How to hire WordPress developers that are ideal for your business requirements

As the world advances towards cutting-edge technologies such as AI and IoT, the classic website and blog continues to assert its resourcefulness nonetheless. Offering a touchpoint to audiences on the web, your site or blog needs to be on-point, as well as meet the needs of customers.

WordPress, being the popular Content Management System (CMS) that it is, has long since established its presence as a go-to source for hosting and crafting beautiful websites that can be granularly customised with any number of add-ons that are available out-of-the-box on the WordPress marketplace.

As a result, dedicated WordPress developers continue to stay in high demand, as businesses require the expertise to configure plugins and customise themes to suit their specific requirements. In this article, we introduce what WordPress developers do, how to find the best one, as well as some collaboration tips on ensuring productivity and success.

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What is the job role of a WordPress developer?

WordPress developers work with the WordPress CMS to craft custom websites and blogs, depending on a business or product owner’s specific requirements. They typically possess skills pertaining to most web-based scripting languages, such as HTML, CSS, JavaScript and PHP.

With multiple components involved across a typical WordPress site, WordPress developers therefore specialise in one or more of these components, which include:

• WordPress core: this focuses on back and front-end development of the website or blog,
• WordPress plugins: involves connecting plugins from the WordPress marketplace, to add and edit custom functionalities depending on business needs,
• WordPress themes: focuses on the aesthetics of the website or blog, which is typically crafted to meet a business’s branding requirements.

While many experienced WordPress developers specialise in all three of the areas mentioned above, themes is one that may often involve the expertise of a UI/UX designer (and even a graphic designer for budget-constrained projects). This is so that the overall look and feel of the site is within the branding parameters of your business, while also ensuring consistency in terms of brand colours and messaging.

Who do WordPress developers collaborate with?

WordPress developers are key during the development stages of a project, and all the way through to testing and final implementation. From this point onwards, they play a proactive (yet still important) role to release updates following user feedback. Depending on which stage your project is in across the software development lifecycle, WordPress developers collaborate with:

• Web and UI/UX designers: WordPress developers typically work hand-in-hand with designers to ensure that all themes are implemented in accordance to the expectations of the business and its brand guidelines. Additionally, UI/UX designers also provide guidance and direction on appropriate interface layouts, while ensuring that a user’s typical journey across the website or blog is seamless and pleasant.
• Software testers: Once development concludes, WordPress developers need to be on standby as software testers check for bugs. Once these bugs are fixed, the site is now ready for deployment. Post-release, it is key to keep in mind that regression testing (which ensures older capabilities are still working smoothly following the release of new ones) will be a routine process, every time new features are rolled out to users.
• Project managers: As with all other team members, WordPress developers need to constantly stay in correspondence with the project manager to ensure they are always aligned, and their efforts are being used to meet the client’s expectations.

Tips for selecting the best WordPress developer for your website or blog

The process of headhunting for a WordPress developer is no different than trying to fill any other position, but some nuances do exist. If your business already partners with a software outsourcing company, they can do all the work of assessing the objectives that your new WordPress developer needs to fulfil, where to source the right talent from, and establish a set of KPIs to monitor their performance as time progresses.

Whether or not you as a business owner are involved in the headhunting process, it is wise to remember and follow the below tips to ensure your team hires a suitable WordPress developer that understands and is in alignment with your business’s core objectives.

1. Assess what you really need from a business standpoint, and not just a job criteria standpoint: this is because it is plausible that your team may discover certain gaps and other responsibilities that your new hire could take on.
2. Screen candidates for both hard and soft skills: while cognitive tests can confirm technical abilities, observe how well your candidates articulate thoughts and solve problems during the interview.
3. Regularly evaluate performance, after hiring and onboarding: analysing your WordPress developer’s overall quality of performance at least once a year shall help shed light on whether they require additional training, if they can gain more skills to go up the ladder, or simply take on more responsibilities to secure a senior position.

How to successfully collaborate with WordPress developers

If your business has the ability to hire dedicated developers, this can provide your team complete access to your WordPress developer’s time. However, it isn’t a must, and collaboration can still be executed effectively provided that:

• The right collaboration tools are present: adopting real-time task management and workflow automation tools will ensure all team members are aware of what their duties are, and who is responsible for each task, even across multiple time zones.
• Meetings are done regularly: this is necessary even when it feels like there is nothing to discuss, as these one-on-one sessions can foster personal rapport.
• Any problems or concerns are voiced as soon as they appear: sidelining a problem can compound it over time, and eventually cost your business more than having it nipped in the bud.

In conclusion…

WordPress developers aren’t reducing in demand anytime soon, as the platform has long since been a popular option for crafting bespoke websites and blogs for businesses of all sizes. With WordPress development consisting of core, thematic and plugin components, businesses need to be aware of which skills are required for their own project.

Typically, WordPress developers may be adept across all three components, but may work closely with UI/UX designers to hone the thematic component in order to meet brand guidelines and user expectations.

Although WordPress is marketed to be a drag-and-drop solution, expertise from a dedicated WordPress developer shall be required sooner rather than later as deep customisation is only possible with skills in web scripting languages such as HTML, CSS, JavaScript and PHP.