Hypertext Preprocessor, known by the very unlikely acronym of PHP has for all intents and purposes become a major player in today’s web development. It is a server side scripting language that brings immense ease and functionality to web applications. It’s therefore no wonder that many top sites employ it.
As more and more website owners look for ways of improving the user experience and general functionality of their websites, PHP development companies have become a hot commodity.
The focus of this article will not be about the actual functions or technicalities of the PHP scripting language but about ways to go about finding the right company to handle whatever PHP development projects you may have. If however you wish to get some quick background knowledge about what you can do with PHP scripting, you can read this article here.
How to Start Your Search
So you have seen how this scripting language can improve the functionality and user experience of your website and you seriously need a company to help you build these functionalities into an existing site or a new one. How can you go about finding the right company to handle this task? Here are a few things you can do.
Recommendations and Referrals
This is a natural way that most people go about finding services or professionals they need. It is also a very effective method especially if you have folks around you who have worked with any such company and can give you solid information regarding the work they do.
Another thing you will get from close associates, family and friends with regards to choosing any company that has been known to perform badly is a clear warning. Just the same way they will praise a company that did well for them or someone they know, they will thoroughly bash a company that did not do well for them or someone they know.
You will simply get more than enough information on any of the companies they may know.
Online Search
Depending on the people that surround you, there may be times when you cannot get any clear recommendations from them. Your next option will then be to search online. When searching online you have two options. You can either carry out a near me search or a general search.
A near me search will only show you companies around you. For example, if you live in New York and you search for PHP development companies in New York, you will find a list of such companies that operate in New York.
If however you just search for PHP development companies, you will still get those in New York mainly because of geo-targeting. You will however also get results from companies that are ranking very well for that keyword. You may even get a PHP web development company from Asia. This basically widens your search, making it global which can be a good thing. We will look at this in some detail later.
Tech Market Places
This is another option to consider. Tech market places are online services where experts gather to offer their services. On most of these platforms, all you need to do is submit a description of what you need done and individuals and companies will apply. You will then have to interview them and choose one that you think is best suited to handle the project.
This can be a life saver if you know how to go about it. A few examples of such platforms include Upwork, Fiverr, Guru and a few others. The good thing about these sites is that they act as middle men to ensure both sides are protected.
You post a job, people apply and you award the job to someone after agreeing on terms. You then make a deposit which will be held by the platform and remain inaccessible to the service provider until you certify that the job has been done satisfactorily. The deposit you have made will also assure the service provider that s/he will get paid when they are done with the job.
Factors to Consider when Choosing a Company
We’ve looked at a few methods through which you can find PHP development companies. Whichever method you go with, you will still need to consider some factors to enable you make a final decision. This is to ensure you will be getting exactly what you need.
Here are a few important things to consider.
Expertise
Without doubt, this is one of the most important factors to consider. A simple way to ensure the company you are considering can indeed get the job done is by looking at samples of tasks they have carried out previously. This will give you a good idea of what they can offer.
You will however need to ascertain that they indeed handled those projects especially when you are dealing with companies that are not close to you.
Reputation
You cannot take the point above alone into consideration. For companies that are close to you, you can seek out some previous clients to find out more about them. You can even go online to find out if you can get reviews about them. Relying on online reviews is especially critical for companies that are not close to you. Online reviews can prove invaluable.
Location
This can be a bit tricky depending on your current location. Web development is something that can be handled for you from any part of the world. You will need to carefully consider the challenges of working with companies located far from you. One of the biggest issues with remote work is arriving at a mutually accepted payment process.
While the service provider needs to ensure they will get paid, the employer also will not want to release funds to a company they only met online without any form of assurance that the job will get done after funds have been released. The solution to this is going through a marketplace or using an escrow service like escrow.com.
Cost
This and the point (location) raised above are closely related. The minimum wages earned by workers across the world are widely different. This same reason which has resulted in many companies moving their manufacturing units to countries with cheaper labor can also come into play here.
A web development company in the U.S is likely to charge you a whole lot more than another company that can do the very same job to the same level but in India. There are many top quality companies in India like Imenso Software that can deliver at the highest level but at a fraction of the what it may cost to get it done in the U.S or U.K. It is however very important that you consider the kind of company you choose to work with especially remotely.
You should therefore look at your budget and decide on what will suit you the best in terms of cost as it has to do with location.
Remember to safeguard yourself by ensuring you have some information from past clients either directly or through online reviews and also ensure your financial transactions are properly secured.
With the steps we have enumerated above, we believe you will be able to choose the right company to handle all your PHP web development needs.
