How to Hire a Dedicated Web Development Team: Guide, Processes, and Tips

Are you a startup founder, CTO, or delivery manager looking to hire a dedicated web development team? If so, you’ve come to the right place.

In this article, you’ll learn:

• What a dedicated web dev team is
• The top reasons to hire a web dev team
• Key considerations before bringing on a team
• Common team structures
• Average developer costs
• A 3-step hiring process
• Potential challenges
• And more

If you’re a visual learner, jump ahead to the infographic summary.

Otherwise, let’s get started! We’ll break things down step-by-step so you have all the information you need to hire a web development team that fits your needs and budget successfully.

Looking for Expert Web Developers?

Transform your ideas into reality with our top-tier web developers and designers — contact us to get started!

What is a Dedicated Web Development Team?

A dedicated web development team is a collaboration model with an outsourced workforce where developers and clients partner for a long-term project. This is the most effective outsourcing model.

Once you choose an outsourced team, a vendor will bring together a workforce of professionals tailored specifically to achieve your business goals. There’s a striking resemblance between this team type and an in-house team hiring model.

However, it differs in that you won’t have to bother about tax, social benefits, and HR issues with a dedicated team. It also gives you an added benefit of focusing solely on more intrinsic business issues, while your outsourced team handles other aspects.

Now that you have an apt understanding of what a dedicated web team entails, let’s discuss the reasons to hire one.

Why Hire a Dedicated Website Team?

A dedicated web workforce helps startups or scale-ups create and maintain websites cost-efficiently, and also gives room to labor flexibility and a vibrant talent pool.

Here’s a checklist of why you should hire a dedicated web workforce:

• Easy scalability and downsizing
• Access to a massive pool of talent
• Cheap cost of web development and maintenance
• Easy access to required development skills

Let’s elucidate further on the points above.

1. Easy Scalability and Flexibility

Startups are companies designed to “grow fast.” As such, you need a business model that eases the process of onboarding on an on-demand basis.

A dedicated team helps achieve this as the web developers are hired by a vendor; who often has access to multiple developers.

With this model, you can focus squarely on business-related issues while maintaining simple oversight on your developmental workflow.

More so, it also allows you to reduce your workforce without recourse to labor laws. You can make the necessary changes to the employment relationship by entering into a new contract with a vendor.

2. Access Top Talent

According to Statista, there are currently 27 million developers globally and only 4.3 million developers in North America. Thus, North America-based startups that want to access a large pool of talent to fuel a workforce deficiency should opt for a dedicated offshore team.

Many tech giants use dedicated web development teams to hire the best crop of developers. Amongst the notable tech companies doing this are Microsoft, Apple, Google, and Tesla.

3. Cost-Efficient Development & Maintenance

Both startups and established companies outsource for a wide range of reasons. However, the most prominent of those is cost-efficiency.

As shown in this article, the cost of developing a 50-page small business website in the US is $60,000, while the same project in an Eastern European country like Ukraine only costs $20,000. Frankly speaking, cost-saving is one of the driving reasons for hiring a dedicated development team in Ukraine.

By hiring a dedicated web development team in another nation, you’ll have a full-fledged workforce of professionals ready to help create a top-notch product, at a lower price than in-house developers.

4. Leverage Expert Guidance

Lack of expertise is responsible for  23% of startups failures. By outsourcing your web development to a dedicated development team, you can easily leverage their talent network to find needed expertise.

Let’s assume you’re trying to make a blockchain DeFi website. Such development requires the knowledge of a programmer that’s fluent in a blockchain-centric programming language. E.g., Solidity.

However, less than 200,000 developers are using such language, making it difficult to hire an expert in the field.

But when you partner with a web development team, they can tap into their connections to hire a programmer in that field. As such, you’re filling a knowledge gap in your startup without undergoing any cumbersome recruiting process.

Now that you’re motivated to hire dedicated developers for your product, let’s teach you some things to know before launching out.

Key Considerations Before Hiring

The success of your hiring process entails making apt decisions before, during, and after getting a workforce of dedicated developers.

Before you venture into hiring the needed workforce, you should first do the following:

• Identify what you want to develop;
• Outline your expectation from the partnership;
• Allocate a reasonable budget that can sustain the development workflow.

Let’s further explain the points we’ve succinctly made above:

1. Know Your Development Goals

As you consider hiring a web development team, you should also know the type of website you’ll like to build. This is particularly important to help you communicate your expected deliverable and guide you through the negotiation process.

So you should identify whether what you need is a website or a web app. And if it’s a website, what type? Do you need a WordPress website or a custom-made one that’s uniquely programmed from scratch?

Moreover, sometimes, your website will require a mobile application. In this case, you need also consider assembling a dedicated team of mobile developers.

2. Set Clear Expectations

Before you hire a dedicated development team, ensure they understand your expectations and can deliver on their commitment. Let them know if you need industry experts, consultants, doers, or an all-around team for varying deliverables.

Each option above requires a different management capacity, and deliverable. Your expectation will also determine your workflow and an appropriate tech stack.

3. Create a Detailed Budget

Your budget is a primary determinant of your project deliverable. As such, you should appropriately allocate enough sum to your website’s development, launching, and maintenance.

Non-technical founders may not understand how to budget for this; thus, you may consult with a CTO, or use our estimated cost for a website in this article.

Having a budget guides you through the negotiation phase.

Note: It’s best to hire an Eastern European team with a rich portfolio for the most cost-efficient deliverable.

For a better understanding of what to expect from your dedicated team, let’s give you an idea of the ideal composition.

Typical Team Structures

The ideal constituent of a dedicated web development team depends on what you’re trying to build. It also varies with business goals, available resources, and methodology of future cooperation.

Here’s a typical structure of a dedicated web team:

• Project manager
• Tech lead
• Business analyst
• UX/UI designer
• Quality assurance tester
• DevOps engineer
• Front end developer
• Back end developer

Let’s help non-technical founders understand the meaning of those job titles:

Role	Description
Project manager	Project managers are responsible for planning, organizing, and directing the completion of the website to attain a specific deliverable outline. In addition, the project manager finds out your client’s needs and communicates them with other team members.
Tech lead/CTO	The tech lead coordinates the coding activities of both the front-end and backend engineers. They also designate and oversee the implementation of the UI/UX and determine the infrastructure needed for development.
Business analyst	The business analyst identifies the clients’ business needs, communicates them with the team, and helps to guide them to its attainment. The business analyst provides requirements that provide guidelines on logic and user experience
UI/UX designer	The UI/UX designer maps out the technical requirement for the website through intuitive web design. They design the user interface that aligns with the founders’ technical and business requirements.
Quality Assurance Tester	The QA tester checks for the coding efficiency, and suggests code, design, and logic improvements to the website. The quality assurance tester also vets the code to ensure that it’ll guarantee an optimum user experience.
DevOps engineer	The DevOps engineer suggests appropriate tech stacks and builds the infrastructure to guarantee optimum website development, launch, and maintenance.
Front end developer	The front-end developer implements the design of the UI/UX designer. Their activity creates actionable buttons through which users interact with the website.
Back end developer	The backend developer writes the framework code in the web development project. They also write the code that determines the core function of the entire website. Some examples of codes that use include php, python, and java.

Now that you have a brief understanding of the job constituent of your dedicated team, you should know the options you have.

Let’s help you make sense of that.

Team Classification Models

There are different types of dedicated web development workforce. For proper understanding, we’ll group the team types by company and cooperation models. Let’s elucidate further on this.

By Company Type

Startups are at liberty of choosing four types of web development teams. Each type of workforce is unique and has its advantages and disadvantages.

We’ll help you understand the four options available below:

Model 1. In-House Development Team

An in-house workforce is a pool of developers hired by a startup to help meet the goals and objectives of the company.

Every worker is hired, managed, and paid by the startup in this hiring model. They also report their daily operations.

Although it’s the most popular team management model, you should consider its disadvantages appropriately before deciding. Here are the advantages and disadvantages;

Pros

Cons

In-house developers have a detailed understanding of the project, and they are readily available to make alterations demanded by stakeholders. This model reduces third-party activities to the barest minimum – thus ensuring workplace conflict are better managed. This management model ensures proper adherence to security protocols. This is because all developmental activities happen within the company’s internal network, and there’s room for proper activity monitoring The startup has full legal rights over its employees’ projects.

The recruitment process is exhausting and can be never-ending if there is a low workforce retention rate. The crux of ensuring proper management and labor law adherence lies solely in the team. It has numerous hidden costs. To identify this hiring model’s hidden cost, use our outsourcing calculator.

If the intricacies of this option align with your business practices, then it’s a great option for your startup. However, it’s imperative to have staff with vibrant management skills on board.

Another hiring model to consider is a local agency.

Model 2: Local Agency

A local agency is an independent external team working within your country. For example,  a UK-based startup outsourcing software development to an agency working full-time on your project in the UK.  You can compare this option with hiring a remote development team in your country.

Just like others, it also has its pros and cons to consider. These are:

Pros	Cons
Both startups and the development teamwork in the same country, As such, they’re not constrained by cultural, legal, and time zone differences. Breach to contract agreement can easily be pursued as both the startup and development teamwork is in the same legal jurisdiction.	The cost of web development by a local development agency can be expensive for startups in high-income nations. Startups in the US, and the UK, for example, may require an unlimited budget to develop a complex product.

Another option is hiring a workforce of freelancers. Let’s discuss this.

Model 3: Team of Freelance Developers

Freelancers are independent developers that help build websites on an on-demand basis. They’re often full-stack developers, and they have a gamut of experience working on varying software solutions.

Here are the pros and cons of hiring a team of freelance web developers:

Pros	Cons
Freelance developers have experience developing all kinds of products and can offer deep insight into your website. They offer cheap ways to develop a product.	Freelancers don’t maintain loyalty to a startup and divulge important information to competitors for the right price. Startups have minimal control over the outcome of freelancers’ development.

Model 4: Offshore Outsourcing Agency

An offshore outsourcing agency is a team of developers outsourced by a vendor to a startup. This method is profitable, flexible, and produces high-quality websites.

In other words, when you think about hiring an offshore dedicated development team, you think of outsourcing.

It’s a common outsourcing model in high-income nations, with immense popularity in western countries like the UK, the US, and Germany.

Just like other hiring models, it also has its pros and cons.

Pros	Cons
Hiring an offshore team is cost-efficient, especially for nations domiciled in the US, the UK, Australia, etc. It eliminates the difficulties of hiring and scaling your web development team. Most offshore teams have an impressive number of experts.	Time zone differences may hinder communication. Cultural difference. This is particularly evident for startups in western nations outsourcing to Africa and South Asia.

Beyond this, you can also classify web development teams by type of cooperation. Let’s dive right into that.

By Cooperation Type

By this classification type, there are three types of development cooperation; team extension, project-based, and dedicated team.

The efficiency of any of those methods rests on your startup’s resources and company structure. Other points to consider before settling for an option are your budget, the project’s timeline, and its complexity.

For a clearer understanding of your options, we’ll discuss more on the type of development team models out there.

Model 1: Dedicated Team

A dedicated team is a workforce of professional software developers assembled by a vendor to work full-time on a startup’s software development and maintenance.

This workforce offers developmental services according to the stipulation of their contract and only works within a time frame.

This outsourcing model works best for:

• Quick-growth startups with a plan to capture a target market quickly:
• Startups that in a long-term development project;
• Startups that lack the resource to set up an in-house workforce;
• Scale-ups and startups that need in-depth expertise to build a sophisticated website.

You should hire a web development company if the points above describe your startup.

Model 2: Team Extension

This entails taking needed expertise from a development company and adding to your in-house workforce to supplement a lacking skill. This method ensures that sensitive development workflow and information are kept within your corporate ecosystem.

At the crux of this development outsourcing model are time and material contracts. The development company is paid hourly for the developer and the tech stack used.

Here’s an example of this model: implementing a user interface requires a developer with HTML, CSS, and Javascript knowledge.

However, if you lack a front-end developer with an in-depth knowledge of Javascript, then it’s best to outsource one from a vendor to aid your project’s timely completion. This way, you’ll be reducing ingestion, payroll, and some other management costs.

This gives you oversight of your development workflow and makes timely adjustments to aid preferred delivery.

Just as the hiring model above, it reduces recruiting and keeps the workforce concentrated on core development and business activities.

Model 3: Hiring Resources on Project Basis

This hiring model works in contrast to the dedicated team model. It involves hiring a workforce of developers to create functionality for your product. Let’s explain further:

Assuming you plan to create a fintech app. Such apps have a gamut of features, including payment, authentication, user dashboard, admin dashboard, etc.

Although your in-house workforce may help with API integration and other backend features, you may hire an external team to help integrate your UI website design.

Startups that want a time-saving and cost-efficient solution to the challenge of building a feature within an app may opt for this option.

Now that you’re acquainted with classification and different types therein, let’s help educate you on the cost of hiring a web development team.

What’s the Cost of Hiring a Dedicated Web Development Team

The cost of hiring a dedicated web development team ranges between $6000 to $24,000 and more per month. It depends on the number of developers, their skillset, and experience.

The calculation is done with the assumption that you’re building a SaaS platform that will take require a team of 4 web developers for 4 months.

Location	Average cost per month, $
Australia	220,000
The USA	300,000
The UK	250,000
Western Europe	200,000
Eastern Europe	80,000
Asia	55,000

The spreadsheet above shows that it costs more to hire an offshore team in western nations like the USA, the UK, and Australia. As such, it’s best for startups in these nations to hire web developers in middle-income nations.

Now that you’ve understood the cost implications of hiring a dedicated team that can deliver on your scope of work let’s help you with the steps to hiring one.

3 Steps to Hire a Dedicated Web Development Team

Partnering with a dedicated web development team requires a careful vetting process and a knowledgeable guide on the right things to watch out for.

To help you make the hiring process seamless, we’ll discuss three salient steps to choosing a great web development workforce.

Here are the steps to hiring a dedicated web development team:

• Find a preferred web team offline or online;
• Check through their portfolio and the team’s years of experience to ensure conformity with project requirements;
• Hire a consultant to help you undertake third-party verification.

Let’s elucidate further on each point made above.

Step 1: Find Potential Teams

You can find suitable web developers both on the internet and off it.

You can find them online via popular freelance platforms or through social media platforms. Searching offline is a bit cumbersome as you’ll have to tap into your social network of friends, colleagues, and business partners.

Another means is by attending tech startups conferences.

Here’s a detailed spreadsheet on where to find a skillful web development team.

Where to Find	Details
Freelance platforms	There’s an abundance of skillful web development experts on freelance sites like Fiverr, Upwork, etc. To find a team to hire, visit the website, and register to find teams offering varying development services. You can use the platform’s job success score, reviews, and ratings to access a team’s customer satisfaction rate.
Business listings	These are printed lists or websites that publish information on companies within a niche. An example of a business listing platform is Clutch. It’s a website that offers research, rating, and reviews about companies in the IT sector.
Search engine	By simply entering “hire web developers” or “hire app developers” in search engine websites like Google, you’ll get a list of sites with a web development team for hire. Sort through the list of sites and choose your ideal team.
LinkedIn	LinkedIn is the platform with the largest number of professionals on the Internet. To hire web or mobile app developers on the platform, register on LinkedIn as a recruiter, and surf through the list of professionals up for hire, according to job titles and location.
Online meetups	Online meetups are conferences held online on predetermined themes. Examples of online meetups to find a web development team include IndieHackers, OnlineGeniuses, and the UK Startup’s Conference.
Your network	Over 30% of recruits can be traced to referrals. As such, it’s a trusted method to try if you’re well connected in the IT sector.

 

Let’s discuss some qualities to watch out for in a dedicated development workforce:

Step 2: Select the Best Fit

Before choosing a team, it’s best first to do the following:

Carry out an Independent Research

Every team on your list will give reasons why they’re the best. However, before believing their claim, first investigate their ability to fulfill your project requirements.

Check if they understand how to use your preferred tech stacks and if their country of residence has vibrant laws to support cross-border transactions.

During your research, find out about the following:

• Location
• Expertise
• Project portfolio
• Reviews
• Hourly rate
• Years of experience

Hold Briefs with the Team

The crux of your success lies in having a good communication template between the startup and the development company.

Arrange a call with the companies on your list, and discuss things in person. Communicate your project goals and expected communication patterns. You should also discuss milestones, time zone differences, and your preferred engagement model.

Validate Requisite Information

If you’re the thorough type, you might want to consider hiring an expert to vet the development team you want to partner with before signing a contract. It’s an ideal option when hiring a new company or a development service with a shrewd internet presence.

However, some experts cunningly trick clients into using their development service. Thus, you should proceed with caution.

Step 3: Formalize the Agreement

After choosing a dedicated web development agency to work with, draft a well-detailed contract and sign a non-disclosure agreement to protect your startup.

Here’s what this entails;

Sign a Non Disclosure Agreement

To excel in the tech sector, it’s important to have policies that hold copyright-related issues in high esteem. One such policy is NDA.

The NDA is a piece document that’s signed with a promise not to divulge a specified piece of information. This keeps your technology private from competitors, even when they patronize the same outsourcing company.

Note: Vendors also outsource some developmental processes; as such, ensure you craft your NDA in a way that binds all parties involved.

Get a Detailed and Transparent Contract

Ensure that your contract covers the following:

• An agreed rate that covers all functionalities involved should also exclude you when there’s an extension of the deadline due to errors from the development team
• Discounts and terms guiding their implementation
• Cost of contract breach
• Credit periods and limits
• Warranty timeframes and conditions

However, hiring a web development team is not all that easy. There are challenges to overcome, some of which we’ll discuss below.

Common Hiring Challenges

Owning the desired website is not a guarantee of success. There are still challenges to surmount, and according to MIT, 97% of existing websites fail at achieving their goals.

To prevent such failure, we’ll help you with salient two challenges to surmount.

Challenge 1. Website Maintenance

In the most succinct definition obtainable, website maintenance is the process of checking to see if your website is healthy and performing well. It helps to introduce timely intervention to system failures and necessary upgrades to keep your platform in tune with regulatory standards.

The average cost of maintaining a website is between $35/month and $5000/month for a custom e-commerce website.

Services usually included in the maintenance include general data upkeep, website hosting, domain name, SSL certificate, website analytics support, work time of DevOps and developers, and other customized solutions.

Challenge 2. Website Marketing

This is the strategic promotion of a website to improve its visibility and attract relevant traffic.

The aim of website marketing is to rank highly in search engine result pages (SERPs) search engine optimization (SEO) tactics, social media engagement, content marketing, and other offline and digital efforts.

In 2022, the average cost of website marketing ranges from $2,500 to $12,000 monthly.

From $50 to $500 per hour.

Or from $1000 to $7500 per project for small-to-midsize businesses.

To gain optimal results in marketing your site, you’ll have to intuitively target your preferred audience, which determines the exact price.

Ready to Hire a Dedicated Web Development Team?

And that wraps up this guide on building your own custom web dev team! By now, you should clearly understand the process, costs, and best practices.

Partner with SpdLoad for hassle-free hiring and finding top talent. Our team can handle everything from sourcing and hiring to payroll and infrastructure.

Contact us today to discuss your needs and get started on your next project.

Bonus Infographic

Here is a summary of our detailed guide. Here is a summary of our detailed guide. Learn the step-by-step process of hiring a dedicated web development team.