Searching for a Wordpress freelancer/s - how to choose one and where?

[AndyJames2018]

Hi all
I'm looking for a wordpress freelancer to create a new website.
After some research I'm more confused than ever.
There are so many choices to choose from and I have no idea of who to pick, trust, etc.
I like some of the bigger sites offering a stack of designers as they seem to be good value but going ahead is making me a little nervous.
If anyone can advise of their experinces or point me in the right direction that would be very helpful.

Many Thanks
Andy

 

[ServWise]

I would choose based on previous work, I have been building websites of all types for 20 years, mainly WordPress now, check out the portfolio on my website.

Cheers
Sam

 

[Paul Kelly ICHYB]

Have you asked for recommendations from anyone?

 

[antropy]

I like some of the bigger sites offering a stack of designers as they seem to be good value but going ahead is making me a little nervous.

Bigger sites like UpWork? I'd avoid at all costs, most profiles on there are fake and you have no idea who you're talking to.

You could contact a UK agency like ourselves although we do work with OpenCart more than WordPress, we are happy to work with WP and know what we're doing.

Paul.

 

[Paul Carmen]

Supply your website spec and marketing plan to them, gauge their expertise in that field and check reviews or talk to their clients for similar projects.

If you've not done this, you should start any project there, as you need to ascertain what the site is for and what your customers want; e.g. what your market and competitors are like, how to position your products/services to get leads, business and sales.

However, if this is a Fiver, PPH type gig job then it's virtually impossible as its really about lowest price on those type of sites.

 

[fisicx]

@AndyJames2018, start with the spec.

• Is it e-commerce, brochure site, information, entertainment, news etc.
• 
  
• Are you local or national?
• 
  
• Do you have a marketing plan and know your target customer?

Creating a Wordpress site is very simple and takes 5 minutes. You then add all your content and images, calls to action and internal navigation. Next up is any extra functionality. Last thing to do is decide on a theme. Final configuration and its job done.

Most of the above you can do yourself with a little bit of training.

But everything begins with that specification. If it’s simple the site could be up and running in a couple of days.

My suggestion would be to get a wordpress site set up and write all your content. Don't worry about what it looks like for now. You can fix this right at the end. If you need help installing and setting up wordpress pay for that service first.

 

[Shopclicks]

My suggestion would be to get a wordpress site set up and write all your content. Don't worry about what it looks like for now. You can fix this right at the end. If you need help installing and setting up wordpress pay for that service first.

Graham, I have to disagree that building a Wordpress site from scratch is in any way easy if you want to end up with a worthwhile website. I have seen far too many novices have a go and simply get everything wrong. The learning curve is not worth the time and a novice will get a different answer from every developer/designer they speak to. The big problem is that they don't know the right questions to ask.

Where to buy a domain
Where to host the site
How to install SSL
How to install Wordpress
How to create a secure username and password
How to install plugins
Which plugins to install
Which theme to install
How to create a page
How to give a page an SEO friendly title
How to add text to a page
How to compress, resize and name an image
How to upload an image
How to create a menu
How to find valuable keywords
How to structure a page
How to create tablet and mobile friendly versions
How to create a shop page
How to create a product
How to create an SEO friendly category

I could go on and on just to build a basic shop.

If a novice was asking here, they would get 10 different answers to every question.

My advice to @AndyJames2018 is to find developers willing to show you websites they have built. Show you the keywords the sites rank for and compare prices. I could go on with other questions to ask.

 

[fisicx]

all of that list can be easily researched. And most of it is very simple to do. There are thousands of tutorials that will guide the novice.

But until we know what type of site is needed this is all academic.

 

[Shopclicks]

There are thousands of tutorials that will guide the novice.

That's a big part of the problem.

How many sites have you come across which only sell to the UK but are hosted from the U.S. or Singapore?

How many people have you come across who buy their domain from their hosting company?

 

[fisicx]

How do you know he wants an e-commerce site? For all we know they just want a simple brochure site to demo their business. They may not even need SEO.

The specifications will dictate if they need a developer, content creator, graphic designer, marketeer, SEO expert and so on. Of if it’s something they can do themselves with a bit of guidance.