Hire a web developer without flying blind

Most web projects do not fail because of the code.

They fail because nobody agreed on anything properly.

When you hire a web developer, you are not buying a finished product off a shelf. You are buying working hours, judgement, and a result that only takes shape as you go. That is exactly why preparation pays. Know your scope and you get better quotes. Understand the roles and you avoid misunderstandings. Read the contract and you will never argue about who owns the code.

This page sorts out the essentials.

Designer or developer: who does what

The designer shapes it, the developer builds it. On small projects, that is often the same person.

The distinction is simple enough.

A web designer handles appearance and guidance. Layout, colour, typography, click paths. The output is a mockup, usually in Figma. Nothing runs in a browser yet.

A web developer turns that into working code. HTML, CSS, JavaScript, plus a CMS such as WordPress. They think about load time, forms, databases and interfaces. They make sure the site still looks clean on a four-year-old Android phone.

The two interlock.

A beautiful mockup without solid code stays a picture. Solid code without a mockup looks like a tax form.

Plenty of freelancers cover both roles. That removes handovers and friction. On bigger projects the roles split again into design, frontend and backend, often across a small team.

Ask directly in the first call. Who draws the screens? Who writes the code? Who handles hosting and maintenance afterwards?

One person for everything means one point of contact. On a modest budget that is almost always the better choice. There is more on this under web development and hiring a freelance web designer.

How to spot a good web developer

References, technology stack and responsiveness are enough for a shortlist. The rest shows up in the first conversation.

Look at real projects. Live links, not screenshots. Open them on your phone. Check load time, navigation and the contact form. That takes ten minutes and tells you more than any About page.

Ask about the technology stack. WordPress is widespread and easy for someone else to take over later. Custom development is more flexible but ties you harder to documentation and a clean handover. Both are fine. What is not fine is a stack nobody except that one developer understands.

Ask about the handover. Does the code live in a repository on GitHub or GitLab? Do you get every login? Is there short written documentation?

Watch the response time before you sign. It rarely improves afterwards.

Pushback is a good sign. A developer who finds every part of your idea brilliant is not thinking with you. Someone who asks questions, offers alternatives and occasionally talks you out of something will save you money.

Price is rarely the first criterion. The cheapest quote usually contains the least thinking, and change requests eat the savings fast.

How the engagement actually runs

From first call to launch, a company website usually takes four to eight weeks. The sequence is nearly identical in every project.

It starts with a short call, often 15 to 30 minutes. Goal, audience, budget, deadline. After that you should get an honest assessment, even if it is uncomfortable.

Then comes the quote. A good one itemises the work: number of pages, features, how many revision rounds, the schedule. Three rounds is standard.

Once you accept, there is a deposit. With freelancers, 30 to 50 percent up front is normal. The remainder falls due after acceptance.

Then the build happens, usually in stages: structure, design, implementation, content, testing. You see interim versions instead of one big reveal at the end.

Before launch comes acceptance. You check functions, copy, forms and how everything renders on a phone. Defects get written down, not mentioned in passing.

Finally you take over accounts, repository and passwords.

The most common delay is not the code. It is the text and images the client promised to supply. Gather your content before the project starts and you will shorten it noticeably.

Contract, liability and usage rights

A web project is normally a contract for a result: the developer owes a finished deliverable, not just effort.

The distinction matters in practice. When a specific result is owed, there is a formal acceptance step and a period during which defects must be fixed at no extra cost. When only working time is owed, no particular outcome is guaranteed. Ongoing support and retainers usually fall into that second category, which is fine as long as everyone knows it. Specifics vary by jurisdiction, so check how your local contract law frames it before signing.

Four points belong in every agreement.

Scope of work

What exactly gets built? Pages, features, languages, integrations. What is explicitly excluded belongs in there too. Copywriting, photography and stock licences are the classic omissions.

Usage rights

Without an agreement, rights generally remain with whoever created the work. Get usage rights to design and code granted in writing, and state whether the grant is exclusive and whether it covers later modifications by someone else.

Liability and data protection

You are responsible as the operator for the content you publish. The developer is responsible for defects in what they built. If they get access to personal data, most data protection regimes require a written data processing agreement between you.

Payment and exit

Payment terms, deposit, notice periods. For ongoing maintenance, one month's notice to the end of a quarter is a common arrangement.

Costs by project type, and the maintenance question

Prices track scope, not page count. A landing page runs 1,000 to 3,000 Euro, a web application 10,000 Euro and up.

A rough map helps you compare quotes.

A single landing page usually costs 1,000 to 3,000 Euro. A small company website with five to ten pages lands at 3,500 to 8,000 Euro. An online shop starts around 4,000 Euro and can reach 25,000 Euro. A custom web application with user accounts and a database begins at roughly 10,000 Euro.

Hourly rates for freelancers sit between 70 and 120 Euro. Agencies commonly bill 120 to 180 Euro. The gap is rarely quality, it is structure: project management, office, sales.

A fixed price works when the scope is properly described. You know the total in advance and changes run through written add-ons. The page on fixed-price web design shows what that looks like in practice.

For open-ended work, an hourly rate is simply more honest. That applies especially to a custom web application.

Maintenance gets forgotten most often. Updates, security patches, backups, small edits. Realistically that is 50 to 200 Euro per month. Without it, every website ages badly, and WordPress ages fastest.

Budget maintenance in from day one. Otherwise the project costs more after twelve months than you planned.

Let's talk.