What to Watch Out For When Hiring Shopify Developers

There’s a lot to look out for when hiring Shopify developers for your ecommerce store Here's what you need to know to make sure you don’t come unstuck

13:50 07 February 2021

If you’ve got no experience in developing a website yourself, it would be silly to think that you could take care of everything on your own without any professional help. Shopify is known for being user friendly, sure, but without Shopify developers to guide you, you’re not going to get the absolute most out of the platform. As a retail business owner, there’s a lot to concentrate on, from managing your inventory to getting your product fine-tuned for launch.

 

Someone with expert knowledge of the platform can get everything optimized so that anyone visiting your site will get a great experience and be encouraged to make a purchase.

 

Shopify Developers Are More Efficient With Your Time

 

Even if you’re technically minded, it takes time to become familiar with a new platform - even one as user-friendly as Shopify. Someone with specialist knowledge will waste no time in carrying out the necessary changes, as they won’t have to figure out how it’s done first.

 

What You Should Be Looking Out For

 

So, you’ve made your decision to go for a 3rd party developer. Now’s the time to start looking for the telltale signs that separate the best from the rest.

 

First of all, any experienced developer will have knowledge of JavaScript, PHP and Shopify’s API. In addition to this, Shopify developers should have excellent communication skills, an extensive portfolio of past work and be responsive when you need them. Transparency is another of the biggest things to look out for, as you don’t want to be constantly chasing your developer for updates when you have better things to do with your time.

 

They should also have a great-looking website themselves, as you don’t want to get a haircut from a bald barber, if you know what I mean. It should be fast-loading and have lots of impressive features

 

Reviews Are Important Too

 

For any kind of business, there is no better gauge than the reviews they have from past customers. Shopify developers live and die by the services they provide, so if their reviews reflect that they’re good at both the technical side and customer service, it’s what you want to hear. I’ve seen developers arguing with past customers on social media - never a good sign - and this is most often accompanied by some bad customer reviews, so the two go hand in hand. Look down past the first few too, as they may have some dodgy ones further down and it’s best to be thorough.

 

Do Your Homework & You Should Be Fine

 

When you’re choosing which Shopify developers to use, it really does pay to do your homework and find out about the company you’re using first. There are key signs like responsiveness, customer feedback and a working portfolio that will guide you in the right direction. In my experience, if a business decision gives you a knot in your stomach, it’s likely to be a bad one.

 

If you find the developer you’re talking to is vague about cost, time-frame or anything else, you should stop and think “They’re being like this now when and they’re still trying to win my business!”. It’s an alarming sign as transparency is a given with good developers.

 

So, when all is said and done, what out for these signs, check developer reviews and you’ll go a long way to getting services worth the investment.