, it is best to find an alternative to working with on your web design project. A CMS, or content management system, is one of the most popular and modern solutions designers and developers use to build websites. The most popular CMS solutions available on the market free of charge today include WordPress, Joomla, and Drupal.

Using a CMS is not only a way to create a modern, optimized, and responsive website for mobile phones and tablets, but it is also a way for you to access and update your website even without programming and coding knowledge. Using a CMS such as WordPress is highly recommended if you have an interest in adding blog posts and content to your website but you are unsure of how to do so without help.

Anyone can build and maintain their website with a CMS such as WordPress. If your preferred designer is unfamiliar with CMS solutions such as WordPress or does not want to work with a CMS, you may wish to seek another designer, especially if you have a vested interest in updating your website once it is developed and built on your own.
Hiring a Designer That Boasts But Does Not Deliver: When researching designers you may employ to build your website, it is essential to research thoroughly. Verify this claim if a designer proclaims to appear as the number one search result for specific keywords.

If a designer claims to have won awards for their designing and development abilities, verify these claims before moving forward with the hiring process. It is imperative to hire a designer that you can trust and rely on, especially if you are providing your designer with access to your website, your hosting account, and any other accounts that may include personal and sensitive information of your own.

Website Developer Cost

Website development costs can range from a few hundred to tens of thousands of dollars, depending on factors such as project scale and developer experience.

Web Development Components

Website development involves multiple components, which all factor into its overall cost. Here is an outline:

Design and Development: In the Design and Development phase, designers create the visual layout and code structure of their website. Prices range from $500 for simple designs to over $50,000 for complex features sites.
Domain and Hosting: To make a website live online, you need a domain name and an annual fee for web hosting. There are different types of web hosting services, and choosing the right one is crucial based on your business needs and budget.

Understanding these Components helps in Estimating the Overall Web Development Costs

Developer Rates

Developer rates are not random; they are influenced by:

Project Complexity: The more complex the website, the higher the developer cost because it requires advanced skills and more time.
Experience and Expertise: Experienced developers or agencies with a portfolio may charge more for their services because of their experience and the value they bring to web development.

By knowing these components and factors, you can estimate the costs when planning for web development expenses.

Cost to Develop Different Types of Websites

When considering how much it costs to develop different types of websites, the expenses can vary widely depending on their complexity, type of website, and additional features required.

Ecommerce Website Cost

E-commerce website development is between $5,000 to over $50,000.

The cost is affected by the number of products, payment processing systems, customer login, and the complexity of the shopping cart functionality.

Small Business Website Cost

A small business website costs between $1,000 and $10,000. This includes basic features like a home page, an about section, a contact form, and a blog or news feed.

A more customized small business site will be on the higher end of the range.

Custom Website Development

Custom website development starts at $20,000 and can go into six figures.

Cost reflects the unique design, special features, and technical specifications specific to the business's needs and goals.

Corporate Website Cost

The cost of a corporate website ranges from $10,000 to $35,000 or more, depending on the level of customization and complexity of the site.

These websites usually have a more comprehensive content strategy, advanced design, and functionality, such as customer portals or extensive product catalogs.

Conclusion

Though anyone can build a website, many good reasons exist to hire web developer. A professional can do things you cannot and will get the job done quicker than you. Outsourcing this task to someone else allows you to concentrate on more important things.

If you want to hire dedicated web developers, you will find tips on how to nail every step of the process. It can be nerve-racking at first but will get easier with experience.

Plus, once you have a working relationship with suitable candidates, you can often continue working with them. That way, you don't have to do all the steps every single time.