• Everything You Need To Know About Hiring a PHP Developer
• 1) What Makes PHP So Popular?
• 2) Whatever, You Can Think Of, You Can Develop In PHP
• 3) PHP Boasts Countless Frameworks
• 4) Large Community Of PHP Developers In The Market 
• 5) What Costs You Need To Incur When Hiring a PHP Developer 
• 6) Consider The Framework And Tech Stack Before Hiring
• 7) Getting Familiar With Different Types of PHP Frameworks
• 8) Getting Familiar With Different Types of PHP Frameworks
• 9) Tips To Hire The Right Developers For Your Project
• 10) Hiring PHP developers From Abroad / Remote PHP Developers
• 11) Global Salary Rates For PHP Developers 
• 12) Global Freelance Rates For PHP Developers
• 13) Post Your Job Requirements On Freelance Websites
• 14) Develop A Standardized Interviewing Procedure
• 15) Develop A Standardized Interviewing Procedure
• 16) My Web Programmer Provides An All-in-One Solution For Hiring a PHP Developer
• Final Thoughts

Everything You Need To Know About Hiring a PHP Developer

Even though there are other programming languages available that may be more user-friendly, PHP is still the developer’s choice for developing a new project in 2019. PHP development is more efficient, cost-effective, and less error-prone. Many of the successful projects are still being developed in PHP.

Following are some of the topics we will cover in this guide.

• What makes PHP so popular?
• What costs do you need to incur when hiring a PHP developer?
• The phase before hiring (Considering the tech debt and framework)
• Finding yourself a PHP develope

1) What Makes PHP So Popular?

The reason why PHP is still used as the mainstream language to develop new projects depends on three factors:

1. First, whatever you can think of, you can develop in PHP.
2. PHP boasts countless frameworks.
3. The large community of PHP Developers.

These factors explain the dominance of PHP in the project development department. Hence, this is why PHP programmers seem to be in high demand and low supply.

We will try to give you basic guidelines regarding PHP, the pros and cons of hiring a PHP developer, and where to hire reliable and experienced PHP programmers.

2) Whatever, You Can Think Of, You Can Develop In PHP

PHP remains the top choice for two reasons; first, it can practically run on almost any web server running on default settings, and second, there is no limit to its application; the limit is your imagination. Do you want to do custom software development for your project? You can do it using PHP; do you want to use PHP in server-side scripting? You can do it!

Furthermore, most mainstream frameworks and web applications run on PHP. For example, WordPress runs on PHP, which is the backbone of almost all blogs. SupposeTherefore, you are running a WordPress blog and need to make some modifications or add new features to your website. In that case, you will need to hire developers from a professional PHP Development Company to do that for you.

Development of some of the most popular websites, such as Facebook, Yahoo!, Flickr, Wikipedia, and Tumblr, have used PHP programming language for their backend/server-side coding.

3) PHP Boasts Countless Frameworks

When no framework is used, the code is known as raw PHP. Raw PHP is non-scalable code, and if the code is non-scalable, it won’t be easy to maintain in the long term.

To counter these issues, there are numerous PHP frameworks available. Each framework has its own set of rules and a defined structure. Some of the most commonly used PHP frameworks are Laravel, Symfony, CodeIgniter, CakePHP, and many more.

Many developers, mostly unintentionally (due to lack of experience), use the “spaghetti code” approach, making it difficult to debug or understand the code. Utilizing reliable PHP frameworks can help developers avoid the “spaghetti code” approach, lets them solve most code problems, and they can write the code as they see fit while utilizing software programming best practices.

4) Large Community Of PHP Developers In The Market

PHP is being taught as one of the core subjects of web development in many institutes and universities producing Computer Scientists. Moreover, there is an immense number of PHP programmers and PHP development companies already providing development services.

These circumstances make it relatively easy for a newbie to lean towards learning the PHP language and start gaining experience in PHP development.

This results in a constant supply of PHP developers in the market, which is good news for employers looking to hire developers specializing in PHP.

A word of caution and advice, you will come across developers with varying skills and experience, including beginner-level developers posing themselves as experienced PHP developers. You will have to do your due diligence when hiring the right developer so that you can have peace of mind and a successful project. This applies when hiring a developer for any programming language, not just PHP.

5) What Costs You Need To Incur When Hiring a PHP Developer

As mentioned above, due to adequate supply in the job market, PHP developers are among the most affordable developers you can find because the language has a large following, and most developers are well-versed in it.

This works to your advantage as more developers can be available at your disposal hourly, monthly, or fixed-price basis. As a result, you have many options when choosing the developer who fits your budget and whether you would like them to work at your workplace or remotely.

For instance, you can hire a PHP developer for $30 per hour on freelance work sites. Although if you are looking for an experienced developer, you can hire them from $40-$50+ per hour, which is an affordable amount.

If you are looking to hire through an agency, some web development companies are known for allocating full-time dedicated developers and charging $3000-$3500 monthly. However, if you are looking to bring quality, reliability, and insight to your project, then instead of hiring freelance PHP developers, you should hire developers through an agency as you get added benefits such as quality assurance engineer, project manager, business analyst, and other resources that you can utilize for the success of your project.

Choosing PHP for developing your project gives you flexibility in many aspects. Depending on how quickly you want things done, your budget can be increased or decreased, and it’s all about flexibility.

6) Consider The Framework And Tech Stack Before Hiring

Now that you’ve decided to use PHP as the language in which your project will be developed, here is what you need to know about hiring the right developers and choosing the PHP framework for your project.

These tips will serve as a guide in the short term as they will help you scrutinize the resumes that will start coming in once you post your project on a professional platform. Not only in the short term, but this article will also serve as a guide to the decision-making process during the tenure of your project, for example, dealing with your tech stack even when you don’t have any technical expertise.

7) Getting Familiar With Different Types of PHP Frameworks

As we already mentioned, there are hundreds of PHP frameworks available that you can utilize for your benefit. First, you must consider your requirements, where your project stands, and how much time you can allocate for the development stage.

Few developers use raw PHP to get the project up and running quickly. This is when the developer does not utilize any existing open-source PHP framework. These developers aren’t very concerned about the project’s scalability, security, and future aspects. Using raw PHP might be a good idea when you brainstorm and try out different project scenarios.

However, if you want to run your web application for the long term, you will need to utilize a PHP framework.

Using raw PHP is an option that is not recommended in most cases.

This leads to another set of problems:

• The developer who wrote the code is usually the only person who can understand the code, so you are stuck with him.
• Your application’s scalability will be limited.
• Your application might have security issues.

A better option is to choose a popular PHP framework such as Laravel, CodeIgniter, Symfony, CakePHP, etc. Following this approach will give you the advantage of selecting developers from a community who are experienced with the said PHP framework and save you time as you can find PHP developers who can instantly start working on your project. Furthermore, if you need to bring in a new developer on board, he can easily understand the code and pick up where things were left off.

Whatever approach you choose, either raw PHP or the development framework, you should be aware of using both methods and how they affect your end product.

Most people with prior technical knowledge make the mistake of hiring a developer and selecting the developer to deliver the whole project since they ‘paid for the entire project at the time of hiring. They are just paying for a single iteration of the project made using raw PHP code that no other developer will be available to work with.

8) Getting Familiar With Different Types of PHP Frameworks

You need an acute knowledge of different PHP frameworks to decide the framework you want to utilize for your project. Furthermore, you can hire developers with relevant PHP framework experience.

Suppose you post your project on a freelance website without any prior knowledge. In that case, your inbox will be flooded with countless messages from potential PHP developers who will make it difficult for you to decide, as everyone will say that their framework is the best on the market.

To avoid this scenario, you can do your research about the framework that is best suited for your project. For example, suppose you require customized software or custom web application development. In that case, you should consider Laravel Development as it is suitable when developing applications with complex backend requirements, whether large or small.

WordPress Development is a prime candidate you should consider if you are looking for an information or blogging website development. Drupal and Joomla Development are other excellent options if you’re looking for a CMS website development, as both open-source frameworks are very powerful and reliable.

Suppose you are looking for an E-commerce website or shopping cart development. In that case, some of the top open-source e-commerce platforms to consider are Magento, OpenCart, Prestashop, OsCommerce, WooCommerce, etc.

We created an infographic that shows the Top 7 PHP Frameworks. Every PHP developer should consider comparing these top 7 PHP Frameworks and what makes them popular. This should allow you to focus on scalability, better performance, and security for your new development project.

If you still need help, you can hire an experienced PHP developer and get his opinion on the kind of framework that your project needs.

9) Tips To Hire The Right Developers For Your Project

Next comes the phase of the developer screening process. You have to decide whether to hire a local in-house developer, which can sometimes be a big dent in your wallet. On the other hand, in the present digital age of the internet, you can hire dedicated remote PHP developers to work on your project. Sometimes it’s the better option. Here is why:

• Up to 50%-60% cost savings
• Required expertise
• Flexibility

10) Hiring PHP developers From Abroad / Remote PHP Developers

Now that you are choosing a freelancing developer team, given they have good communication skills, it can be pretty easy to communicate and cooperate with them. You can accomplish this task quite easily by following the instructions that we are giving below, and it’s a checklist of sorts:

• Outsourcing or Outstaffing?
• Decide the region where you will get the best experts
• How well do they communicate in English?
• The region you select should coincide with a convenient time zone
• Companies that have the relevant expertise in your project type should be given preference
• Scrutinize the credentials of the developers or those PHP development companies
• Read their customer reviews and ratings

Much effort and time are required to grow your business, not to mention the investment. Your growth may be stunted if you start building an in-house development team, as it takes a toll on your wallet. Fortunately, there is an alternative that you can utilize which will let your business grow at a fast rate and a much cheaper cost.

Hiring a development team by out staffing is the best way to grow your small business. This process results in much cheaper development costs and increases the input and output of your project’s growth.

Furthermore, it gives you the much-needed flexibility necessary for the growth phase and acquiring potential prospects for your team, who will be the experts on the different projects you roll out in the market.

Before we dive into giving tips on what to ask a PHP developer, let us give you a statistical picture of the salary rates of PHP programmers for in-house and freelancers globally. This data is taken from Payscale.com and Indeed.com:

11) Global Salary Rates For PHP Developers

• United States: $ 30,000 per year – junior, $ 89,598 – middle, $ 179,000 – senior.
• Australia: $ 41,000 per year – junior, $ 95,232 – middle, $ 171,000 – senior.
• Canada: $ 24,000 per year – junior, $ 78,478 – middle, $ 163,000 – senior.
• United Kingdom: $ 14,215 per year – junior, $ 48,118 – middle, $ 100,760 – senior.
• France: $ 18,958 per year – junior, $ 41,935 – middle, $ 73,601 – senior.
• Germany: $ 27,129 per year – junior, $ 51,567 – middle, $ 68,070 – senior.
• Poland: $ 8,564 per year – junior, $ 18,100 – middle, $ 36,608 – senior.
• India & Pakistan: $ 2,105 per year – junior, $ 5,048 – middle, $ 11,464 – senior.
• China: $ 8,793 per year – junior, $ 23,173 – middle, $ 31,871 – senior.

12) Global Freelance Rates For PHP Developers

• United States: $ 35 per hour – junior, $ 125 – senior.
• Australia: $ 25 per hour – junior, $ 150 – senior.
• Canada: $ 20 per hour – junior, $ 180 – senior.
• United Kingdom: $ 18 per hour – junior, $ 60 – senior.
• France: $ 15 per hour – junior, $ 60 – senior.
• Germany: $ 15 per hour – junior, $ 130 – senior.
• Poland: $ 15 per hour – junior, $ 75 – senior.
• India and Pakistan: $ 10 per hour – junior, $ 50 – senior.

The above data paints an appropriate picture of developers’ salaries when developing a project. In addition, you can find developers who are newbies to total veterans from all over the world.

However, you can find the most experienced earning the most significant salaries in only a few regions, such as Western Europe, parts of Canada, and the coastal United States.

But that does not mean you won’t find quality in a developer from India, China, or Pakistan.
That would be the cheaper option if you are on a budget and want quality at the same time.

Western developers demand high-end salaries, but that doesn’t always ensure quality. The reason is that there is a short supply of developers in these countries and developers get high-end jobs just after they graduate, which results in the inflation of prices. There isn’t much difference between Western developers and a PHP experts from China or Pakistan.

13) Post Your Job Requirements On Freelance Websites

After you decide on the framework that will be used for your project, you may post your project requirements on a freelance website as an employer. Include clear instructions and progress markers for your project.

Moreover, try to be as specific as possible in the instructions, and you may add some other functionality that you think is a requirement of your project.

For example, suppose you want to have a subscription letter sent out to your target audience every month. In that case, you should include that in the project posts since most frameworks play the role of content management systems where a lot of functions are executed.

Being more specific will help you attract the right PHP developer, giving the developers an idea about what to develop, what to charge, and what PHP framework to use for your project.

You need to consider the project’s roadmap with respect to its scope. For example, will you need to allocate more resources for future updates or will project maintenance take the top spot on the priority list?

These suggestions and tips will help you hire the best PHP programmer for your project.

14) Develop A Standardized Interviewing Procedure

Now that you know developers’ price demographics, you need to develop a standardized screening procedure for hiring developers. You need to prepare a list of questions and answers which are relevant to your project

Some questions that can serve as sample questions that can be asked in an interview:

• Which function gives the number of affected entries by a query?
• What is the meaning of $_FILES?
• How does the ereg_replace() function differ from the eregi_replace() function?
• Is it possible to extend the PHP script’s execution time?
• How to change the maximum size of the files to be uploaded?
• How to access the data sent through the URL with the GET method?
• How to establish a connection with a MySQL database from a PHP script?
• How to set an infinite execution time for a PHP script?
• What operation is required when passing the values through a form or an URL?
• What is the most common way to start and finish a PHP code block?

15) Develop A Standardized Interviewing Procedure

Now that you know the screening process, the global rates, and the type of PHP framework you want to utilize in your project development, you can look for developers in the following places:

• Freelancing websites: Fiverr, Upwork, and other freelancing websites are the places where you can find great talent for your project. However, it can be risky to hire a freelancer as freelancers are usually incapable of doing deliverables within a defined time limitation or deadline, and the resulting quality is not as expected by the client. Refer to this article for the pros and cons of hiring a freelance developer vs. a PHP development company.
• LaraJobs: If you are looking to utilize the Laravel framework in PHP, one of the most used PHP frameworks. Then this is the place for you, although it’s somewhat expensive as you’ll need $300-$350 to post your project.
• CodeIgniter forum: You could look in the jobs section of this forum for a PHP developer.
• CakePHP on LinkedIn: The CakePHP group on LinkedIn is an excellent place to start looking for PHP developers.
• Social Media Platforms (LinkedIn and Facebook): You can search for PHP developers on LinkedIn and Facebook.

• Agencies: You can also approach different agencies that provide PHP developers for hire in the region you are looking for. This is usually a method that gives you peace of mind, as agencies provide full-cycle PHP development services along with other value-added benefits like code reviews, quality assurance, web designers (if needed), and a better project management process, along with other benefits.

16) My Web Programmer Provides An All-in-One Solution For Hiring a PHP Developer

Suppose you are looking to hire an experienced and reliable remote PHP developer, and want to skip the hassle of posting jobs, reviewing resumes, screening process of hiring, and managing the PHP developer on your own. In that case, you can contact a custom software development company such as My Web Programme. We have expert PHP developers having numerous skill sets that your project requires.

You can contact us at info@mywebprogrammer.com and get a free quote for your project. This will speed up the development process of your project, save time, and let you focus on growing your business, while we take care of your software and PHP development needs.

Final Thoughts