How to Hire WordPress Developers: The Ultimate Guide

WordPress is the web application that captures the most number of websites. With more than 40% of all websites built on this application, the hunger for competent WordPress developers has soared. Be it a simple blog or an eCommerce web application- for either one, finding the right WordPress developer is going to make or break your project. Here we are going to discuss the must-do steps that will help in hire WordPress developers in order to deliver your visions to reality.

Why Hire a WordPress Developer?

WordPress is pretty intuitive, but things can easily become much more complex when building a custom theme or plugin or adding advanced functionality. You could hire dedicated WordPress developer to customize your site to optimize its performance and security and perhaps even enhance the user experience. Here are just a few specific reasons you might want to hire a WordPress developer:

• Customization: WordPress developers can create unique themes and plugins for you according to the needs of your business, thus you will not be bounded by templates.
• Speed and Performance: The developers may optimize the performance of your site in terms of loading speed and its inefficiency in general.
• Security: Professional developers know how a WordPress site should be secured to prevent hacks and vulnerabilities.
• SEO Optimization: The developers will make sure that your web page is well search-engine optimized so as to increase views and ranks of the page. For example, a professional WordPress developer will be able to offer assistance as your website continues to grow and mature during scheduled maintenance, update resolution, and debugging.

Steps to Hiring a WordPress Developer

1. Define Your Project Requirements Before you start applying for a WordPress developer, define clearly what you need. Are you building a new site from scratch or redesigning/adding functionality to an existing one? Knowing the scope of your project will help you find the right developer. Here are some things to ask yourself:

• Do you need custom themes or plugins?
• Is optimization needed?
• Which integrations, including eCommerce or CRM should be applied?
• Does the developer maintain work that will be needed ongoing? A detailed project plan ensures you connect with a developer who will exactly meet your needs.

1. Target the Right Skills When outsourcing a WordPress developer, there are important skills you should look at while hiring a developer. Depending on how complex your project is, some features might require more extensive skills, but the following are typical for most WordPress projects:

• Proficiency in WordPress CMS: In-depth knowledge of WordPress Platform including the core functions, themes, and plugins.
• PHP, HTML, CSS and JavaScript: Since WordPress is based on PHP, so good knowledge of PHP is required. Apart from this, the understanding of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript is highly required for altering the themes and the user interface of the site.
• Experience with Plugins and Themes: He needs to know or have hands-on experience with creating and customizing themes and plugins if he wants to take existing functionality to his heart's desire.
• Understanding of SEO: Basic knowledge about the best practices of SEO so that your site is ready to go for search engines.
• Database Management: About MySQL, the database system WordPress runs on, so that he can manage content for your site as well as its performance.
• Security Best Practices: Understanding how to secure a WordPress website, including SSL, firewalls, and other security protocols.

Finding WordPress Developers

When you have a clear idea of what your project needs and what skills exactly you want the WordPress developer to possess, finding the right developer for the job is your next step. Below are numerous platforms where you can find the best-qualified developers:

• Freelance Websites: Upwork and Freelancer are websites with an enormous portfolio of WordPress developers who can work for short as well as for long-term commitments. It is easy to review portfolios, read client reviews, and ratings on these sites.
• Developer Communities: Find active WordPress community members on GitHub and Stack Overflow. Share your work and code contributions with many other developers, who can review your skills and experience.
• Job Boards: List the jobs on Indeed, Glassdoor, and LinkedIn where you can look for full-time qualified WordPress developer candidates.
• Specialized WordPress Job Boards: Some specialized WordPress job boards, such as WP Hired, WPhub, and Codeable, specialize in WordPress development-only-there you can have more qualified talent with ease.

1. Screen Candidates Now, once you've got some candidates shortlisted for an interview or perhaps screening, then it's up to you to screen candidate skills and experience. Is this developer for your project? Consider:

• Portfolio Review: Ask to view their portfolio of WordPress work. Look for sites that are of similar scope in what you will need. Notice the complexity of the websites and whether or not the developer can modify themes and plugins.
• Technical Interview: This will enable you to know how much they have been knowledgeable about WordPress, PHP, HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. You can even raise questions as they relate to security, performance optimization, and SEO as well.
• Problem-solving Skills: Try to test the problem-solving skills of your candidate by asking him how he would handle a few specific problems such as the website's speed, protecting the website, or customizing a plugin. Good communication skills are also expected from a WordPress developer along with his technical skills, enabling him to explain technical issues to others and be a good team player with the rest of the team or stakeholders.
• Pay Competitive Wages You will have to pay decent money to attract the top WordPress developers. For freelancers, you'll have to pay by the hour, but for full-time employees, you should expect salary. Prices depend on a developer's experience, where s/he is based, and what complexity your project has. And it's also a fact that good developers cost much; however, if they save you your precious time and money in the future through their expertise, then that is just worth it.
• Onboarding and Collaboration With a suitable WordPress developer in place for your projects now, ensure that you deliver a smooth onboarding process by providing them with the tools, access, and resources that the development process might require. Set up communication schedules, clarify expectations clearly, and create a project timeline or milestones to keep things on track. Regular check-ins with the developer and constant feedback guarantee that everything will go as planned.

*Conclusion: *

AIS Technolabs hosts some of the expert WordPress developers catering to your business needs with custom, high-performance solutions. Having a great knowledge of WordPress and its ecosystem, AIS Technolabs optimizes your website for the best results regarding speed, security, and functionality. Be it a custom design, seamlessly integrating with an e-commerce website, or even regular maintenance of your website, the developers will surely offer reliable, scalable solutions that don't just upgrade your online presence but also guarantee good business. Outsourcing WordPress developers from AIS Technolabs is a strategic decision towards making an extraordinary and eye-catching website that will surely boost your company's productivity and growth. For more details, please contact us.

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