Hi all,
I'm looking for a freelance Wordpress developer for some ongoing work and wondering the best ways to run the search.
Generally whenever...
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Great question! I think finding that "Talented, reasonably-priced freelancer" vs. "Homogenous, faceless agency" is a pretty interesting question applicable to a lot of services, not just Wordpress help. I have a few thoughts:
Finding a Wordpress expert is an especially fickle problem because the market is so super-saturated with agencies, review sites, DIY guides, etc.
Lastly, @davidhbeck , you recently mentioned in the Welcome thread that you did WP consulting for quite a while. Any tips to add?
Sorry for the late reply here.
A few things regarding WP developers
-the good ones aren't always expensive, and cost is usually based on location. I live in Chico, California and charge $50/hour for WP work but I know of some in the SF bay/LA who will charge up to $200/hour for the same type of work.
-some will charge you way more than they should for maintenance/updates (this is something you can easily do yourself as long as you backup the site first)
-since WP is designed for non-coders to use, make sure you are very clear about what you're looking for. Some WP "developers" are really just copying your content into a premade template and invoicing you for $2k. Others might be amazing WP plugin developers but not so great in the website design/development field. If you are looking for a basic/ecommerce website, you want someone in between: a developer that is well versed in front end and knows the backend of Wordpress well enough to make things work but isn't going to create extra work by trying to reinvent the wheel.
Try and nail down a list of exactly what you want your website to accomplish. What kind of websites do other businesses in your market have, and are there any special functions you need? For example, if you own a restaurant you might want to have some kind of online ordering system. If you sell apparel, you will need a good ecommerce system (I used WooCommerce).
Once you know exactly what you need it will be easier to find the right developer. If someone comes to me and says "hey, I heard you do websites, can you make me a websites?" the answer is always "it depends." If someone tells me "I saw you built this ecommerce site. How much would it cost to do something similar, but add features A and B and remove feature C?" then I can easily tell them right away whether I am able to do that within their budget etc.
One last comment - the beauty of wordpress is that a lot of features have already been built and are available in the form of 3rd party plugins. Any time you are thinking of adding a feature, there will probably be a plugin for you. This will save you a lot of money since you won't have to pay your developer to update/maintain the plugin - however, you have to accept that there are some features that you won't be able to customize within a 3rd party plugin.
Sorry if that's too much info - I'm procrastinating right now and this seemed like a good way to kill 10 minutes. If you have any more questions feel free to email me - davidhollenbeck42@gmail.com.
Hi Richie,
You could find some great WP developers at Toptal