Hire a Shopify Developer 2021 Guide

Are you looking to improve your online store by creating a Shopify ecommerce site? Or perhaps you aren't completely satisfied with your businesses online services and are you trying to start a Shopify ecommerce project but don't know where to start to find the best developers for your project team? If you find yourself asking any of these frequently asked questions, then this guide could be for you!

In this guide on how to hire Shopify developers we will offer our experts advice for what to look for in a Shopify developer, what Shopify developers do, and where you can hire a Shopify developer in 2021. These topics can be difficult to navigate, especially when it comes down to having a thorough understanding of the different types of developers, support services, and important skills that are required to create ecommerce sites. However, in this guide we are going to walk through everything that you need to know to hire top Shopify developers for your businesses and feel that your hired the perfect Shopify developer for your team!

Why have an Ecommerce Store?

While it may seem intuitive, the first question we are going to look at is, "why have an e commerce store?" Then we will explore how Shopify developers can help to improve your company or business and why hiring a Shopify developer can help your sales and clients experience. From our perspective, here are some of the main reasons to have an online store:

- One of the first major reasons that an online store may be good for your business is that the number of people who shop and buy products from a website or online platform is steadily growing. Many clients have gotten used to doing their shopping through online stores and many top companies have even transitioned to doing most of their sales through a website or online platform.

- Secondly, using a Shopify platform allows for your businesses or company to reach a larger number of clients from a much larger geographic area. Using an ecommerce site allows you to offer your products or services to clients all over the world!

- One of the advantages of using top-notch ecommerce platforms like Shopify is the ability to add a variety of supplementary tools for tasks of varying complexity. This could be anything from image optimization to 3D configuration and augmented reality. Having a Shopify store can help you to make complex and interactive online stores for your business.

Advantages of Having an Ecommerce Store on Shopify

One of the advantages of using an e commerce platform like Shopify is that they have created centralized locations for things like Shopify apps. This can help new clients to find your Shopify website or platform. This can help to expand your online business and have a website to advertise your ecommerce store. They also have something similar for experts dealing in numerous aspects of Shopify stores such as store setup, marketing and sales, development and troubleshooting, visual content and branding, content writing, and expert guidance.

There are two ways to go about using such a marketplace.

- The first is to post a job where you describe what you need and get proposals from experts recommended by the platform. 

- The second is to explore various services and directly request quotes from experts under those categories.

A major benefit of this method is that you can manually refine your search results using filters such as price range, country/region, languages, and industry expertise. You can also view the number of jobs completed, the star rating, and other more detailed reviews/testimonials. This helps you get closer to picking a developer that will deliver.

Why Hire a Shopify Developer?

If you run an e-commerce store and you’re actively trying to grow your site, you might find yourself having to make intricate adjustments to your user experience, marketing, checkout, etc. that require a developer’s expertise. Some of these tools may be developed in-house/part of the platform’s offering depending on your chosen plan while others may be developed by 3rd party entities. Unfortunately, these solutions don’t always take into account every possible approach to doing business.

The result may be a small issue like compatibility while in other cases, the available tools are totally unable to perform the task at hand. This is where Shopify developers come into play. If you are too busy to find a Shopify expert on your own, just fill in the hiring form or click the button below and we will provide you with suitable candidates within 24 hours. Finding Shopify programmers that can create a good ecommerce strategy can be a great way to improve the performance of your company and meet your business needs.

What do Shopify developers do?

A Shopify developer, or Shopify web development team, is someone who can help you build a Shopify store or make important updates to your existing store. Shopify developers focus on building ecommerce websites that can engage clients with your online stores and products. A Shopify developer would have skills that involve primarily on web design and coding for e commerce platforms. An not only coding, but many developers are also web designers and have skills for being able to market products online. Because of the popularity of having an online store on Shopify, there is a high demand for hiring Shopify experts. That's why it can be useful to know more about the process of development and what common skills to look for when you want to hire a Shopify programmer for your development team.

Common Skills of a Shopify Developer

If you are looking to hire Shopify developer, then there are some common skills that you should look for. Here are some examples of what a Shopify developer should be able to do:

- Understand the basics of PHP, JavaScript, and JQuery.

- Have experience working with payment gateways

- Understand basics of designing and creating ecommerce sites

- Have deep knowledge of working with the platform APIs.

- Build scalable and functional web designs

- Understands version control for Shopify theme development

- Add new features to an existing Shopify store and understand web development.

- Be capable of migrating an existing e commerce store to Shopify.

The best Shopify developers shouldn't just be able to do just one thing, but they would be able to make a unique custom design for you or your company and be able to make important changes to your Shopify project whenever they come up. Experienced Shopify developers can provide a variety of software solutions, be it a few lines of code for additional functionality or full-on applications for specific tasks. If you hire Shopify experts, they deal with fundamentals like template coding but they can also handle custom modules development and integration with 3rd party software.

Now that we have looked at some of the basic skills to look for when you want to hire Shopify experts, let’s go through some steps to take when hiring Shopify developers.

Steps to Hire Shopify Developers

As you start the process to hire a Shopify developer, there are some helpful steps that can be useful to make sure that you find an expert developer for your project.

- The first step in this process is to determine what exactly it is you’re trying to get help for. It could be editing theme code, enabling 3D and AR shopping experiences, integrating discount and loyalty program apps with other tools, etc.

- Make sure you research a little bit more about the issue you’re having or whatever is involved in building the ecommerce solutions you need. Find out what is needed to create a solution (programming languages, hardware, etc.). Get more clarity on how long it takes to complete such a project before you hire.

- Learn about the deliverables, any other programmers you may need to involve in supporting roles like testing, and the rates they usually charge. It is not enough to be able to say “I want a developer who can do ABC”. This only applies to much simpler projects and if you want to hire Shopify programmers with good experience and high tech talent, then it will be useful to have some more information about what kind of development project you are doing. .

Sometimes different developers arrive at the same result using slightly distinct methods. You need to make sure that you can be a little more specific about the required developer capabilities so that you end up with a solution that fits perfectly into the larger picture.

Ask The Right Questions

Once you’ve zeroed in one a few candidates, it is crucial to ask the kind of questions so as to ensure that you find the right fit. Failure to do this properly could end with you having to re-assign the entire project to another developer or have numerous revisions that distort your whole project.

You can categorize these questions into two sets; “Can they do the job?” and “Can they work the way I need them to?”.

This is because while someone may be able to do the job you want, they might have certain stipulations due to overbooking, irredeemable payments from previous employers, and other conditions regarding revisions from the employer, etc., that make them unsuitable for you.

Start by finding out whether they can do the job. This primarily includes skill-based questions like:

- What tools they use (for programming, project management, etc.)

- Who they’ve worked for before (especially someone they did a similar job for)

- How much experience they have with Shopify development

- How conversant they are with device compatibility

- What do you know about SEO

To determine whether a developer is a right fit, you can ask questions that speak to the nature of your work and the current state of your store. Some examples may look a bit like this:

-  How good are your communication skills?

-  Can you easily collaborate with a team?

-  How will you make my store more unique?

-  What are your payment terms?

-  How soon can I get a sample of the work?

Other Areas To Look Out For

Professionalism – A good freelance developer should have their own website and custom domain name plus email address. They should also have their other information like contacts and portfolio well-organized, compact, and tailored to whatever medium they use. 

Effectiveness – You can find out how effective a developer is by visiting the sites listed in their portfolio and testing them on their Shopify development skills. Look at them as a customer and ask yourself whether they look the way you’d want yours to, and have features that behave the exact way you want yours to.This is one of the best ways to work around fake reviews and ratings.

Continuity – It is extremely vital to select a developer who will not just deliver the product and leave. You should choose someone who will offer technical support after delivery. These solutions don’t always hit the ground running, and even when they do, new changes in other related areas can affect them. For the more integral business elements like payments and promotions, you want to make sure that there’s minimal downtime or other errors. This is where round-the-clock support for your Shopify store can come in handy.

Budgeting - Another key consideration is budgeting and cost effectively planning for your project. Just because the internet says you can get a job X done for an amount Y, doesn’t mean you should set aside just Y for the project. Sometimes, you’ll find that you can’t pay a certain developer in a particular currency, or you need extra hands to polish the work delivered. In other cases, you might get a complete solution, but it may not have the ultimate desired effect. Some developers also leave for other opportunities further down the road or want to be paid a higher hourly basis. Your budget must anticipate all sorts of miscellaneous costs and setbacks meaning that you should probably have a cap somewhere above what your research initially told you.

Shopify integration developers can take your Shopify store from one that works well for a few people, to one that is loved by the masses. Next we will look at some place that you can go to hire top shopify developers and freelancers in 2021!

Hiring Platforms

Another option when hiring e-commerce developers is to look outside the Shopify fold. and explore other platforms to hire Shopify developers. This can be very helpful in situations where you have a very elaborate e-commerce arrangement and need the skills of a Shopify expert for your project. The more you rely on APIs, cloud technology, and multiple channels like voice command, wearables, IoT devices, etc., the more likely you are to need someone with a skill set that goes far beyond basic Shopify development tasks. You will also find more flexibility in regard to aspects like price, location, delivery schedules, etc.

If you aren’t very sure about how every part of your ecommerce project is going to run, you might want to consider someone who can work in a manner that is different from the standard procedures or contracts that are common in the industry. Remember that these platforms also have stringent vetting processes in place to maintain the quality of their pool and have plenty of social proof from rating sites and previous customers to back up their services. They include Upwork, PeoplePerHour, Fiverr, Toptal, etc.

While looking through candidates on these platforms, it is also important to know whether your business wants to deal with an individual or an agency.

With agencies, you might end up paying a little since they probably have greater overhead from all the other things that come with being a middleman. But for large companies with a lot of bureaucracy surrounding payments processes, they might be a better option in terms of professionalism and legitimacy. They may also do a better job at filling any gaps in the work with minimal back and forth. There are many other general freelance sites where you can find Shopify developers. However, these may require a little more work to land on the right one for you.

On the other hand, a lone developer on a marketplace or freelancers platform is more likely to bring more creativity and flexibility where needed, with a final product that feels like less of an off-the-shelf template. Whether you need one developer or a development team, hiring developers at EliteBrains can be the best option for finding expert Shopify developers while also considering cost effective solutions. EliteBrains has a 4/5 Trustscore and offers a free no-risk trial period so that you can hire the best developers for your team. This website focuses on finding the best website developers and offering a list of qualified Shopify experts when you sign up and fill out the online form.