You might have enough knowledge about WordPress to achieve simplistic website designs. But if you have more complex or specific needs, it can be a good idea to hire a WordPress design consultant. The problem is that it can be difficult to find reliable professionals who guarantee a high standard of work.
That’s why it’s important to carry out some essential checks before hiring your chosen expert. Whether you’re looking to make your site more user-friendly or you need a custom theme, you’ll want to first assess their communication skills, check their availability, and maybe even draw up a contract.
In this post, we’ll discuss the role of a WordPress design consultant and outline the main benefits of using one. Then, we’ll present five key checks to conduct before you hire a professional. Finally, we’ll show you the best place to find a design consultant for your project. Let’s get started!
What is a WordPress design consultant?
Consultants work across all kinds of industries to provide businesses and individuals with expert advice and tailored suggestions. But they don’t usually carry out the work on your website.
Instead, consultants form partnerships with businesses and develop a collaborative environment where they use their skills and experience to offer assistance. In this case, a WordPress design consultant will guide you step-by-step through every part of the web design process.
This might mean helping you select the right WordPress theme for your brand, or suggesting significant theme customizations. More experienced design consultants with knowledge of programming languages might also be able to help you build custom themes, but this is usually the job of WordPress developers.
Consultants may even recommend tweaks to elements like your navigation to make your website more user-friendly or accessible. And, they’ll ensure that your website adjusts seamlessly to different screen sizes including tablets and mobile phones.
Why should you hire a WordPress design consultant?
While WordPress is a beginner-friendly platform, it can be difficult to execute more complex ideas without any technical knowledge. Therefore, you can hire a WordPress design consultant to help you with the visual aspects of your website.
These WordPress professionals take into account all of your unique needs and preferences. For example, if you’re building a business website, you must create professional-looking designs that lend credibility and legitimacy to your brand. Meanwhile, innovative startups or tech-based companies might prefer interactive designs and animations.
No matter your goals, working with a consultant is the simplest way to bring your vision to life, without actually hiring a WordPress designer to carry out the work for you.
Hiring a web designer can be very expensive. Plus, it’s much less collaborative. After supplying the initial brief, you may no longer be involved in the design process.
On the other hand, working with a consultant gives you a ton of flexibility. You could hire a design consultant once your website is built, and they’ll simply provide feedback to help you make improvements. Or, you can appoint consultants at the start of the project.
Then, you can either learn how to execute the ideas yourself, or take the comments/recommendations to a designer of your choosing. Many consultants will also continue to assist with any design-related issues or questions, even after the work is done.
Five checks to perform before hiring a design consultant
Now that you know more about working with consultants, let’s take a look at some important checks to carry out before hiring a WordPress design consultant.
1. Check availability
When you begin searching for a WordPress design consultant, you’ll find that most experts work remotely, so location shouldn’t be an issue. That said, you need to hire someone who will be available during your regular working hours.
It’s also best to prioritize WordPress professionals who are active within your time zone. Otherwise, it can be difficult to arrange meetings and maintain good (and prompt) communication.
The downside of working with very established or popular design consultants is that they’ve often built up a back log of clients. Therefore, always check when work on your project will begin, and set strict deadlines from the get-go.
2. Gauge their experience
Although it’s not essential, it can help to work with a WordPress design consultant who has relevant experience. This might involve previous work within your industry or with your website type.
The easiest way to determine this is to simply ask the consultant about past work. You could even request a portfolio to see whether it’s likely to be a successful partnership.
Rather than simply looking at the designs they provide you with, it’s a good idea to visit the actual websites and get a first-hand look at the visual elements. You could even reach out to the site owner for feedback.
3. Evaluate communication skills
Communication is one of the most important factors to consider when hiring a WordPress design consultant. This isn’t as important if you were looking to hire a freelancer to carry out a quick job or one-off task.
But as we’ve discussed, working with a consultant is usually a long-term collaboration. Therefore, you need to be sure that your chosen professional will be available on an ongoing basis.
Before you agree on anything, it’s best to determine the communication frequency. Will you touch base on a weekly or monthly basis? Or will they only get in touch when they have progress updates to deliver?
Besides the frequency of communication, you also need to evaluate the quality. Do they answer all your questions clearly? Are they good at explaining technical or complex concepts in a digestible way?
You’ll also want to make sure that they properly explain why they’re recommending specific strategies or designs for your WordPress site. This helps you know whether they use a generic one-size-fits-all approach, or whether they’ve put the work into presenting a tailored solution that meets your exact needs.
4. Consider the costs
When looking for a WordPress design consult, you might come up against drastically different fees for what appears to be a similar service. Bear in mind that more experienced consultants or WordPress specialists may charge more.
Additionally, it’s better if you get a budget in place before you start comparing costs. What can you realistically afford to spend on the project? Then, you can immediately disregard options that aren’t within your budget.
It can also be easier to prioritize professionals that charge a fixed rate per project, so that you know how much the work will cost. If you opt for experts with hourly rates, you might be in for a big surprise at the end of the project.
And while cost is a critical factor, the quality of the work is equally important. Therefore, we recommend comparing rates across different platforms to get a good idea of what you’ll need to pay. Plus, it’s always best to request a quote before hiring a WordPress design consultant.
5. Create a contract
There’s no way to completely guarantee the reliability and professionalism of your chosen WordPress design consultant. Therefore, it’s important to clearly lay out the expectations of everyone involved by creating a legally binding written document.
Here are some of the key things to cover in your contract:
- The payment terms (including the payment method, date, etc)
- Ownership of the final result
- Treatment and storage of your data
- Scope of the project
- Timeline in which the work will be complete
- Post-project warranties (such as ongoing support)
- Terms for termination (if needed)
Depending on the nature of your business, you may even wish to consult a legal professional before you hire a WordPress design consultant. For most companies, a contract will be sufficient to keep everyone on the same page.
Where to find a WordPress design consultant
There are various places to find a WordPress design consultant. You could use job board sites to advertise the exact role you’re looking to fill.
You could also look at freelance platforms like Fiverr and Upwork can be a good choice.
Note that there are drawbacks to using freelancers. For starters, you’re limited to the expertise of just one individual.
Additionally, freelancers can be great for short-term or one-off projects, but they don’t tend to offer robust long-term solutions. For that, you’ll be better off using a reputable all-service WordPress agency like Freshy:
This way, you benefit from a whole team of professionals including WordPress designers, developers, SEO experts, security professionals, and more. Better yet, you’ll be paired with a project manager who takes the time to understand your unique goals and makes sure that your expectations are met.
Besides that, Freshy has over 15 years of experience and you can check out an extensive portfolio first to see if it’s the right fit. You can also request a custom quote before working with us, so you know exactly how much the work will cost.
But ultimately, the main advantage of using agencies like Freshy is that you’ll get ongoing support. With retained services, you’ll get direct access to consultations and tailored recommendations. Freshy will even help you figure out the ideal workflows, meeting frequency, and the number of hours you’ll need per month.
Conclusion
A WordPress design consultant is the ideal way to access tailored recommendations on the visual aspects of your site. It might mean customizing your theme, improving your site’s usability, or making your site more accessible. But it’s important to find a reliable professional who meets your exact needs.
To recap, here are five checks to carry out before hiring a WordPress design consultant:
- Check availability.
- Gauge their experience.
- Evaluate communication skills.
- Consider the costs.
- Create a contract.
The best way to access quality design consultants is to hire an agency like Freshy. This way, you’ll benefit from a full team of experts with decades of experience. Plus, you’ll get frequent one-on-one meetings to update you on the progress. Get a quote today to get started!
){kind=link}