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Here we will cover why it is suggested that you hire a professional top WordPress development team instead of tackling the challenge yourself.
WordPress is the most popular website-building tool because it makes website development much more accessible, and you don’t need to be tech-savvy to create a website. And while the above line is entirely accurate, building a website on your own does come with a few issues once you start development.
Namely, if you aren’t tech-savvy and do not know HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, you won’t find much flexibility, even with a powerful tool such as WordPress. You will start with an idea of what you want your website to be, and you will think about the website’s look. You will also have a design in mind for where everything will be and how it will function.
But then, once you start development, even with a paid theme that offers many features – you will stumble into many roadblocks where only HTML, CSS, and JavaScript will help. If the problem is more technical, you will need expert PHP knowledge to make those changes work. And even for some things, MySQL will be required as well.
And even if you have mastered HTML, CSS, and CSS frameworks such as Bootstrap, Tailwind or ZURB, PHP, and MySQL, you will still run into the main issue. Creating a website can be a severe challenge and extremely time-consuming – especially if you have something particular in mind.
So let us see what the development process of a WordPress website would look like.
WordPress Development Process
To start, you will need a domain. You will also need a hosting plan to determine where your website will be stored. You can self-host or pay a hosting service to do that for you.
Then you’ll need to install WordPress, and your journey officially begins.
Planning
In the planning phase, a clear vision is crucial. You need to know precisely what the website will do. Is it a blog, or is it an eCommerce store? Is it an affiliate website or a website for your business?
Once you know what the website will be for, you need to start thinking of its looks and the general feel it will have.
Design
Before development, you will need to set up the website’s design. Depending on how well you design the website is a critical factor in knowing what the final cost and time frame will be.
Having a top WordPress development company at your table is extremely helpful to navigate you through everything that needs to be sorted out during this phase. A website’s design, development, and maintenance aspects are why people opt for top WordPress development companies instead of doing it themselves.
Experts will often ask you questions you likely didn’t even think of. They will also give you feedback on your ideas, what needs to be implemented, and how the website will succeed.
For example, you might think that simply adding a store for only a few products and adding a way for the customer to pay for those products might be a quick and easy integration, but an expert will tell you everything that is affected and everything else that needs to be implemented to incorporate such seemingly minor changes.
Once the whole website has been mapped out and all the details have been decided upon, it is time to start development.
Development
At this point, any top WordPress developers will decide upon the number of staff required to complete this project in the agreed-upon time frame. They decide on how many front-end developers, back-end developers, UI/UX designers, and QA engineers they will need to create the website.
If it is a blog or you are looking for organic traffic growth, then you might also need Content Writers and SEO experts, depending on the top WordPress development company and if they offer such services.
The initial design of the website may change during the development and testing phases depending on many factors – perhaps the intended feature does not perform as initially imagined, or some functionalities do not perform very well together. If the client changes their mind about something, which is also very common, the changes will likely happen now – during development.
After the development of the website has been completed, it is vital to test it before launch.
Testing
The testing phase is critical in ensuring the website functions as intended during development. Before the website is launched and given to the client - the client needs to be completely satisfied that they have gotten what they have paid for. Otherwise – no one is happy.
All bugs and grammatical errors need to be dealt with beforehand. A contact page needs to be created. Google Analytics needs to be set, and the general usability of the website must be stellar. Contact forms and payment methods must be addressed. The website needs to be optimized for speed and needs to be mobile-friendly. If not, the user experience will suffer.
You also have to consider browser compatibility, 404’s, robots.txt, permalinks, sitemaps, all the URLs that need to work, and general site navigation.
The website needs to be secure, requiring a backup, just in case. All the legal-related pages and content need to be set up before launch. Companies that offer WordPress development services will ensure that all these points have been noted and checked off.
Once the website is ready to go, it is time for launch.
Launch
At this point – development is finished, and the website is live and in the hands of the client. It is ready for interaction.
And even though it may seem that the product is finished, which it is, the journey often still isn’t finished.
Maintenance
Depending on how the client finds the website after it’s live, the client may request additional changes and features for implementation. And the client would want someone familiar with the product to implement those changes as it would be the most efficient and economical approach.
Also, WordPress will require updates for any custom-made plugins that the website may use, standard or custom, regularly. And then any top WordPress development company will be here to maintain the website so it is up to date and can keep running without issues.
WordPress Development Languages: Does WordPress still use PHP?
Yes, PHP is still the primary language used for any back end on a WordPress website. WordPress core and virtually all themes and plugins are mainly written in PHP. Hence it is often claimed that “WordPress is developed in PHP”.
How to choose the right WordPress Development company for your business?
It would help if you thought about planning before deciding which top WordPress development company to go with. Once you know what you want your website to look like and what its primary purpose would be, it will be much easier to pick a company that offers WordPress development services and specializes in these types of websites.
For instance, if you want to create an eCommerce website, you will likely yield better results by going with a top WordPress developer specializing in eCommerce.
Once you’ve thought about that, it is time to narrow down your list of possible companies that would be perfect for turning your idea into reality.
1. Narrow down a list of potential WordPress Development companies to collaborate with
Think about your budget, location, and the specialization of the company that offers WordPress development services. It is not necessary to work, but being physically present during meetings can mean a lot to the quality of work that is being done. It also helps bring your idea across to the other side more efficiently.
Now that you have a more narrow list of candidates try filtering them even further.
2. Check specializations and portfolios
By eliminating companies that specialize in something other than the type of website you want, you are increasing your focus and chances of picking the perfect top WordPress development company to create your desired website.
Browse through their portfolio and look for inspiration or similarities to what you are looking to achieve. These companies have the highest chances of giving you precisely what you want.
3. Check the company’s project management methodologies: Agile, Waterfall, Kanban, or Scrum
While Waterfall is the most traditional methodology when it comes to the development of software because of its plan-driven approach, Agile and Scrum are becoming more and more popular. Waterfall can, in certain situations, be very unflexible, which is the main reason for the rise of both Agile and Scrum.
Agile focuses more on dealing with changes and faster production, while Scrum takes a more team-oriented approach to website development. Top WordPress development companies will use the Kanban methodology the least, but it is not unheard of.
4. Compare prices keeping your budget in mind
Once you have narrowed your list of top WordPress development companies to the ones you like the most, it is time to compare prices and consider your spending power. After careful consideration, we suggest organizing a meeting with several companies and going with the one you feel will deliver the best version of your WordPress website idea.
How much do WordPress Development companies charge for their services?
This cost comes down to the design and development phase as an upfront cost, while the maintenance costs vary depending on what they include in the agreed package. Top WordPress developers will likely charge anywhere from 3000$ up to 100,000$ for the development of a WordPress website, depending on the scale and how heavy the customization is.
The maintenance cost that the client will pay in increments on a monthly plan can vary wildly depending on how long the maintenance will be, how often, and on factors such as custom plugins that need to be updated regularly.
Conclusion
If you want to save time and energy and avoid the frustration of having to deal with issues that certainly meet you during the development process of a WordPress website – we suggest going with a company that offers a WordPress development service.
The benefit is hiring a company that offers a WordPress development service is that you are exchanging money, not only for the finished product – your website, no. You are paying a team of professionals to develop a WordPress website for you – the client.
They will have all the skills, experience, and tools necessary to succeed and turn our idea into reality. By choosing one of the top WordPress development companies, you are choosing certainty that no matter how creative or original your website idea is, they can do it and that they can do it successfully.