Joomla Developers

How We Rank the Best Joomla Website Developers

Knowing what factors we looked at when compiling this list will help you get a clearer picture of how detailed our vetting process is. More importantly, it could help you with your own screening process. As you’ll see below, we examine every relevant aspect of web development, like the developer’s level of experience, portfolio, client feedback, project management style, and pricing model. This keeps our rankings as objective as possible and saves you time and effort when outsourcing Joomla development services.

Website Visit

The first step in our evaluation is visiting the agency’s website. There are several useful pieces of information we can obtain here:

• The overall capabilities of the agency are reflected in how effective its own website is. We note whether the website design is modern, clean, eye-catching, smooth, and coherently provides all the critical information.
• An agency’s website is the best way to gain a preliminary understanding of its experience. When you hire Joomla developers, you’ll need to know the range of services they provide. We examine what services the agency claims to be especially proficient in.
• We check if the agency focuses only on Joomla or a range of CMSs. It’s rare for an agency to focus solely on Joomla; we rank the ones that do higher. After all, that agency is more likely to have perfected its skills with this specific CMS.
• Web design agencies typically share a portfolio of their past work, often along with case studies showing how well they satisfied their clients’ needs. These are a good resource to judge the agency’s services.
• Most Joomla developers also share testimonials from past and current clients on their websites. These give us additional insight into what it’s like working with the agency on specific projects. However, for a more objective picture of the client experience, we also visit third-party review sites. These provide a less cultivated perspective.
• Finally, the agency’s description of its work, as well as its list of clients, show us which niches or industries it has the most experience in. 

Services and Specialties

We try to develop an understanding of an agency’s overall portfolio of services by evaluating what each agency claims it can do and what its clients’ experiences have been. Specifically, we look at what types of services these agencies provide and how proficient they are in them.

Level of Proficiency

All Joomla developers have different levels of expertise with the CMS. These different levels of experience can be divided among the following:

Site Builders

You can consider this the most basic level. These developers build sites using ready-made solutions like templates and extensions, although some of them might make minor design changes.

Template Skinners

These are not necessarily designers themselves. However, by being proficient in HTML and CSS, they can create a Joomla template from a design source file.

Web Designers

These are a bit more advanced than template skinners. They can create completely customized designs themselves and then bring them to life.

Extension Developers

This is where you want your Joomla website developers to fall. These developers are the most technically advanced and will likely have knowledge in all of the above areas. Teams developing Joomla extensions exhibit expertise in solving advanced problems that don’t have ready-made solutions.

Type of Proficiency

When looking for Joomla specialists worthy of our list, we give priority to those companies that can offer a full-service experience that encompasses the following:

Installation and Configuration

This is the most basic requirement for a Joomla development agency. Since installing Joomla is slightly more complex than most other programs, an agency must be able to handle the process smoothly and manage any issues. Apart from the time-consuming nature of a manual installation (in case the hosting site doesn’t allow one-click installation), another challenge in this process is configuring the plugins and modules that provide Joomla’s extra functionalities.

Website Development

Providing an extensive range of options for different content types, Joomla developers offer a larger set of capabilities than the scope of web development services. These include creating multi-page websites using text, images, and hyperlinks through the Article Manager module and eventually linking the pages to the website’s main menu.

Template Customization

The next step in Joomla project management is selecting a template from the Joomla gallery and installing it using the Extension Manager. These additional steps might include changing the template’s default colors to suit the client’s branding.

Custom Template Development

Despite the hundreds of template choices available, a client may want something more unique. Joomla template developers that can provide custom design services—with a choice of flexible layouts and module positions and full responsiveness for different devices—score high in our rankings.

PSD to Template Conversion

Often, a client will already have a design they need to be added to their website. An essential aspect of web design is converting expert designs created using PSD or Photoshop Documents into Joomla templates. Any Joomla web developer should be able to carry out this conversion in an affordable manner without reducing the quality of the client’s images, text, or designs.

Extension Development

An extension is a software package that extends the Joomla installation in some way. A small selection of extensions is included with the default Joomla installation, but many more are available from the Joomla Extensions Directory. Joomla developers should not only be able to utilize any of these thousands of extensions, but also have the ability to develop custom extensions if the existing ones don’t serve the client’s needs.

Custom Module Development

Modules are designed to present information on the website. For instance, you might want a small block on the main page with an offer, a tip, a newsflash, or even a PayPal button, and this purpose is served by using a module. While there are many existing modules for Joomla, we see if developing custom modules is one of the services provided with the Joomla web development services you will benefit from.

Custom Component Development

Components also extend a website’s functionality, but they are a lot more complex and can only be displayed in the main area of a page. Again, while there are a number of third-party components available for common functions, we check if an agency has the expertise required to handle the extensive coding required to develop custom Joomla components.

Custom Plugin Development

A plugin is a type of Joomla extension that provides functions associated with trigger events. For example, a plugin lets you display a link on your webpage, allowing viewers to share your content on social media platforms. The finest Joomla website developers should be able to create custom plugins if the existing options don’t satisfy the clients’ needs completely.

E-commerce Extension Development

Joomla has a number of powerful ecommerce extensions for creating online stores on your website. Given the increasing popularity of online sales, many companies want an ecommerce component on their website. These can be provided by extensions like VirtueMart, HikaShop, Mijoshop, DigiCom, and j2Store. We carried out an evaluation of ecommerce development specialists, checking their ability to develop, or at least utilize, these extensions.

Site Security

Top-quality Joomla development services go well beyond just helping get the page’s visible elements online. Some best practices to secure a Joomla website include activating the site’s SSL certification, securing the administrator login, taking a regular backup, using the latest version of reliable extensions, enabling Search Engine Friendly, deleting unwanted developers’ extensions, and keeping correct file and folder permissions.

Additional Services

We also look more favorably at a Joomla web developer who can offer you important services beyond website development. While offering them doesn’t necessarily make one agency better than another, it’s always helpful for a client if its entire online presence is developed and maintained under one roof. Thus, here are a few extra services to consider:

Custom Web Design

This requires the Joomla website developers to design a website that considers your customers, competition, branding, and specific problems your website is trying to solve. The perfect design is as much an art as it is a technical endeavor, and it requires a cross-functional team of design and software specialists. On our list, you will find Joomla specialists that have been evaluated against our custom criteria for choosing the best web design companies.

Website Migration

Another critical factor is whether the agency can perform a Joomla migration of content and data from one website, possibly based on another CMS, to a new CMS and database. This may not apply to all clients, but many want to switch from one CMS to another. Joomla development services with this capability save a significant amount of time in the website development process, as well as the cost of hiring a separate freelancer or agency for the migration.

Hosting, Monitoring, Data Storage, and CMS Version Updates

These are some basic services that any website owner would require over an extended period of time. You could train in-house resources to manage these aspects, and it helps if the developer provides this training. Nevertheless, it reflects even better on the agency if it can commit to these services in its contract.

Website Content

Content is an integral part of any website, and many clients end up hiring another agency or freelancer to create it. The top Joomla web developers will have their in-house teams take over this responsibility to simplify things for their clients.

On-Site SEO

Your website isn’t much use if it doesn’t attract traffic by ranking well in search engine results. Most top-quality agencies boast experienced SEO marketing teams that not only produce an effective website but also work with the client to fine-tune the features that drive consistent high-volume traffic to the site.

Any Other Kind of Marketing

Of course, digital marketing is not limited to SEO. The best Joomla development services are truly full-service in their capabilities, with expertise in all aspects that full-service digital marketing firms offer, including PPC, social media, content, email, and more.

Management and Problem Solving

Is the agency agile? What tools does it use for project management? In the traditional waterfall model of project management, the process is sequential, going through clear-cut phases of requirement analysis, design, implementation, testing, and maintenance. This process means you wait a long time before you can check whether the final product works the way you want.

You’ll now see that most companies providing Joomla development services have adopted the agile model. This method allows for close user involvement, greater transparency, iterative planning, cross-functional execution, and continuous feedback. Clients on the receiving end of the agile model are likely to see greater customer satisfaction, improved project control, reduced risks, better product quality, and a faster ROI.

There are ways to see if an agency follows the agile model. We check how well the team accepts changes during the development process and how open they are to client involvement. How much access does the agency give its clients? What does it use for bug tracking?

Pricing Models and Value for Money

Do the Joomla developers bill by the hour or the project? While either system is fine, an agency should be perfectly clear about its pricing model. Additionally, we check if the company’s rates follow industry standards. And finally, if the agency offers long-term support, it should offer a Service Level Agreement (SLA) for retained hours.

Before Sealing the Deal

Last but not least, here are a few aspects we suggest keeping in mind once you’ve decided to hire a Joomla developer.

• Define your goals and expectations for the project. Be clear about what you want, not just from the website but also from the agency. Does the agency need to provide full services, or would a basic setup do?
• Look for an agency that takes a consultative approach to website development. The team is more likely to work collaboratively with you to solve your existing problems, and it’ll be easier to nip any future issues in the bud.
• Spend some time on setting a budget for the project and look for agencies that align with it. Be careful about hidden costs.
• Once you’ve shortlisted a few Joomla web developers, ask them the following questions:
  • What happens if a project stalls?
  • How will changes be handled both during the development process and in the future?
  • Who retains the copyright over completed designs and any custom programming?
  • What aspects are within the scope of the project, and which ones aren’t?
  • What is the payment schedule?
  • What happens if any of the completed work contains errors?
  • Are there any guarantees that the design elements and the third-party code the agency uses are legal for use (e.g., Creative Commons, GPL, or purchased commercial work)?
  • Are there warranties for fixes after the project is completed? What’s the warranty period? What kind of fixes are included in the project price?
  • How often will the Joomla developers report on the process? In what form?
  • Who will you be communicating with during the development process? The more communication channels you have, the better it is for you. Also, it helps if you’re in direct contact with the team working on your project instead of an intermediary.