How to hire a Magento developer – one of the first questions once you decide to create an online store. Go outsource or hire someone in-house?
Whether you are creating a new or updating an existing online store, or want to digitize a brick-and-mortar business, you will need to hire a Magento eCommerce developer.
The process becomes easier if you know what to do and which mistakes to avoid.
Our article aims to save you time and help you hire a Magento programmer to accomplish your business goals. The article highlights the following points that are of high importance for those who are going to get involved in eCommerce store development:
- main aspects to consider when you hire a Magento developer
- hire a Magento programmer and circumvent major mistakes
- a step-by-step guide to finding Magento eCommerce developer
- working with freelance Magento developer vs Magento development company
Hire Magento Developers for Your Project: Main Considerations
What is Magento eCommerce development and why do you need it?
Magento is a leader among eCommerce platforms in 2019. The software powers 260,000+ stores worldwide that have chosen it for a wide range of provided out-of-the-box features, simple customization and scalability, and the ability to bring its performance up to business needs.
Also, Magento is an eCommerce platform that requires coding skills to enjoy its full potential. That is why many stores hire Magento developers who take on the technical aspects of store creation. At the same time, they are often prone to work with freelance Magento developers instead of entrusting an experienced Magento development company with the task of online store web development.
However, there is a huge difference between working with a Magento freelancer and a dedicated team of Magento eCommerce developers that work in top eCommerce development companies. As a business grows and you need to scale an online store to meet business needs, it might become impossible for a single freelance Magento developer to handle all the tasks.
If you decide to work with a freelancer, please note the following weak points that in the future can cause serious problems:
- Magento freelancers not always provide the best quality of code
- Freelancers may not follow the best Magento development practices
- Freelance Magento developer may not keep up with your project deadlines
- eCommerce websites process a lot of sensitive data, so you need to fully trust freelance Magento developers not to use it inappropriately
After your website is ready and you are not satisfied with the results, or you need to add some new features or enhance performance, you will need to start the development process all over and hire Magento programmer for the job. What initially seems like a cheap option may later turn out to be quite a costly decision.
On the other hand, when you decide to hire a Magento development company with a dedicated team of Magento eCommerce developers, you can expect that the final result to be up to your expectations and business requirements. The benefits are the following:
- Many companies have Magento certified developers in their staff
- Developers with Magento 2 certification know the best Magento development practices and apply them accordingly
- Tech specialists with experience in particular fields
- Optimal quality and cost ratio
- Understanding customer journey and UX
- Continuous eCommerce development and support
- Strict development timeline
- Eliminated risk of ending up with a low-quality code and underperforming website
Before a Magento development company moves to the development process, it first collects all project requirements, sets strict timelines, and assigns tasks to specialists that have the needed knowledge and seniority. You do not need to think about how to hire Magento developers with the required skills as the company does the hiring process for you.
Hire Magento Developer: Main Mistakes Businesses Make
When you hire a Magento developer, it is important to understand that the choice of a reliable vendor directly influences the final result and the future success of your eCommerce businesses. Still, many companies cannot make the right choice. Instead, they make a lot of mistakes that prevent businesses from further growth. Let’s ensure that you will choose the right Magento eCommerce developer and won’t endanger your business.
- Going for the lowest price
Looking for the best quality and price ratio might be the best decision that you can make for your business when you try to hire Magento developers. At the same time, below-market prices should be perceived as a red flag. If we talk about cross-border outsourcing of online store development, take a look at the local prices and compare them with the prices of the Magento development company you are considering to hire for your next project.
- Ignoring the need for continuous development and support
After a store is up and running, the work for Magento eCommerce developers only begins. As a business operates and grows, there is always a need for security checks, Magento upgrade, performance improvements, and other related tasks.
Hence, when you hire a Magento developer, pay close attention to the provided services. If a company does not offer ongoing custom eCommerce store development and support, you may face serious difficulties in the future when you need to find another company to enhance the webstore with new functionality.
- Disregarding credentials verification
When businesses hire a Magento developer, they often skip another important step – verification of credentials and expertise. By evaluating the vendor’s portfolio, you will be able to identify projects that are similar to yours. Make sure to not only look through case studies but also to visit the developed eCommerce websites and see how they work.
Also, such platforms as Clutch, GoodFirms, ITFirms, and other directories provide valuable insight into what previous and current customers think about the provided services of the agency you are considering hiring.
- Forgetting about technical expertise
If you hire Magento developer, pay close attention to the technical expertise. It is recommended to work with companies that have at least a few employees with Magento developer certification. Developers with Magento certification have undergone an official knowledge evaluation and testing by the Magento company. This way, you will not have to doubt Magento developer skills, as they will be able to offer innovative approaches to eCommerce development.
Hiring Magento developers to build a new website or update an existing one is a challenging task that requires a thorough knowledge of the platform and experience working with it. The process of choosing the company should be approached with precision, carefulness, and industry knowledge.
How to Hire Magento Developer: Step-by-Step Guide
Choosing a Magento company is a complex process that consists of various steps. These can become a predetermining factor in the future success of an eCommerce website. To help you hire Magento developers that will deliver the best results within the set budget, we have created the following in-depth guide. Let’s look at the main steps that you will need to undergo before deciding on Magento developers.
- Analyze Initial Requirements for eCommerce Development
When you hire an eCommerce developer, you first need to understand the initial requirements for your project. Otherwise, you can face issues halfway through the development project, which will cost you time and money. That is why before you hire a Magento web developer, you need to analyze the scale of your project and which features it should have.
Let’s take at the main aspects you need to know about your project to hire a Magento developer to develop and maintain your store.
- Decide on the project type
First of all, decide which project you are going to build. Whether it will be an online store, a marketplace, or a platform to sell services online. Depending on the type of eCommerce website, you need to look for Magento eCommerce developers that have relevant experience and know how to deal with both small and large-scale projects.
- Conduct market research
Knowing your competition is vital for the success of your online store, otherwise, you will be navigating in the dark. By identifying your competition, you will be able to devise your own unique selling proposition, like store name and domain, that will help you attract customers.
- Set business goals
At this stage, you need to decide what products you are going to sell. Maybe you want to create a storefront to resell products manufactured by others, or you want to sell the products you manufacture or make yourself. Depending on the business type, you will need to identify dropshipping partners, wholesale sellers, or find a manufacturing facility that will help you produce your products. After that, you will need to decide on the pricing strategy and identify what revenue you will need to generate to support all business operations and cover expenses.
- Find shipping partners
Depending on whether you want to build a store for a local business or bring it to the international arena, you will need to identify shipping companies that will help you deliver products to customers.
- Legal registration
Before you hire a Magento developer, you need to take care of all the paperwork and make your future store legal.
- Plan and execute a marketing strategy
Out of millions of online stores, how do customers find yours? Developing a comprehensive marketing strategy is vital. You can start working on it even before you hire Magento developers. If you create an online storefront for an existing brick-and-mortar business, you can start advertising it among existing customers as soon as you have chosen a domain name.
Step-by-Step Process to Hire Magento Developer
After you have identified the initial requirements for your online store, you can move to the process where you hire a Magento developer. To minimize the risks and increase the chance of finding the best Magento web developers, you can follow the below step-by-step guide, which will help you to find a reliable vendor that will bring your idea to life.
Let’s take a look at how you can hire Magento developer:
- Customer Reviews
Company reviews are a great way to get a general sense of a company. These show how the company handled previous projects, what results delivered, how it communicated with customers, and its ability to deliver results in accordance with clients’ requirements. Negative reviews should be the first indicator that something might go amiss if you choose that company. You can find a lot of reviews on outsourcing platforms. The options include Clutch, The Manifest, GoodFirms, etc.
- Portfolio & Expertise
When you hire a Magento developer, pay close attention to the expertise and portfolio of the companies you are considering. To ensure that they are the right fit for your future project, find answers for the following questions:
- For how many years has the company been on the market?
- What is the number of projects it has developed?
- What experience does it have with Magento?
- Does it provide both design and development services?
- How many of the company’s employees are certified Magento developers?
- Location & Communication
As you are going to work with the vendor for a long time, you need to make sure that the communication process will run without a hitch. That is why you should inquire about the communication channels, responsible specialists who handle it, and the hours during which you can reach the team working for you.
Differences in time zones are also another factor that can complicate communication. That is why you should pay close attention to it when you hire a Magento developer.
- Quality & Price ratio
This is where you should really understand that the lowest price is the worst indicator for you to choose the company. Magento development companies can use different business models:
- Fixed price – you will know the final result and provide from the very beginning of your cooperation.
- Time and material – the model allows for a more flexible approach as you create a list of requirements. The company delivers them step-by-step, and you pay for each development stage. If needed, you can easily add additional functionality and tasks after a stage is finished.
- Dedicated team – such a model offers the highest flexibility and, at the same time, is the most money-consuming. You can have a team that works on your project or even a team that becomes your remote IT department. Payments are charged gradually.
Wondering how much it will cost you to develop a website on Magento?
Take a look at the article How Much Does a Magento 2 Website Cost: Editions, Services, & Additional Expenses. It will provide you with an in-depth overview of the main expenses of the Magento website development.
Usually, the creation of a brand-new custom website requires the following web development services:
- Web design – the creation of an attractive storefront based on the best UX and UI practices.
- Web development – front-end and back-end development of a new store with modules configuration and APIs integration.
- Quality assurance – through testing of the created website to identify any problems with functionality and performance.
- Ongoing development and support – after a website is launched, it will need to be upgraded.
- Regular security checks – these are an integral part of eCommerce development as such websites process a lot of personal and sensitive customer data.
Overall, the development process looks the following – develop, test, deploy and launch the website.
Looking for the Best Magento eCommerce Developer: Bottom Line
Finding a Magento development vendor is a challenging and complex task. The decision you make at the beginning of the development will have long-lasting consequences. Here is a quick 4-step checklist that will help hire Magento developer:
- Do not compare prices – this is the worth strategy for choosing an eCommerce agency. Concentrate on the expertise, location, and communication instead.
- Set requirements form the beginning – it will help you avoid unexpected results in the future and will help to build a budget.
- Portfolio & reviews – pay close attention to them as they are the best indicator of professionalism and readiness to provide the best services. You can find reviews on such platforms as Clutch, GoodFirms, etc.
- Communication & feedback – be clear about your expectations and provide feedback on the results your vendor provides.
