When it comes to hiring someone for a WordPress related job, it really depends who you think is the right person for the job. You can hire a freelancer, a WordPress agency, a decent developer or a WordPress consultant. But not all situations demand a WordPress consultant. Similarly not all tasks can be accomplished by a freelancer.
It depends on a lot of things.
Nature of Work
For simple tasks like newsletter integration or customization of a theme, you can approach a decent freelancer or a developer.
If you need a custom WordPress website for your business, you definitely need to approach either an agency or a competent WordPress developer.
If you are a small, medium sized or large business house, you need more than just a custom website solution. You need a well-behaved website, successful online presence, SEO optimized site and conversion rate optimization. You will need to run various advertising campaigns.
This involves the discovery, planning, implementation and deployment. A Consultant is the right person for this kind of job (period).
A WordPress Consultant will start with assessing the needs of a website for the business / company, will work out a plan and discuss the possible solutions. He will take the reins in his hands to deliver a site that takes your business to the next level. The focus of a WordPress Consultant is on delivering the site that generates revenue and drives sales.
Budget
You can hire a freelancer at a very low rate. You can find a freelancer to happily work for you for as low as $5 per hr. The problem is, freelancers experiment at the cost of your website. Many of my clients have shared their horrible stories of working with the freelancers. Some of them worth mentioning are:
- The work delivered was not as per the expectations.
- After the deadline was over, freelancer informed that he was not competent enough to provide the solution.
- I have to approach the freelancer every now and then to get the site fixed. My website breaks with every WordPress / plugin update.
So basically working with cheap freelancers come at its own cost.
Hiring a decent WordPress developer, the one who has an established identity, is a better option than going for a freelancer. They charge somewhere in the range of $25 – $100 on the hourly basis.
WordPress agencies and WordPress consultants are on the higher end. They charge for the value and the quality they offer. Their charges generally vary depending on the kind of project requirements you have.
If you are a business house, it’s better to hire a WordPress consultant. This will save you a lot of pain for a little extra price.
Work Relationship
For a one time job or a set list of tasks, it is generally a good idea to find a suitable freelancer / developer. The work relationship ends with the end of the project.
The project which involves delivering a custom WordPress website also is a one time job.
But in case of business houses, they need someone to work with them on an ongoing basis. Website maintenance, performance tuning, caching, page speed, landing page optimization, conversion rate optimization, search engine optimization, digital marketing, email marketing… a business website needs all this. Hiring a WordPress web development agency or a WordPress Consultant is always a plus for long term relationship. They make sure that your business is in safe hands.
Enterprise and Priorities
If you are just beginning, you will try to save every single penny and opt to build a WordPress website all by yourself or may be ask a friend to create one for you.
With time you realize that it is not an easy job to maintain online presence for your business. It needs a lot of technical expertise and expert advice to run the show. That is the time when you really need a WordPress Consultant… a game changer!