Firstly… How much does a WordPress website cost?
WordPress is free – and with thousands of free themes and plugins – this will give you all of the functionality needed to run a simple website.
Although WordPress is designed for ease of use; the end product will often only be as good as your WordPress knowledge and technical ability. To create truly beautiful and professional WordPress websites, will require a lot of trial and error, time and learning. Any lack of these things might be plainly visible.
This is where a Professional WordPress developer can come into the picture.
Creating a basic WordPress website is fairly easy. However, if you then want to implement advanced features, style customisation and other optimisation – this can be very time consuming and often requires advanced WordPress Development Skills and Internet technology knowledge. Using a WordPress Developer to achieve the website you want – will save you a lot of trial and error, reduce the learning curve and save a plenty of time and money.
What should a WordPress Developer do?
We gain an understanding of needs and wishes of a person or business – We then build upon these, by offering further possibilities that will specifically benefit the person, business and website visitor.
Usually a WordPress developer will find a Premium Theme that is most suitable, then customise it further to represent a personality or brand. A WordPress Developer can also provide assistance with sourcing the best imagery and words for your website.
We use our technical and industry knowledge to ensure that the most appropriate and stable plugins are installed and configured properly. We help with developing online strategies – reaching a broader audience through search engine optimisation and social media integration – streamlining sales and customer communication with improved online store, newsletter, blog and web design practices.
A good WordPress developer lives and breathes WordPress – has encountered thousands of hurdles during WordPress development and has overcome and documented most of them.
A good WordPress Developer isn’t someone that just knows everything about WordPress. A good WordPress developer has a varied skill-set. We are also designers, coders, and copywriters. When WordPress development demands something – we deliver it.
How much a Professional WordPress Developer should cost
Well… not that much really.
Unfortunately, many WordPress developers just quote an arbitrary amount – and typically that amount gets higher when their customers have little technical website knowledge.
We believe that a WordPress developer should charge by the hour – and quote based on the estimated amount of time the project or task will take.
So the question is… How many hours are required to complete the website?
This will be based on the specific needs and wishes of the customer. A simple small business presence, with information and blog – will take only a few hours.
An online store, with event calendar, social integration, animated banners etc. – this could take up to approximately 10 hours.
A big corporation that is after a content rich website, with social media integration strategy, Blogs, FAQs, search engine optimisation, embedded videos, galleries, member areas etc. could take up to 40 hours.
However every client is different and has a unique set of requirements, each taking a different length of time.
Our advice
Ask for an estimate on how many hours the developer will need to meet your brief – and then ask how much per hour.
A WordPress developer should always be able to provide a ball-park figure on how many hours will be required to complete a brief if a solid outline is provided at the outset.
Do you get what you pay for?
We recently learnt of a WordPress website that cost a company $6000 for development. Based on the quality and functionality of this website – Snug Site would have quoted about $840 (and offered ongoing support and training). Just because a WordPress Developer has plenty of past clients and a good reputation; does not mean they should charge exorbitant rates. In fact – this is often the hallmark of a company that produces less satisfying results.
There are also many fly-by-night amateur WordPress Developers advertising on various Freelancer websites, and usually approaching others who advertise for work needed. They will offer very cheap rates and a short turn-around. Much of this work is sub-contracted off-shore and often the personalised and ongoing service is missing. These kinds of developers should be avoided.
A great WordPress Developer will never stamp a job complete, unless the client is completely satisfied. A great WordPress Developer will offer ongoing support, training and maintenance, and not disappear once the website is live.
Ongoing Work and Costs
After a WordPress website goes live and is getting visitors – there will always be an opportunity to improve on the website – and make use of the latest technology trends and improvements as they become available.
There is also ongoing Security, Search Engine Optimisation, WordPress Updates and Backups to consider. If you do wish to keep your website relevant and stable, then you might need to consider having a WordPress developer perform these tasks for you – again this is typically done at an hourly rate or via a monthly pack.
This is another factor in choosing a WordPress developer. Ensure that they are not just going to mark your website as complete and send you on your way. Choose a WordPress Developer who is always going to be there for you in the long-term, providing assistance whenever you should need it.
Snug Site offers a WordPress Maintenance Service – this looks after most ongoing website maintenance – and ensures that if you ever do require further assistance from us, that you receive it promptly and at a reduced rate.
Learn more about how this Australian WordPress Website Developer can help you today.
