One of the question we get asked a lot by users of our platform, WordPress Alternative, is “should I hire someone to work on my WordPress blog”?
Today, we’re going to address that question and more.
To go directly to the point, the question above can answered this way:
If you think it is time to beef up your WordPress website with some advanced features and functionality, or, if you are in the mood to develop a brand new website based on WordPress, but with a custom tailored design, then it is okay to hire a WordPress expert to work on your site.
But you have to be careful though, so that you don’t make mistakes. When thinking of hiring someone for your WordPress-based website, one thing you have to consider is the type of WordPress expert to hire.
This is vital because hiring the wrong person can be likened to hiring an architect to remodel your house when what you really need is a contractor.
Let’s take a look at the different types of people who work on WordPress sites so that you can decide which one best fits your needs.
So friend, which should I hire? A WordPress designer, developer, programmer, or all three?
This might seem like a difficult decision, but you’ll soon see that it’s typically a relatively straightforward decision. The tricky part, which we’ll cover in the last half of this post, will be finding a good candidate to bring on board for your project.
When to Hire a WordPress Developer
This is, in essence, a WordPress architect. The WordPress developer has built or helped build many WP websites. He or she suggests and comes up with ideas, helps to implement and set up solutions, and works to integrate and modify existing sites.
Developers seldom take on custom programming jobs, so if you run a hair salon and want to add a booking functionality to your existing massage shop, the WordPress developer will look for a premium booking plugin to install into your site. They’ll configure it for you, get it up and running, but they won’t program it from scratch.
That’s not to say they’ll never do any coding; sometimes, they do perform coding and design work. Other times, they let someone else do it for them, if they can’t find a plugin or template that fits the needs of the client. A good WordPress developer should know when it’s time to outsource the work.
Think of your WordPress developer as an architect, looking at the big picture and how to best meet any given goals. That might mean custom programming, or it might mean using ready-made premium plugins and code. The best WP developers know which is the right course of action.
When to Hire a WordPress Programmer
A general programmer with some experience with WordPress: that’s a WP programmer, in a nutshell. If a developer is an architect, the WordPress programmer is like a brick-layer. If you’re really advanced in WP yourself, you might work directly with a programmer to instruct him or her on what lines of code to write, but you’ll usually encounter this type of person by way of your WordPress developer.
In fact, it’s usually smarter to hire a developer first, and then let the developer decide whether or not a programmer needs to come on board. In quite a few projects, it will actually be better and less expensive to make use of existing plugins and themes, rather than reinventing the wheel.
When to Hire a WordPress Designer
A WP designer is someone with some knowledge of turning a concept into an actual WordPress theme that you can install, a WordPress designer is a good fit if you just want to refresh the user experience of your website without changing the functionality. Bottom line, most hire a WordPress designer for tasks they aren’t capable of completing so be careful.
Summary
We hope this article has helped you answer the question of whether or not to hire a WordPress expert to work on your site. If you have any questions, make efforts to send it across to us at info(AT)wpalternative(DOT)com. Happy WordPress-ing!
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