Stepping into the digital world can feel a lot like standing at the edge of an expansive city. From one side, you see skyscrapers of endless potential reaching into the sky. From another view, you see a maze of winding alleyways, each promising the hidden treasure of online success. And then there’s you—the ambitious business owner or tireless organization leader, holding the blueprint of your brand, itching to establish a footprint in this virtual metropolis.
The key to unlocking that city? Your website—the online HQ of your brand.
Designing and managing a site can be challenging, though. HTML and CSS can feel like alien languages sometimes. Navigating the best practices around search engine optimization (SEO) can be like traversing a minefield. And then there are cyber threats looming in the darker corners of the web. It’s enough to make even the bravest business warriors consider retreating.
In fact, many do.
This is where a WordPress agency can be of great value to a leader like you. Whether your website is already built or yet-to-be-built, the truth is that WordPress is what runs around 40% of the websites on the internet. It’s an incredibly powerful web-building tool that allows for customization, security, creativity, and much more.
A WordPress agency is a cohesive team of developers, designers, and project managers that work together collaboratively to help you customize your website, solve complex issues in-house, manage the day-to-day to keep your site running smoothly, utilize effective themes and plugins, and solve any issues you may be experiencing with your site.
Like any industry, however, there is a vast difference in the multitude of people you could hire. So how do you hire the right one?
Well, you don’t have to be a WordPress expert to look for these six things in a WordPress agency:
1. Communicative & Responsive
A good WordPress Agency won’t keep you in the dark or wondering about your project. And when you run into an issue, you shouldn’t have to wait a week just to get a response. No matter how big or small the problem is, a good WordPress agency is always there to assist you.
For example, here at ClikIT we offer 24/7 email support and 12/5 live chat support in our ClikIT Care packages so you can always get the help that you need.
2. Solution-Oriented & Experienced
This is so much more than just knowing a technical skill like PHP, JavaScript, HTML, CSS, and more. (We see people advertising these specific skills ALL the time.) The hard truth is that anyone can develop those skills, but they are just ingredients.
You have to know how to use those skills to create solutions in the context of a unique business or a unique industry that are truly effective.
If a WordPress agency has little to no experience or very few examples of their past projects, this could be a sign that they don’t have what it takes to turn those skills into solutions. Take a look at our portfolio for an example.
3. A Growth Mindset
There are always new plugins, new solutions, and new code. Technology is always changing and web agencies need to have a growth mindset to stay at the forefront. You really don’t want to get stuck with someone who faces a problem and thinks, “Well, we’ve just always done it this way.”
Our team likes to live by the axiom “Tomorrow, do better.” And that’s not to say we aren’t doing great today, but it reminds us that we need to always be learning, always refining, and continually striving to get better.
4. A Partnership Approach
Too often, we see people who come to us stressed and burned out because someone built them a website and then left them on their own to maintain it. Having a partnership approach means being around for the long-haul and sticking around to provide maintenance and troubleshooting when things need to be updated or revised.
This is something to look for in an agency to save you time, stress, and energy. This also keeps you from scrambling trying to find support when something goes wrong down the line!
A WordPress agency with a partnership approach will take the time to listen and understand your vision, learn who your customers are, and work together with you to create a solution that will fulfill your vision.
5. A Proven Track Record
Put simply: Have they done what they say they can do? Or have they done something similar?
You should easily be able to find examples of past projects, testimonials from satisfied clients, reviews, and more for a good WordPress agency. Reviews are from people just like you, so seeing what their experience was like with an agency is invaluable as you are considering hiring them.
You can also check out their Google Reviews to see what people are saying about them and how responsive they are to comments.
6. A Firm Understanding of SEO
There is so much more to building a website that performs well organically than how it looks. Everything from site speed to page title strategy is connected to understanding Search Engine Optimization (SEO) well.
Visual design is absolutely important but it has to go hand-in-hand with the technical and strategic side of things too. SEO is critical to drive traffic to your website, optimize your content, and make your website search-engine friendly.
A good WordPress agency will understand that balance.
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It can be hard to know what to look for in a WordPress agency, especially if you aren’t as familiar with the field. We hope this list has given you a better understanding of where to start and what to look for!
ClikIT is made up of project managers, developers, and designers that believe design is a process, maintenance is mandatory, and that a good WordPress agency should be with you every step of the way. Don’t forget to check us out in your search for a WordPress agency! Learn more >>
