You know you need an Umbraco Developer, but where should you start looking and how will you know which is the right one for your project?

Things to Consider When Looking for an Umbraco Development Agency

Geography

Think about whether locality is a consideration when hiring an Umbraco development agency. In days gone by it may have seemed important to hire a team you could meet face to face quickly and easily, but is this still the case? As remote working has recently stepped up a gear, and teams become more used to working independently of each other, you may find you can cast the net a little wider.

Equally, there may be practical or project-based reasons to keep with a local Umbraco development team, such as the project itself being based in a single physical location. 

Past Work

Most business owners seeking out an Umbraco developer will look through their previous Umbraco projects and builds, but rarely consider what it is exactly they are looking for when doing so. Working with a developer who has experience in your vertical may benefit you, as they will already have a feel of the industry, and what may be involved.

Consider the usability of the website you are looking to build or upgrade, do you enjoy the UX you see in their portfolio?

Your Ideas

You may already have some idea of what you want your site to look like, and the functionality you need from it. Think also about websites you like, be it for their design, their usability, structure, any aspect that may help improve your site and give your Umbraco developer a better picture of what you are looking for. When looking through a developer portfolio, see if you can spot the same traits in the websites they build. If so, you could be on the right lines.

If the development agency you have in mind have yet to build a site in keeping with your ideas so far, this could be an exciting project for them to embark on, using your project to create something unique for your company that stands out from the crowd.

Security

Website security is a fundamental element if any site design, and ensuring your site and your customer’s data is secure is a priority for every business. Make sure the developers you speak to have a solid plan for security features and maintenance.

Umbraco take their security responsibilities incredibly seriously, fixing vulnerabilities automatically, and providing information about manual fixes quickly and securely. Regular ethical hacking and penetration tests are carried out by a secure third party twice a year, and any risks found are dealt with as a matter of priority.

Our developers integrate Umbraco with your company’s SAML infrastructure to make your site more secure and easier for administrators to manage. You can find out more about Umbraco SSO integration here.00

We often have access Umbraco patches before general release due to our Gold Partner status, ensuring and security risks are dealt with immediately.

Work with Umbraco HQ to Find a Partner Agency 

The most effective way to find an Umbraco Developer is to work with Umbraco HQ who will help to source a Partner Agency, who all have certified Umbraco Developers, and ensure that they best meet your needs with their matching service.  They will ask a few questions about your project and will then match you against the skills and demonstrable experience of their Partner agencies. You can also browse through the list of individual Umbraco Developers on the Umbraco Website, which lists all Umbraco Developers who have undergone certification training.

Using Umbraco HQ you can also find out which agencies in your area have Gold Partner status. Umbraco describe their Gold Partners as ‘our most valued and dedicated partners’ and Gold status as ‘the highest partnership level at Umbraco’.

Using an Umbraco Gold Partner not only means you have peace of mind that the development agency you have chosen are experienced, and are certified top notch developers, but there are practical advantages for choosing a Gold Partner too.  

In the case of Carbon Six Digital, our Umbraco Gold Partner status allows us to offer early access to patches and releases, free access to Umbraco paid add-ons, free Umbraco training, and a fully backed SLA should any issues arise. We employ Umbraco Certified Developers, and you have confidence that we have been vetted by Umbraco HQ to ensure that we can design and build Umbraco sites following best practice.

Discover how we can help 

Based in the South East, Carbon Six Digital are passionate about developing Umbraco websites and web-apps that deliver results. Whether you have a re-build or migration project or support requirements, get in touch with our team to learn how we can support your business.