The developer is the one who shapes hundreds of thousands of lines of code to create a site. From a CMS / CRM already designed by other developers or from scratch, the coder will create the functioning of the site of your dreams.
But, speaking of CMS / CRM, if you have a very efficient one, do you necessarily need a developer for your website, be it storefront or e-commerce? And if so, should you hire him or trust a web design company? We’re here to help you make a decision!
Why do you need a developer for your e-commerce site project?
“I have an easily customizable web solution, why do I need a developer?” You say? For several reasons:
Save time yourself in configuring the web solution
For an e-commerce site for example, even the simplest site creation solution will need to be set up, and a developer trained on it will go much faster than you for this, saving you precious time (and therefore money).
And even the CMS known to be the easiest to use (WordPress for example), may need to be technically modified to correspond to certain specific projects!
No web solution offers the functionality you need
If you are in a particular industry, or want to stand out from the crowd, there may be no site creation solution that meets your expectations 100%. In this case, you have to get your hands on the code and create what you need! you will surely need one for your website development.
Adapt an existing functionality to your needs
Your CMS / CRM solution offers the functionalities you are looking for but is missing a detail or you would like it to work differently? You will have to adapt the code to your requirements, so you will need a developer, if you are not yourself.
Update the web solution
A large part of CMS must be updated as improvements are made by their creators. Why do you need a developer for this? Because it can happen that there are errors, incompatibilities between modules which can cause a malfunction. This is the case with WordPress and Prestashop for example, but others as well. Thus, a developer will find out and pay attention to these problems before making the updates, and will resolve any technical issues.
Correct one or more technical errors
Oops, you shouldn’t have pressed this button, here you are with hours of work or thousands of data flying… To avoid having to redo everything, a developer will, in the vast majority of cases, have a solution to offer you to recover everything!
A small piece of code removed by mistake, and your site does not look like anything or does not work as it should? It happens, and a developer will fix it for you quickly!
Developer in web design company or in-house: what advantages and disadvantages?
You should have understood that you definitely need a developer at some point in your project. But should you recruit a developer in your company or use an web design company? Small tour of the advantages and disadvantages of the two solutions.
Benefits of the internal developer
- Speed of response and availability,
- Knowledge of business needs.
Disadvantages of the internal developer
- He does not necessarily know all the technologies,
- It is not necessarily profitable in the long term,
- Putting the project on hold in the event of absence or leave,
- It costs you a lot in coffee 😉.
Benefits of the web design company developer
- You pay only for the services requested,
- No putting the project on hold in the event of absence (colleagues take over).
Disadvantages of the web design company developer
- Sometimes lower responsiveness depending on the web design company’s internal deadlines,
- Higher cost per hour,
- It costs a lot in coffee (but not to you).
How to choose an internal developer or an web design company?
Now that you’ve chosen which in-house developer or web design company best fits your project, you need to find the right person or web design company! How one can know if the person will meet his expectations and if the collaboration will go well?
Recruit a developer
To recruit a developer for your business, you first need to list the skills you need. Programming languages to know, CMS and web solutions to know how to use, think carefully of everything, even what does not directly concern your site. Maybe you will need it for a mobile app?
A developer can always learn a new technology but the training time is of course significant, it must be planned in advance. So do not ask a developer specializing in a certain programming language to learn another in two days … Similarly if you are migrating a site to a solution that your developer has never used, it will take time. time to explore the documentation.
In addition, developers are more and more difficult to satisfy. Their skills are essential for a web project and they logically become more demanding in their missions or workplace. Make sure you have the necessary workload for a full-time developer.
Choose a web design company
Choosing a web design company is done a little on the same principle as for a developer: you will choose it based on your needs in web solutions, languages and CMS. Most agencies have a few site building solutions they specialize in, few that handle all of the existing site building solutions.
Among the agencies specializing in the CMS of your choice, you can have a difference in services and technologies. Not all existing programming languages are necessarily worked on either. But with a diversity of profiles within the web design company, you generally cover a greater field of possibilities than with a single developer.
So study the web design company’s book, see if they have already developed a feature you are looking for. A web design company capable of developing a tailor-made functionality is a real advantage, because you can ask it for anything you need (and which is technically possible).
Do not hesitate to contact clients of the web design company to find out if everything is going well and to know the deadlines of certain projects, for example. Just like with an employee, a relationship with an web design company is human, also take the time to meet the future project manager.
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