Looking for app developers near you? Tips to find local app developers

Whenever you want to get an app developed, you would probably go to Google and search  “ Best app developers near me” to find the local expert. Google will show you several results and sometimes it gets difficult to decide who is the best app developer in your local area.  Hiring an app developer is not an easy process. There are several developers available in the market, not all of them have the quality to understand your business and needs. To hire a local app developer, you need to assess them on several parameters. To make it easier, we have created a list of tips that helps in finding an app developer.

Where to Find for local app developers?

Search on Google

Google is one of the best platforms to find the right mobile app developer for our project. You can search for an app developer by entering the right query on google like “app developer near me” “looking for local app developer” “best app developer” and many more. Google will show a list of results but you have to be careful and thoroughly check the developer or company you find on here. You can select the best app developer from them by comparing their Expertise,Team size, Rate, Past projects, Experience, Client reviews, Technology, and Location.

Search on Linkedin

With over 766 million users, linkedin is a social media platform that allows you to build a strong professional network. Linkedin is often seen as a network for recruiting and job hunting but it is also an excellent platform to search and connect mobile app developers or agencies for your app project. Finding the best mobile app developer or agency is one of the main challenges for any Startup, linkedin could be the solution to get one. 

Optimize your network

Most entrepreneurs overlook how vast their network is. Your personal or professional network is one of the best places to find good mobile app developers. You can ask your friend, relative, or colleague for a favor. Someone in your network might have worked with an app developer or company in the past. You can get a valuable reference from there.

Consider checking review sites

If you want to hire an mobile app development company, you should consider checking business review websites like Clutch and Good firms. They do detailed research and show valuable information about companies like Client’s review, rating, technology expertise, past projects, costing, hourly rates, location, and many more. This information helps to identify reliable and best app development companies according to your business needs and goals.

Look at freelancing websites

Upwork and Freelancer are the best platforms to find expert developers or agencies for your app project. You can find a developer from all over the world with a specific skill set and communicate with them any time. You just need to create a client account and post a detailed job on these websites. Developers or agencies see your job post and start bidding and offer their services. You can review their proposal, portfolio and expertise and start conducting interviews. After selecting the developer you can control the pace to project by creating milestones.

What you need to have before you hire local app developers?

Define your business needs

The more you are clear regarding your business needs and goals, the easier it will be to decide whether to outsource the development or hire an in-house team. For example, if you are a well-established company that needs to build more than one app, an in-house team will be a good choice. On the other hand, if you’re a startup that needs the app to build quickly at a low cost, outsource the development work well for you. To create a successful app, you should also be clear about the app concept and targeted audience.

Define your technical needs

To make sure that you will hire the right developer for your project, you first understand the basic technical needs of the job. You need to know What specialties are required?What programming languages are used? Average hourly rates in the market? What development process is best suited? Andriod or iOS app development?. Having this basic understanding of work helps you in hiring good developers.

13 Questions to ask local app developer

1. How much experience do you have in app development?

The first and most important question to ask before hiring an app developer or app development agency is how much experience they have in app development. You need to know if they have worked with similar projects or not and  platforms they have expertise in developing mobile apps. A genuine mobile app developer will be eager to show you their past projects along with links to the online app stores. Always hire app developers or agencies with good experience and even better if they have experience in developing similar projects like yours.

2. What is your process of app design and development?

The app design and development process is the most important part of a successful mobile app project. You must know how developers perform and handle critical situations while developing your app. Ask the developer how much time they take to complete the project, what challenges and problems they face during the development process, and what actions are need to solve them. We suggest that you do business with developers or companies that work on agile development. They are more efficient and have a better approach to the project.

3. How do you capture requirements?

Capturing requirements is one of the most important steps to execute a mobile app project. The most common reason for a failed or poorly executed project is ignoring a well-planned requirement capturing process. Developers will start by conducting a good client questionnaire for requirement gathering and lay a robust foundation to build a mobile app. A poorly performing requirement gathering process delivers low-quality apps that do not meet clients’ expectations, resulting in wasting money and time.

4. How would you create the wireframes and visual designs?

There are many tools available to create wireframes and visual design. It is important to ask about the experience of an app developer before the commencement of the app development. Creating wireframe and visual designing is one of the most important phases in the development of an app. It is important to make sure that the wireframe and visual designs are being create using best practices and tools because if there are any changes in the app post production, it will result in increased cost of development. 

5. What tool do you use to create an app? Native or Hybrid?

Mobile apps can be built using several tools and you should know which tool to select to get the best app out within your budget. Native tools are use to build native applications that are platform specific such as Android, iOS, Windows etc. On the other hand, Hybrid tools are use to build hybrid apps that work on multiple platforms especially iOS and Android using the same code base. Choosing hybrid tools can not be an ideal choice for the apps that expect scalability in future. It is important to discuss the tools being used for app development according to requirements of the project.

6. Do you charge T&M or Fixed Cost?

Time & material and Fixed cost contracts are the most common agreements used in the market. Both have their pros and cons. You should choose a T & M contract when your project requirements are not estimated or fixed initially and evolve as the app development process goes ahead. Go for a Fixed cost contract if the project requirements are fixed and no changes required till the completion of the project. You can hire an app developer or agency at an hourly rate or a fixed rate according to your project requirement and budget.

7. How much would you charge for design and development a mobile app?

Everyone has a budget in mind, so it is important to know how much a developer or agency will charge for designing and developing your app project. You should have a clear and flexible budget for your project before talking to a developer about charges. The cost of your app project depends on various factors such as the app features, the design needed, whether it is a consumer app or business app, Location, App complexity, and many more. 

Check out our blog post on : How Much Does it Cost to Design and Develop an App

8. Could you show us an example of your past work?

Before hiring an app developer or an agency, you need to look at their past work. Ask them to show their recent case studies of work or live app links to check the quality of apps. All the developers or agencies have an online portfolio. If they don’t have any portfolio of decent work, then beware of them. You should also download and test the apps to check the UI, performance, and all the features are working or not.

9. Could we talk to your previous clients?

You can ask the developer to provide a list of their current and previous clients to get valuable feedback. Once you get the reference, you can ask them about developer expertise, deliverables, and personal qualities. In that way, you can be sure that they delivered good work or not. If the developer is not confident to show their clients list, then you should find another one.

10. How much time does it take in the Design and Development process?

The time required to design and develop mobile apps depends on several factors like the list of features you want in your app, the size of an app, and the technology used. If your app has a complex design and targets multiple functionalities, then it takes more time. The budget and quality of the project also affect the timeline. A team of highly experienced developers with the right skills and mentality results in tighter build time.

Get more information on : How Long Does It Take To Design And Develop A Mobile App?

 

11. What is your app testing process? 

Testing is also one of the most essential processes to be done before your app goes live. The app testing should perform by a skilled QA analyst with both manual and automated testing. The app developer should have a tester in the team that performs quality checks and ensures that the app is tested and ready to go live. Ask the developers what bug tracking system they used and how they monitor the testing process and fix all bugs before the app reaches the market.

12. Do you publish the apps?

After testing, the developer will manage the uploading process of your mobile app to various app stores for sales. Look for an app developer or agency that has previous experience in submitting the apps to Google Play and Apple App Store so that they can guide you through the submission process. You don’t want a developer that only delivers the app and leaves you on your own to launch it. You need full end-to-end service.

13. Do you provide support after publishing and how do you charge?

The app is a live product that needs constant support and updates. When you launch an app in the marketplace, the job isn,t yet completely done. From time to time, your app needs new updates, bug fixing, and adding new features. Look for app developers who will be able to provide support and maintenance to the app. Be clear about their maintenance charge for your mobile app so that you don’t have to face any problems in the future.

Conclusion

Hiring a developer for your mobile app project is one of the most crucial parts of the process that can not be downplayed. If you make a wrong selection, you will end up wasting your time and money.  The aforementioned questions are some of the common questions that are needed to be asked before hiring a developer for your application project. However, you can tweak these questions as per your needs. It is important to make sure that all the necessary questions are covered to avoid future obstacles in the development process and build a successful app.