Finding a highly trained Web Developer on a budget

[mdhojnacki]

I am trying to find a really good website developer on a pretty tight budget. Do you all think Brickwork or YMII is sufficient? If not, please provide me with some suggestions or resources. Thanks!

[jackson]

What about trying to offer deferred payment or someone building their portfolio who will work for free?
Some might. I talked to one guy who's a whiz genius and he was considering it.
I have a Weebly template online and am searching for someone who will work on a deferred payment I don't have $400 right now for the web page. It's functional now with the template I have thrown online, I don't have any web designer skills except crude and basic html, but I expect conversions would improve with a professional job.

[seth121]

I don't want to come off arrogant or rude, but when you are investing in marketing your brand or yourself and you want to get the highest quality for the cheapest price you usually end up getting the cheapest quality product and this is especially true with websites.

Many will go with the cheapest, but don't understand that if you want to rank well in SERPS, build a good campaign, and successfully sell your product it will cost money. I think thats why the failure rate is so high and people give up because they want the bells and whistles, but don't want to pay for something that can significantly change their conversion rates.

For instance if you have to pay a premium seo specialist $500 dollars an hour to make your website more profitable and he's one of the best and has a high reputation for getting results isn't that worth more than going cheap and getting varied results

Sometimes going premium on things that will directly affect your margin can improve your chances of marketing your product.

And I want you to succeed so I think the best thing to do is to save up enough money and then align yourself on someone who's an awesome marketer on the web even if you have to pay them a premium. By doing this you get the best information and the best return on your money.

[obue]

What kind of website do you need? I might be able to help.

[maxpr]

If you are needing the typical "muse website" you would probably be better off doing the design yourself and seeing what templates are available for free (Wordpress, Weebly etc.) then have a programmer come in and program your "cart" and payment processing if you need it. For header/logo design, maybe find a web designer to do the branding for you or you can do it yourself if you think you are capable.

If you are looking to do something heavy on programming, unfortunately, its going to cost you a premium. Remember programmers are educated people who are constantly doing customized work for different people. Sort of like a lawyer...if you could find a cheap lawyer; would you really trust using him and/or his results. Maybe something you would want to consider spending a little more money on.

Also be weary of foreign providers on Elance who quote you ridiculously low prices as there is often a big cultural divide on what work is appropriate as well as time, detail, work ethic etc.

So, it all depends on what you are looking to do.

[fernando]

I've found some good people at oDesk.com. But I have to agree with some of the others, if you want something really good you'll have to pay for it.