Wordpress Developer Salary in 2024

Wordpress

Why WordPress is So Popular?

WordPress, once just another blog publishing engine, is today highly extensible, scalable, secure and, in many ways, a lot more. EBay, Sony, GM, UPS, Forbes, CNN, Reuters, The NYT, Samsung, IBM, TechCrunch – these and hundreds of other recognisable heavy-hitters use it as their blogging engine or CMS too.

Part of what makes it such a powerful CMS today is that it evolved with that same target audience and focus in mind: people who blog for specific, digital communication niches that the platform aimed to efficiently address.

This commitment from the outset to placate people when it came to content has proven a tremendous advantage to the world’s No 1 CMS, since when it scaled it was always able to scale around these content-making and ­–management features.

Top Reasons to Use WordPress

Here is the list of the top reasons behind choosing WordPress over other solutions:

• WordPress.org is self-hosted and user-maintained. So all site information is under the user’s control.
• It is a full-fledged blogging or content creation platform, where you have all choices, powers of editing and publication.
• Anyone can install, set up, and start using WordPress without a manual.
• The platform is scalable and businesses have control over their own database.
• The CMS has a super intuitive and beautifully designed interface.
• It’s easy to manage and edit multimedia, such as photos, videos, and gifs.
• It’s easy to extend the site’s functionality by installing plugins, extensions, integrations, and themes.
• Super SEO friendly and ensures websites rank high in search engines.
• Responsive and mobile-friendly.

Now – here’s the good part – the actual list of the company websites of well-known WordPress sites:

Which kinds of websites can you develop with WordPress?

WordPress’s broad appeal – millions of websites use it – means that the platform’s large community of ‘end users’ have built pretty much every type of site and can answer almost all of your questions online via tutorials, blogs and forums.

WordPress, though, is most definitely not optimal for this small class of apps. For everything else, WordPress is great. Take online shopping, for example. Running an online store requires a few API integrations for things such as payments. With the help of a plugin such as WooCommerce, a WordPress website can run online stores (20 per cent of all WordPress websites use WooCommerce; see that valuable community contribution from W3Techs above). You might use WordPress for the following applications:

Types of WordPress websites

• Business websites
• Landing pages
• Blogs
• News sites
• Online stores and eCommerce
• E-learning sites
• Membership sites
• Forums
• Portfolio sites
• Multilingual sites

Comprehensive Guide to Assessing WordPress Developer Skills

Your project could be a huge success, or it could fail horribly all because of who you hire as your WordPress developer. If you’re looking for a company to hire a dedicated WordPress developer, a freelance WordPress specialist, or even a WordPress theme developer, this article will help you figure out the right questions to ask. You will learn about the different levels of WordPress development skill and what is hot in the WordPress job market right now.

The Importance of Hiring the Right WordPress Developer

It is not an easy task to hire a good WordPress developer. Because hiring the right WordPress developer does not only help your site to work nicely, but also make your site have better uptimes, run faster and smoother, make more sales or generate more leads. Here are a cast of reasons why a good WordPress developer is essential:

• Professional standards: Reliable developers create the platform on which your business stands. It’s paramount that your WordPress site is built to professional standards, in order for your customers to trust you and rely on you to deliver.
• Customisation: A developer will provide you with a customised WordPress site that fits your business requirements, giving you an edge over the rest.
• Performance Optimisation: Performance (how fast your site loads, whether it gets hung up on certain browsers, etc) is a critical factor in user experience and SEO. Good developers know how to optimise your site for speed and performance.
• Security: You need a WordPress website that is not easily crackable, so professional developers use strong protection.
• Scalability: If your business grows, your website should grow, too. You don’t want visitors to be trapped on a page that’s loading indefinitely because the website has overflowed its limits as your company’s business increased and design features proliferated. An adequate developer designs a site that can keep growing.

Key Skills to Assess in a WordPress Developer

A WordPress Developer should have necessary technical skills and knowledge of best practices. The following is a complete list of skills to check:

Technical Skills

• Proficiency in WordPress Core: Deep understanding of WordPress core functionalities and structure.
• Theme & Plugin Development: For when you need a custom theme or plugin built.
• HTML, CSS and JavaScript: Ability to build the front end, or the user-facing face of an application, using these standards. It requires the creation of responsive designs that load correctly on a wide array of devices and operating systems, as well as ease of use for the person physically interfacing with it.
• PHP and MySQL: Proficient in server-side scripting and working with databases, which are crucial for WordPress development.
• REST API Integration: Ability to integrate third-party services and APIs to extend WordPress functionality.
• Security Best Practices: Knowledge of security best practices to protect your site from vulnerabilities and attacks.
• SEO Skills: Skills and ability to optimise a site for search engines:
  • On-page SEO
  • Technical SEO
• Performance Tuning: Ways of enhancing site speed and performance, such as caching, compression, minification, and image optimisation.

In-Demand Skills

• Gutenberg Block Development: Proficiency in creating custom Gutenberg blocks for the new WordPress editor.
• WooCommerce Development: Expertise in developing and optimizing WooCommerce stores for e-commerce.
• Page Builder Experience: Experience with popular page builders such as Elementor and Divi for layout customisation.
• Multilingual Site Development: Experience in creating and managing multilingual WordPress sites.
• Accessibility Standards: Understanding the accessibility standards of web pages to make sure the site is usable by all.

How to Assess WordPress Developer Skills

Checking whether a WordPress developer can handle your project involves several stages including: reviewing a portfolio, doing interviews, and giving technical tests. Here is how you can assess a WordPress developer’s skills:

Portfolio Review

What have they done before? What does their previous work tell you about their skills and knowledge? What projects do you see that are similar to what you want to do? How well designed are they? How well written? How well built? How well optimised?

Technical Interviews

Interview the developer to determine how well they know WordPress core, theme and plugin development, and other required skills. Ask how they keep up with WordPress news, how they troubleshoot problems, and what they’ve learned as a result. Ask to see some samples of their code, or even access and review their repositories. Does it adhere to best practices? Is it well-organised? How do they document their work?

Technical Tests

Have them take a technical test that gauges how well they can perform appropriate skills. For example, write a custom plugin, optimise a site for performance, or fix a particular issue.

References

Talk to past clients or employers to find out how the developer worked with them, how reliable he or she was, and whether they felt they were communicated with.

Soft Skills

Assess whether they can communicate clearly, fit in with the organisation’s culture, and their willingness to work with others. The successful completion of a project requires both effective communication and a good team spirit.

Types of WordPress Developers and Their Expertise

The type of WordPress developer you need depends on the specifics of your project. Here’s a rundown of the various specialisations and what distinguishes each one:

WordPress Theme Developer

A WordPress theme developer specialises in creating and customising themes to meet the clients’ specific requirements in terms of design and functionality. The core responsibilities would include:

• Custom Theme Development/From scratch: Designing and developing custom themes from scratch, making them responsive for mobile devices and user-friendly interfaces.
• Theme Customization: Modifying existing themes to better suit the client’s needs and preferences.
• Integration: Ensuring the theme integrates seamlessly with various plugins and tools.

WordPress Plugin Developer

The tasks of a WordPress plugin developer may include:

1. Develop new plugins that supplement the performance of WordPress
2. Maintain the functionality of the plugins

• Custom Plugin Development: The creation of custom plugins to insert a feature or function into a WordPress site.
• Plugin Maintenance: Regularly updating and maintaining plugins to ensure compatibility and security.
• Integration: Ensuring plugins work seamlessly with the WordPress core and other plugins.

WooCommerce Developer

A WooCommerce developer is someone who creates and enhances sites built using the WordPress plugin WooCommerce. The responsibilities of a WooCommerce developer include:

• WooCommerce Setup: Setting up and configuring WooCommerce stores, including payment gateways and shipping options.
• Customization: Customizing WooCommerce templates and functionalities to match the client’s e-commerce needs.
• Optimization: Optimizing WooCommerce sites for performance, SEO, and user experience.

Key Considerations for Hiring a WordPress Developer

There are key considerations when hiring a WordPress developer:

Ease of Communication

This is the most important area to get right in finding the right WordPress developer for your project. Establishing the communication lines early will make it easier to handle project-related logistics from day one. You can determine a vendor’s ease of communication before hiring them by assessing their level of professionalism. Some things to look out for include on-site accessibility, website monitoring time, and accessibility to employees when needed. A real, preferably local address should be provided, as written communication is the most convenient form. If the address falls outside your area, clean phone lines should be available to avoid additional call charges.

Scalability

When hiring a WordPress developer, it is vital to have a clear understanding of whether the job is a one-off occurrence or part of an ongoing engagement. To plan and effectively utilize your allocated resources, you need to have clarified this aspect before hiring anyone.

Support

The WordPress developer that you hire should be able to work with you to address compatibility issues, security concerns, and other complications that may arise during the course of your website. When assessing your future WordPress developer for this attribute, their resource availability and response attentiveness should be a prime consideration.

Timing

The timeframe aspect of hiring a WordPress developer involves determining how long you will be working together on a project.

Figure out exactly what you want: before you set out to find a developer (or any other kind of professional, for that matter), nail down the project scope. Specify exact functions, mention the design you most prefer, and be specific in your requirements. Knowing exactly what you want to build will not only help you find the right developer but also avoid many headaches down the line.

Technical Competence

This is the general ‘technical competence’ score. Here, I evaluate a developer’s ability to implement WordPress core, theme and plugin development, front-end technologies, back-end technologies, and related methods using generally accepted techniques.

Portfolio and Case Studies

Examine a developer’s portfolio and case studies to learn about past experience and skills. Focus on projects similar to your site and evaluate the quality of the work.

Reviews and Testimonials

Read and evaluate client reviews and testimonials to see whether the developer delivered on previous projects, communicated effectively, and complied with deadlines.

Soft Skills

Is the developer someone you think you can work well with? Is their communication skill good? Do they seem a good cultural fit in your office? Good communication and teamwork mean the project will be delivered.

Is the developer available during the time you need them? Are they reachable and responsive? Do they offer support and maintenance for your project after it’s complete?

Tools and Technologies in WordPress Development

The successful WordPress developer must be a master of a set of tools and technologies that increase development efficiency and website performance.

WordPress Development Tools

• WordPress Command Line Interface (WP-CLI): It provides a command line interface that allows you to manage your WordPress installations, automate tasks, and minimize repetition.
• Version Control Systems (Git): GitHub, Bitbucket, etc., for version control, enhancing collaboration and code management.
• Local Development Environments: Local by Flywheel, XAMPP, MAMP for setting up local dev environments to test and develop.
• Debugging Tools: Query Monitor and Debug Bar – useful plugins and tools for spotting and resolving WordPress issues.

Performance and Optimization Tools

• Google PageSpeed Insights: A tool to analyze site performance and provide recommendations for optimization.
• Plugins that improve site speed:
  • W3 Total Cache: A super caching plugin that accelerates your server for almost any number of hits.
  • WP Super Cache and Zen Cache: Equivalent plugins that improve site speed.
  • WP DB Manager: A tool that will clean up your databases.
  • Smush: A plugin for optimising images, and it needs to be installed before creating any content.
  • EWWW Image Optimizer: Another plugin that reduces the sizes of images without compromising quality.

Security Tools

• WPScan: A security scanner for WordPress that helps identify vulnerabilities and suggests fixes.
• Security Plugins: Wordfence and Sucuri are excellent plugins for adding a much-needed layer of protection to your site.

SEO Tools

• Yoast SEO: A popular plugin for optimizing on-page SEO and managing site meta data.
• Rank Math: Another powerful SEO plugin that provides advanced features and optimization tips.

Page Builders and Customization Tools

• Elementor: A drag-and-drop page builder that permits developers to create unique designs and layouts without writing any lines of code.
• Gutenberg: The block editor that powers WordPress, allowing developers to create content using blocks to achieve a higher degree of flexibility and customisability.
• Advanced Custom Fields (ACF): Adds custom fields to the WordPress admin area for developers who want to enrich the content-management and customisation tools they create for themselves and others.

Conclusion

Finding the right WordPress developer makes or breaks the project. How to hire WordPress developer: Knowing what kind of WordPress developer you need, assessing their skillset, and making the right move will save you money and improve the chances of your project being built the way it’s supposed to be built. Follow this guide to navigate your hiring journey and hire a developer who is not only proficient in technical skills, but also compatible with your team and project goals. Through the hands of an exceptional developer, your WordPress site will be a full-fledged tool driving your business forward.