Hiring a developer when you're not technical can feel like ordering in a language you don't speak. The good news: you don't need to understand the code, you need to be clear about the outcome and know what to look for. Do that, and you'll hire well without ever opening a text editor.

Get clear on what you actually need

Before you write a word of a brief, decide what the finished thing should do. A simple brochure website, an online shop, a booking system and a full web app are wildly different jobs with wildly different budgets. The clearer you are about the outcome, the more accurate the quotes you'll get.

Write a brief a developer can quote against

  • What the site or app should let people do
  • Any designs you have, or whether design is part of the job
  • Must-have features versus nice-to-haves
  • Your rough budget and deadline
  • Where it will be hosted, if you already know

How to judge the proposals

Look past the price. The strongest signal is a developer who asks sharp questions about your project rather than simply agreeing to everything — it shows they're thinking about your problem. Check that their portfolio includes work similar to yours, and that they communicate clearly and promptly from the very first message.

Questions worth asking before you commit

  • What technology will you build it in, and why?
  • Who owns the code and the accounts when we're done?
  • How will hosting and the domain be handled?
  • What happens if something breaks after launch?
  • What's the timeline, and how will you keep me updated?

Protect yourself

Break the work into milestones so you pay for progress you can see, use escrow so funds are only released when you're happy, and get it in writing that you own the finished code and all the accounts. These simple steps prevent the most common and costly problems non-technical clients run into.

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