Articles
What a freelance web developer can do
By Carsten Bjerregaard, Marketingcapacity.dk (Link to the article. Copying/publishing without agreement is not allowed)
A web developer develops websites, webshops, apps, landing pages, banner ads and other web entities. The web developer can code themselves and build solutions on various CMS systems such as WordPress, HubSpot and Drupal. A skilled web developer can also ensure integration with other systems and data sources via the so-called API standard. It's almost impossible to run a marketing business today without access to a web developer. In-house or perhaps as a freelancer.
What is web development?
Web development is about developing interfaces between companies or other organizations and their stakeholders. Typically their customers. The web developer is the person who designs for screens and actually uploads code to the web to power up and allow both the company and customers to navigate on various devices. Typically:
- Websites
- Landing pages
- Web shops
- Platforms
- Apps
In practice, this means that the web developer works with:
- Design (often in collaboration with UX specialists, graphic and web designers)
- Styling
- Wireframing
- Coding or programming - often in sprints
- Developing functionality
- Use of various platforms and support tools
- Prototype manufacturing
- Testing
- Troubleshooting
- Uploading data
- Migration of previous solutions
- Load time optimization
- Integration with other systems - e.g. warehouse systems or customer data systems
A web developer is thus a central role in all digital marketing. The function that literally executes strategy by connecting:
- Customers
- Products and services
- Information
- Functionality
- Purchase transaction
- ERP system
What else is a web developer called?
It's also referred to as a programmer or a web designer or front-end developer.
How does the web developer create value?
As mentioned, a modern marketing function can't function without access to web development, because it's the access to the web itself that matters. But in addition to bringing the business online, the web developer creates value by:
- Create a design that supports your company's brands
- Create a design that is intuitive and easy to navigate
- Create functionality that helps visitors and engages them
- Make it easy to order, sign up, purchase or interact in other ways
- Make it easy for companies to keep track of their digital solutions
- Make it easy to update content and products
- Make sure the web presence is up and running and optimized for performance, search engines, etc.
All of which helps to create customer satisfaction, loyalty, basket size, higher revenue and increased contribution margin.
What does a web developer need to know?
In short, a web designer must be able to understand, translate and execute the company's wishes for its digital presence. Depending on the size of the company and the colleagues the web designer works with, this may require the web developer to understand and be able to offer a fairly broad spectrum at different stages:
Strategy
- What do we want?
- What do customers need?
Design
- Flow and wireframes
- Pillar pages (for SEO optimization)
- Design guide and principles
- Prototype development
- Should it be responsive?
Implementation
- Platform selection
- Creating structure and metadata
- Testing in different browsers
- Performance testing such as load time and uptime
- Uploading, image processing, alignment etc.
And this inherently requires the web developer to be familiar with - and able to use - a wide range of tools and technologies:
- WordPress
- CSS Bootstrap
- Drupal
- Hubspot
- Headless CMS
- Angular
- View
- JavaScript
- HTML
- Various bots
- Open Graph Meta Tags
- Cookies
- Ruby
- CRM
- Google Analytics
- Google Tag Manager
- Google Core Web Vitals
- Servers
- Cloud
- Etc.
Personal skills that make a web developer better
There's no doubt that a web developer needs to know their technical stuff. And understand the possibilities so they can choose and communicate what they can and can't do. But technology alone doesn't do it. How good solutions the web developer can create is also about collaboration. Therefore, it's also a good idea to look for personal skills such as:
- Curiosity (opportunities and standards on the web are constantly evolving)
- Wealth of ideas
- Holistic orientation
- Attention to detail
- Orderliness
- The ability to understand a task
- The ability to finish
- Focus on results
- Respect for time, both for deadlines and for the time of others
- Communication skills
- Collaboration skills
- Creativity
- Sense of quality (e.g. in terms of aesthetics, images, etc.)
- Sense of logic and systematics
- Empathy - understanding both internal clients and external customers
Why a freelance web developer?
In the past, most people might have thought of freelancers for one-off projects. However, many companies have now realized the benefits of working with freelancers on a long-term basis:
- You can cover needs that don't justify a permanent position
- In periods when you don't need it, you don't pay for the skill
- In a long-term relationship, the freelancer gets to know the company almost as well as a permanent employee
- Compared to buying the desired skill set from an agency - such as an advertising agency - working with freelancers is usually much cheaper
- You have the flexibility to rethink the overall competency profile of the person responsible for an area
- More and more really talented people prefer to work freelance
- A freelancer can still look at your business 'from the outside' - which is a valuable thing when thinking about creative
- Freelancers can bring fresh, outside inspiration to your business
How do you find a good freelance web developer?
Finding the right freelancer can be difficult. And above all, it can take a long time. Because there are many freelancers within the same field, and even if they boast the same skills, there can be a big difference when it comes to the way they work and the work they deliver. When you ask Marketingcapacity.dk to help you find a freelancer to work with, the process is simple:
- You describe your needs to us (either in writing or verbally - we'll confirm in an email)
- We screen the thousands of profiles on Marketingcapacity.dk and, if necessary, the market through our channels
- We nominate a list of candidates and talk to them according to your needs
- You will be presented with 3 candidates that seem to meet your needs
- During the 3 meetings (at your location or digitally) you can ask questions and see examples of their work
- You choose the freelancer you would like to start working with
- We set it up in our systems with time tracking etc. so you have an overview and full control
In other words: After describing your needs, simply set aside 2 hours to meet with 3 hand-picked and screened candidates. That's your guarantee of a good result with reasonable effort.
