Freelance Web Developer

Q. What advice do you have for a customer looking to hire a provider like you?

A. Don't take the lowest price; you really do get what you pay for. Find someone you can trust, and who has experience doing exactly what you're looking for. You want your project done ASAP, so hiring someone who is going to "figure it out" might sound promising, especially for a low price, but in the end is probably going to be a bigger headache than anything else.

Q. If you were a customer, what do you wish you knew about your trade? Any inside secrets to share?

A. Many things that you see on a lot of web sites these days look really fancy and seem extremely complicated, but you don't want to underestimate the power of the Plugin. Most sites doing really fancy JavaScript-related animations, etc. take advantage of plugins and pre-built features to speed up development. That saved time should be passed on to you.

Also, design takes a lot of work, and without a clear vision for the designer, the process will seem endless for the designer. Do what you can to develop your idea of what you want BEFORE hiring. If you still need some help, a good designer will help you think through the questions you need to be asking.

Q. What questions should a consumer ask to hire the right service professional?

A. In the case of design and programming services, there are fewer questions that are directly helpful, but you can easily ask to be shown a body of work. Any designer worth his salt will have assembled a portfolio, and a great one will have an online portfolio you can review immediately.

But other good questions for a programmer would be, "How long did it take you to do - THAT site?" while reviewing their portfolio. This will help you gauge the amount of time yours will take to complete. Ask about features that you've seen elsewhere that you'd like to include on your site.

Q. What important information should buyers have thought through before seeking you out?

A. Any time you are seeking a designer or developer, the first thing you need to know is, "What do you like?" This will immediately point the designer/developer in the right direction and will cut down on production time and costs on your end.

You should also have a good idea of your budget in mind. This is why knowing how long things will take is important, and knowing how to get a time quote, especially when you've been quoted an hourly rate. This keeps quotes from being arbitrary.

Think long-term. Will you need someone to do work for you regularly? The easiest way to get what you need is to find someone you like to work with and keep working with them; and freelancers love return customers.