Choosing the Right WordPress Consultant

With WordPress hitting the main stream, how do you choose a WordPress Consultant that you will be able to trust and reply on for something as important as your online success? There are times where my schedule does not permit me to take on any new clients so I wanted to create a list of criteria you need to look for to ensure you are in good hands — whether it be me or another consultant.

Below are criteria that should be scrutinized when you find you are in need of WordPress Consulting, help and support. These are also the issues and questions that over the years I’ve found potential clients are most concerned about (or made the mistake of not considering) when determining who to partner with:

WordPress Partner Checklist

• Look at the consultant’s site to see how they are using WordPress. How they use WordPress to market their services will give you a good idea of what to expect. Does their site reflect a command of WordPress customization and plugin integration?
• How long have they been working with WordPress? How long as their site been using WordPress? This will be key to you determining if their experience reflects a solid understanding of how best to use the advantages of WordPress for your program.
• Is location important to you? Most folks I talk to within the U.S.A. prefer to work someone who is stateside. Timezone differences and ability to contact your WordPress Consultant during your business hours when you need them are very important from a support perspective.
• E-mail them and see how they respond and how quickly. This will give you a clear view into what you can expect when you submit your WordPress help or support requests.
• Are they available for after-launch WordPress support or do they just launch your site and you are back on the clock?
• Do they offer any WordPress training or orientation as part of their services? If you are new to WordPress this level of additional support will be invaluable.
• Do they have a FAQ and policies you can review covering the questions you have about their WordPress Consulting services? Or is their site lean on this level of information?
• Are they clear about their fee schedule and billing policies? This needs to be front and center so that you know exactly what to expect and can budget accordingly.

Never “Settle”…

All too often folks decide who to work with based on a WordPress Consultant’s hourly rate without also taking the above into consideration. You need to get specific answers to all these important questions.

If the above information is available on your potential WordPress Consultant’s site and you can get prompt and courteous answers to all your concerns to your satisfaction, you will know you have found a person or company that is committed to offering the customer service and WordPress support you’ll need to allow your program to thrive!

At your service,