3 Things to Look Out for When Hiring a Web Developer
The way your website looks can make or break your business with respect to making sales and attracting a niche audience. Therefore, you need to use the services of a web developer who knows what it takes to provide a pleasant user experience (UX). The developer you choose should be skilled in UX design and provide you with services that will lower your site’s bounce rate, increase conversions, and boost your profits.
Before you start marketing or even product sourcing for your eCommerce business, you need to establish your web presence. And to do so, you’ll need to hire a professional.
So, what three things should you look out for when hiring a web developer? The following information will answer this question and help you make an informed decision about how to design a responsive and lead-friendly website.
1. Know How to Design a Lead-Generating Landing Page
Some landing pages feature a lot of distractions or “noise.” If you want to keep users on your page, your website platform should feature an easy-to-read font and an uncluttered format. The simpler the appearance, the better, as you want your visitors to feel motivated to review your products and content.
To get your visitors to click on the CTA (click-to-action) button, the web developer must have the skills to ensure that the site flows well and comes together cohesively. That is why your web developer should have UX design skills or specialize in this area. One of the most important attributes of a well-formatted landing page is that it hooks the visitor and engages them from the start.
The page should be set up so the visitor feels compelled to click through the pages on the platform as well as scroll through the content. A web developer, who can create a streamlined experience, usually will include the CTA button on the landing page. They will make sure the button serves as the pipeline for all your business’s leads.
2. Experienced in SEO, Link Development, and Content Management
Not only should a web developer know how to format a landing page to attract visitors, but they should be able to add SEO content that drives traffic to your site. Very few people can find a website through a home page anymore.
Therefore, the web developer you hire must know how to optimize content so it leads back to your company’s landing page. For example, content should be added to guest blogs, social media posts, and included in press release announcements.
When a viewer visits your site, they should be able to receive a fairly quick answer to the question he or she posed while searching. The developer should also be able to learn more about your site by clicking on embedded links. Therefore, you need to use the services of a web developer who has a strong background in SEO and organic linking. Not only will this increase your professional credibility, but it will also give you an edge in the search engine rankings.
3. Able to Customize Your Site’s Design
When you seek out the services of a web developer, you also have to review the specific skills that he or she possesses. As noted, he or she should have specialized knowledge in UX design as well as offer the following:
A strong understanding of programs, such as HTML, CSS, and Java to customize your web design and make it more responsive. Hyper-Text Markup Language (HTML) represents the standard markup language that creates web pages and therefore serves as a building block for website development. CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) represents the language used to present a document created with HTML. Therefore, a web developer uses CSS to develop a page’s colors, fonts, layout, or overall design and style. The developer uses Java to build dynamic web pages – pages that ensure engagement in the form of inquiries and sign-ups.
They should also be proficient in testing and debugging. For example, functional testing checks the functionality of a site, such as a database or a form, making sure it does everything it has been coded to perform. On the other hand, unit testing assesses small bits of code, and checks and reviews it separately to make sure it operates correctly.
Additional Skills
When choosing a website developer, ask them about their training and ask to see samples of websites they have designed. Your goal, when choosing a developer, is to find someone who understands your needs to generate leads and keep visitors on your site. Therefore, their skills must be closely aligned with these goals.
That means they must have strong UX design skills, a keen insight on what draws traffic to a site (whether it involves SEO, content distribution, or linking), and expert skills in HTML, CSS, and Java. These three basic requirements will give you the ability to realize lower bounce rates and an increase in revenue.
Therefore, your web developer can be extremely helpful to you if you wish to attract visitors and improve your website’s appearance, stats, and ranking. That is why they should possess the capability to attract leads, lower the bounce rate, add content that will be read, and test the site to ensure continued traffic. By having this type of talent supporting you online, you will have everything you need to attract customers and increase your conversion rates over time.
