How to Choose a Web Development Company?

Your website is often the first real conversation your brand has with customers. That first impression matters, as 94% of it comes from how your site looks and performs. Yet many great ideas stumble at launch because they trusted the wrong web development company.

At Codica, we know from experience that the right partner can turn your idea into a secure, fast, and scalable solution that drives real business growth.

In this guide, we’ll share what to look for when choosing a web development company, so you don’t just get a website, but a partner who’s invested in your success.

Choosing a web development agency: What you should know

Behind every smooth digital experience is a team whose decisions you never see. Web development agencies aren’t alike. Calling them all “web developers” hides real differences that can shape the future of your product.

Today, a website is infrastructure. It must be fast, secure, scalable, and integrate with tools like CRMs, payment gateways, and analytics. That’s why a web development company acts as a strategic partner, not just a contractor.

Here’s what separates agencies:

• Project type: simple template-based websites vs. complex custom web solutions for SaaS, marketplaces, or enterprise platforms.
• Technical expertise: basic CMS builds (WordPress, Shopify) vs. scalable websites with React, Vue, Node.js, Django, or similar frameworks.
• Team setup: freelance-like small teams vs. structured agencies with frontend, backend, UX/UI, QA, DevOps, and project managers.
• Process transparency: agencies that share workflows, metrics, and progress vs. those that hide behind marketing slogans.

A reliable partner combines technical depth with open communication and predictable delivery.

Recognizing these differences early prevents misaligned expectations. When you look for a web development agency, you’re choosing a team whose experience and approach will directly influence your product’s performance, security, and growth.

Tips for choosing a web development firm

1. Check their portfolio

When you choose a web development company, you’re trusting them with your idea. The safest way to judge that trust is to study what they’ve built before.

A good portfolio reveals not only design skills but also the ability to solve complex business challenges and ship products that work at scale.

At Codica, we see a portfolio as a story of how we help clients succeed.

For example, we built RecruitAgent.ai, an AI-powered SaaS platform that turns job ad creation from hours into minutes and integrates multiple APIs for smart distribution. For Kashta, we delivered a native mobile marketplace for picnic bookings in Kuwait with real-time availability syncing and secure local payments. And for Tokkatok, a real-estate platform in the Philippines, we guided a first-time founder from idea to launch with a scalable, mobile-friendly marketplace.

What you should look for in a partner’s portfolio is similar:

• Do they build custom web solutions that address real business needs, not just templates?
• Can they handle complex integrations, like AI, payments, analytics, or marketplace features?
• Do their projects show measurable impact, like better user experience, faster workflows, or stronger conversions?

A portfolio proves that an agency doesn’t just write code, it builds solutions that help businesses grow.

2. Look at social proof

Reviews on open platforms and social media

Checking platforms like Glassdoor, Owler, and Clutch would be good when choosing a web development company. Such platforms gather feedback from the clients of IT companies globally. They show the rates based on customers’ feedback, minimum project size, number of workers, etc.

Here’s one of the reviews our client has left about Codica on Clutch.

If these are not enough, try searching on other web platforms. Get beyond the customers and study employees' opinions and reviews.

Client references

Clients’ reviews bring credibility to a website development firm and show how it handles development tasks.

Below is a video review from Codica’s client. It presents the activity booking marketplace that we've developed to help parents plan their children’s leisure.

You can also contact the company's existing clients and examine the solutions they have delivered. The best web development companies highlight the unique style of each brand and ensure smooth user flow.

Reach out to companies’ customers and request their opinions on cooperation with web developers. Discuss with the client if the provider is responsive and meets deadlines. Happy clients would eagerly share their impressions.

Awards and certifications

Companies’ awards and certifications recognize their achievements. Review the rate of such awards and certificates to assess if the company’s accomplishments are valuable.

For example, Clutch named Codica among the top web development companies in Ukraine.

3. Discuss your involvement in the project

Good development isn’t a black box. The best results come when clients stay in the loop. A great web development company won’t just take your brief and disappear.

Building a custom web solution, whether it’s a marketplace, SaaS platform, or native mobile app, works best as a partnership.

That’s why it’s important to discuss how much involvement in the project you’ll have from the start.

At Codica, we make collaboration part of the process. During discovery sessions, we align with clients on business goals, priorities, and risks. Throughout development, we provide regular updates, usually weekly or bi-weekly, and invite clients to review progress, share feedback, and see demos of working features.

Key points to clarify with any web development agency:

• Level of transparency: Will you see roadmaps, sprint plans, and progress reports?
• Communication flow: Will there be a dedicated project manager, regular calls, and shared channels like Slack or Jira?
• Decision-making: When and how can you give input on features, UX, or priorities?
• Flexibility: How easily can you adjust the scope or priorities as the market or your strategy changes?

For example, while developing the Tokkatok real-estate marketplace, we guided a first-time founder through every step, from product discovery to MVP launch, helping them make informed decisions without slowing the process.

A partner that involves you in the right way helps avoid misalignment, cuts down on rework, and ensures the final product meets both your vision and your users’ needs.

4. Check their technical expertise

When you evaluate a web development company, dig deeper than the surface design. The real strength lies in the tech stack, the tools and practices that keep your platform fast, secure, and adaptable as it grows.

At Codica, we believe technical expertise is about making the right choices for each challenge.

For example, in rebuilding a multi-vendor online firearm marketplace, we migrated the pre-built WordPress platform to Ruby on Rails and Next.js, optimized performance, strengthened security for sensitive data, and integrated specialized payment and shipping solutions. These decisions transformed the platform into a faster, safer, and more scalable product.

The same principle guided our work on the ifndautoparts automotive marketplace.

We combined Next.js, React Native, Ruby on Rails, and Elasticsearch to power real-time search, seamless multi-platform support, and advanced payment integrations (Stripe, PayPal), all while delivering a smooth user experience.

When you check a partner’s technical expertise, focus on:

• Proven stack: Are they fluent in modern, battle-tested frameworks (like React, Next.js, Ruby on Rails, Node.js) and cloud solutions (AWS, Docker, Kubernetes)?
• Scalability: Can their architecture support growing traffic, more vendors, or heavy data flows?
• Security: Do they handle sensitive operations (e.g., payments, compliance) with proper encryption and checks?
• Integration skills: Can they connect third-party APIs, payment gateways, shipping, or AI tools efficiently?
• Delivery track record: Have they solved similar challenges in marketplaces, SaaS, or other complex platforms?

A web development agency’s technical depth is what ensures your product not only launches but thrives, even as your business needs and user expectations evolve.

Further reading: How We Hire Software Developers: Finding a Perfect Teammate

5. Make sure they provide the services required for website development

Website development companies vary in the services rendered. Still, several of them show that a company follows best practices and standards when creating a solution.

Let’s discover the services that an expert web development company provides to deliver a high-quality software product.

Discovery stage

From our experience, product discovery sessions positively influence the product output. A web development firm acts, in this case, as a partner and advisor. The agency may not have wide experience in your particular business, but its knowledge of market trends is what counts in this case.

Also, if you collaborate with a team that has particular expertise in the domain you’re interested in - that’s the perfect match. They will apply all their accumulated expertise to advise on the best way to create your product.

What are Discovery sessions? Thanks to this stage, a provider can outline the viability of the client’s idea, tech stack, budget, and time required for building a project. A professional web development team goes beyond the client’s prerequisites. They analyze how your project would stand in the long run.

A good web development company will discuss the project in detail. They are eager to share their experience gained through many projects.

Building an MVP

MVP, a minimum viable product, is a version of a product that includes the minimum functionality to test if it appeals to the customers. Web development businesses consider creating an MVP a good practice. It allows you flexibility in case you need changes in your product.

In Codica, we believe testing your product with MVP web development services helps you optimize expenses for developing and deploying a product. We delivered several solutions in the form of an MVP. It helps our clients to focus on the primary value of their product, saving time and cost for launch.

UX and UI design

A website’s design shapes how users interact with your product. Mobile-friendly layouts, intuitive navigation, and visual consistency all directly influence conversion and trust.

For example, when we worked on the iExpedition online travel marketplace, the goal was to create a platform that felt effortless for adventure seekers booking polar cruises.

Our team designed a clean, intuitive interface that reflected the brand’s identity and simplified every step of the booking process. Combined with a powerful CMS and advanced search, this design approach helped iExpedition double its expected revenue.

Good design ensures that a platform not only looks appealing but also guides users naturally, helping them find, choose, and act without friction.

UX and appealing UI in line with the corporate company style.

QA and optimization

At this point, a web dev company checks with manual and automation tests if the website runs properly. The features should work as they’re intended.

Also, it is vital to prove that the code is efficient and performant. For example, optimized website code consumes less memory and executes faster.

The web development companies that provide such services are the right choice for you.

Support and maintenance

It is advisable to choose a website development company that will provide further support for your product.

As your business grows over time, you will need to make changes to your website. So, choose a web dev company that provides maintenance and scaling of your website.

This is how Codica delivered a complex solution for an online news portal. The website allows adding massive amounts of content and a high loading speed.

6. Discover their development approach

There are two primary methods to approach product development: Agile and Waterfall. Your ability to make changes during the development and the price depends on these methodologies.

In the Waterfall methodology, a team moves to the next development stage after the previous one is completed.

Agile methodology implies moving in small steps, testing a product at each stage of development. So, changes to a project can be made as soon as possible. It shortens the time and reduces costs for development. Most web development firms adopt an agile approach as it has proven to be efficient.

When you have discovered the best fit for your project, ask your future web dev company which one they use.

The project management approach impacts your future digital product and determines how it adapts to the market. So when choosing which way to go, vote for one that will boost your business best.

The software delivery method determines a lot. It is advised that startups opt for the development teams that follow the Agile approach. In such a way, it’s easier to make changes on the way and adjust your product to the emerging market needs.

Summing up: How to hire a web development company?

The smartest choice comes from evaluating facts, not promises.

Look at their portfolio, technical stack, and experience in projects like yours. A good partner also brings structure: discovery sessions, MVP development, thoughtful UX and UI, and consistent QA.

What really sets them apart is how they work with you. Agencies that invite feedback, share progress, and respond to changes ensure your product evolves along with your business needs.

If you’re ready to take the next step and discuss your project, contact us. We’re here to help you build a secure, scalable solution that drives real growth.