How To Hire a WordPress Developer

If you haven’t heard of WordPress, you might have been living under a rock. Even though it’s incredibly popular, that doesn’t mean that it is straightforward to find a professional WordPress developer to hire, who knows what they’re doing.

Because of the ubiquity of this software, there are quite a few novices who won’t be able to build you the website or plugin you need. The popularity also means, though, that you can find an expert WordPress developer to hire if you know what to look for. Or, of course, we can find him/her for you.

Tens of millions of websites are run on WordPress. Why?

1. It is open-source and free to install, deploy, and upgrade.
2. The WordPress community is vast: easy access to information.
3. It also hosts over 60,000 plugins and numerous templates, both free and paid. These assist in reducing development costs, deployment time, and everything in between.
4. According to Wappalyzer, WordPress dominates the content management software of 76.4% market share.
5. WordPress is very customizable. 

Some people who aren’t sure about web development seem to think that WordPress is only for blogs, but it’s important not to confuse it with its blogging platform, WordPress.com. The CMS, instead, powers many popular websites, including Yelp, Etsy, and Zillow.

This CMS is also quite easy to update or further customize if your website needs to change down the line. Rather than build an entirely new site, your WordPress developer can tweak some areas and implement new plugins to create the exact design and features that you want. Not only does this save them time, but it also means that your website is more likely to avoid unnecessary complexity.

How does WordPress compare to other content management systems?

Besides being the most popular content management system with a big majority of the CMS market share, there are other benefits why hiring a developer to create your WordPress website is the best option for boosting your business.

Why Hire a WordPress Developer

Non-stop Documentation

WordPress experts are skilled enough to handle all technical issues that can come up when developing a WordPress website. They will take care of everything needed, from the development phase to implementation and modifications. Also, handling plugins or issues related to website and mobile speed. 

One of the main features of WordPress is the fact that it is freely customizable. There is a massive number of plugins, themes, updates, and customizations created by other software engineers. So, although WordPress is user-friendly, many features can be overwhelming for someone who doesn’t have any tech background. 

WordPress developers understand how to handle most of the issues. Yet, if there is a case where they do not, there are many large communities, blogs, and information that will solve any problem they might be facing.

SEO’s Best Friend

One thing that’s very important for almost every single website is Search Engine Optimization. WordPress is SEO friendly, which means that you can optimize it to appear higher in the results on search engines like Google or Bing and, thus, help more people find your website. In fact, WordPress even has plugins that are made to help you improve your site’s SEO.

WordPress developers understand 100% about SEO; they are aware that the priority of a website besides building a strong brand is to get more customers. Therefore, they will work on SEO to make your website grow on traffic and leads.

Security is Not a Problem

Unfortunately, not even systems like WordPress that are built with high-security standards are exempt from cyberattacks. Because it is the most popular content management system, it has happened that websites have experienced hacker attacks, viruses, and malware.

Therefore, hiring a WordPress developer also means hiring a security protector that will take care of your data. They are specialists and understand how this system works, what to do, which plugging to install (and to update them continually). They will take care of the steps you need to follow to create a secure, hacker-free website.

Efficient Experts

For someone with a non-technical background who wants to create a functional website, WordPress can be stressful. This is the main reason why a WordPress developer is the best option for building your site. They can create the website your business needs to get more clients and strengthen your relationship with them.

The only thing you have to do is to hire the right WordPress developer.

The Top Questions for You to Interview a WordPress Developer

As a top remote recruitment agency, we are aware of the difficulties that are within finding the best WordPress developers online that have all the benefits above and more. We have selected our top interviewing questions for WordPress developers that can help you hire the candidate you were looking for.

1. What are template tags in WordPress?

A template tag is code that tells WordPress what to do or get.

For example,

In header.php the tag bloginfo(‘name’) tells WordPress to get “Site Title” from wp-options within the general settings on the dashboard. As these are used fairly often, your developer should be able to tell you the main template tags:

the_title() - to display the post title

wp_list_cats() - to display categories

get_header() - to get the header

get_sidebar() - to display the sidebar on the page

get_footer() - to get the footer content on the page

2. What are the steps to follow for WordPress plugin development?

Your WordPress developer might need to create custom plugins for you. For this, they should generally know these rules:

1. Find a unique name
2. Setup a prefix
3. Create the plugin’s folder
4. Create sub-folders for PHP files, assets, and translations
5. Create the main plugin file and fill in the obligatory header information
6. Create a readme.txt file
7. Use proper constants and functions to detect path to plugin files
8. Create additional PHP files and include them inside the main one
9. Create activation and deactivation functions
10. Create an uninstall script

3. How do you create a custom post type? (Provide an example)

Custom post types can be added to WordPress using the register_post_type() function by allowing you to define a new post type, including its labels, supported features, availability, and more.

Here is an example  (Although your potential developer’s might vary)

add_action( ‘init’, ‘create_post_type’ );

function create_post_type() {

register_post_type( ‘acme_product’,

array(

‘labels’ => array(

‘name’ => _( ‘Products’),

‘Singular_name’ => _( ‘Product’ )

),

‘public’ => true,

)

);
}

4. How can you active plugins using code? (Give an example)

The way plugins are stored is within an array in the active_plugins option. This array consists of the file path to each active plugin.

To activate a plugin, “you need to determine what its path will be, then pass that path to active_plugin($plugin_path).”

Additionally, before you can call active_plugin(), the plugin.php file from wp-admin/includes/ must be added and the plugin isn’t already active.

Here is an example of what this would look like:

// Define the new plugin you want to activate

$plugin_path = ‘/path/to/your/new/plugin.php’;

// Get already-active plugins

$active_plugins = get_option(‘active_plugins’);

// Make sure your plugin isn’t active

if (isset($active_plugins[$plugin_path]))

Return;

// Include the plugin.php file so you have access to the activate_plugin()    // function

require_once(ABSPATH .’/wp-admin/includes/plugin.php’);

// Activate your plugin

activate_plugin($plugin_path);

Hire a Remote WordPress Developer

Real tech talent is not always in your backyard. Most of the time, the best developers are km away from you. So don’t let this be an excuse for not hiring your dream developer – hire remotely!

Here are 5 benefits you will have when hiring remotely:

Increase Employee Retention

Employees who work from home also have more time to spend time with their family or hang out with friends. They get to achieve this work/life balance that most employees around the world are looking for. This not only makes them happier but also makes them loyal to a company, and  59% less likely to look for another job during the first 12 months.

Have Experts on Time Management on Your Team

If you need your website ready for a specific date, a remote WordPress developer will get the job done. Experienced remote employees know how to handle their time; they have the flexibility (in most cases) to work at the hours they want. As stated, they are more likely than Onsite developers to achieve this work/life balance because they know at what hours they are more productive.

Less Stressed and More Productive Employees

Around 82% of remote employees have lower stress levels than onsite employees. This makes telecommuters to be less likely to suffer from worse mental health problems such as anxiety and depression. Besides increasing their retention level, they are also able to be more productive daily and to avoid burnouts.

Increase Diversity

Working from home opens the door to people that sometimes do not have the possibility of moving around or are not taking into account. Like for example, people who have mobility disabilities can shine with their talent in remote work. They have no problem with working from home because it is a space already designed for their individual needs. Also, hiring remote employees from different parts of the world means having diverse cultures and perspectives that can lead to better decisions.

Join the Green Revolution

Unfortunately, the world is suffering (Besides COVID-19). Global warming is a significant problem that has been taking place a long time ago, and each time consequences are more serious. As individuals using bamboo or metal straws are some small ways to help. But businesses can do even more. Hiring a remote employee means hiring someone who won’t commute to work every day. According to the World Health Organization, the fastest contributor to climate emissions is transportation.

Hire the Best WordPress Developer Online now!

Hiring and recruiting is not a piece of cake, especially when you are trying to find exceptional good employees. It is never only about tech skills; it’s also about how employees fit into your objectives, goals, processes, and overall, your culture.

If you want to avoid the long and tedious process of finding this IT Rockstar, let the dirty work on our hands. We will headhunt a top WordPress developer in a matter of weeks that will make a perfect fit for your company. 

We can make your team stronger. Reach out today to hire remotely a developer for your software team.

Angela Karl

Angela, contributing to the DistantJob blog, is a seasoned senior content designer with a decade of experience in crafting engaging narratives. Her forte lies in creating user-centered content that demystifies complex tech concepts, making them accessible to a wide audience. With her expertise, Angela plays a pivotal role in empowering readers, particularly in topics related to tech hiring, software development, and remote work strategies.