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I’m considering hiring a developer to help me refine my WordPress site. I’ve got it set up pretty good, but I need help doing things like tweaking the look of the existing theme (the bulk of what I need done) and maybe bolstering the site security and stuff like that. I think it’s relatively simple stuff, but slightly beyond my abilities. How much should I expect to shell out for something like that (approximately – I know it’ll vary based on the exact details).
And how should I go about making sure I select someone who knows what they’re doing? I’ve never hired someone for this kinda thing before and I want to make sure I select someone experienced and knowledgeable.
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1. Don’t use some random person on Fiverr, claiming to be a developer, that charges $5 an hour. You’ll get what you pay for, and then end up paying someone more expensive to both fix the mistakes and do the original work you wanted done.
2. “I think it’s relatively simple stuff” – don’t presume things like this. The person you hire has no idea what you’ve done on the website, and will have to modify a pre-existing theme they likely have never seen before.
3. How much you pay is going to completely depend on the specifics of what you want done. “Tweaking the look of the existing theme”, “bolstering the site security”, “and stuff like that” are incredibly vague. Don’t be suprised to be paying hundreds (minimum) for whatever you want done. The developer will likely bill you by the hour, or provide a quote for very specific things you instruct them to do & then charge extra for any changes. Any sensible developer/freelancer will likely request an upfront payment as well for any quoted work (typically for quoted work I ask for a 50% deposit, with the remaining balance payable upon completion). And no they won’t just run off with the 50%, it’s very unlikely they’re going to risk their reputation/business by screwing someone over like that (at least not if you hire someone reputable).
4. Personally, if I were looking for a developer I’d look closer to home, maybe there’s freelance developers in your area or local development companies that would be a better option before considering finding someone random online. It’s not going to be easy to know how knowledgeable someone is without seeing their work, but most people (you’d like to assume) will likely be honest with their experience. If you want someone experienced then personally I wouldn’t be choosing anyone with less than a few years experience.
$100 an hour as with any skilled trade contractor
Start with, getting a quote. Just Get a quote.
Detail some paragraphs with some screen shots about what you want to improve, and get a quote for the work before it’s started.
You should estimate they‘ll charge anything from 50-200 / hour or a bit more – less.
Which means some custom work can easily cost a couple thousands.
It helps to get a clear idea of what you *really* need to get done and gather a couple of quotes, talk to different people.
As a general rule: the more vague and undefined your tasks are (i.e. fix “some” stuff on the site) the more it will cost.
Brainstorm what you really need to get done and reach out to different devs.
I charge 25$/hr as a WP expert and am very comfortable with that rate.
what theme are you using?
or what editor do you use?
I bet you just need an hour or two of 1-on-1 is all.
no need to “shell out”….
its going to do you a lot more good to learn it yourself, than pay someone to do it for you. none of it is hard anymore.
Don’t listen to all these people talking crap about Fiver. Plenty of talented people on Fiver for much much less cost then your local agency. Fiver has reviews what else do you want? Just do your do diligence when hiring someone on Fiver.