7 Things to Look for in a Dedicated WordPress Webmaster

Whether you run a church, eCommerce shop, consulting business or restaurant, one thing’s certain, you probably don’t have the time or desire to manage a website. Your business obviously needs a site to remain relevant and connect with your audience, but the maintenance tasks tend to take you away from your actual business. That’s why we’re going to show you seven things to look for in dedicated WordPress webmaster.

After all, if you’re a restaurant owner, you should be serving delicious food, not contacting your hosting company because the website is down. If you run an online store there are customer calls to take and packages to ship. Spending time backing up and securing your website takes time and money out of your pocket.

If you’re in a situation where your website has become too overwhelming, or you realize the benefits of having a professional on your side, the goal is to locate a dedicated WordPress webmaster who’s friendly, experienced, and willing to make the changes you desire. So, keep reading and we’ll show you how to select a web designer the right way.

Step 1: Find Reviews Online and Compare

The first step to your search might involve Google. Reputable web designers know the value of a presence on Google, so even having a business page shows the company is making an attempt to reach customers. After that, you can scroll through the list of nearby web designers and see how many reviews they have.

Locating a dedicated WordPress webmaster can be difficult

Combined with Facebook, you have two resources that collect reviews from unbiased customers. Facebook ratings and reviews tend to be friendly, but it gives you a look into how the most devoted followers enjoy their services.

Step 2: Choose Some Finalists and Check Each of Their Websites

Make a list of three to five web designers with excellent reviews and above average star ratings. We suggest four stars and above and at least 15 ratings on Google.

With your shortlist, visit the websites of all the design companies.

This is a test to see how much pride the web designer takes in their own business. If they can’t make and maintain a quality website for themself, how are they going to do it for you?

Therefore, check to see if the site looks professional and modern. It’s also important to check if it’s mobile friendly (either on your smartphone or using a tool like the Google Mobile Friendly Test).

Dedicated WordPress Webmaster should have an impressive portfolio

 

Finally, see if the dedicated WordPress webmaster has a portfolio. Having a portfolio is a good start, but it helps to scroll through and decide whether or not you their past work.

Step 3: Test The Web Designer’s Communication Skills

If you enjoy communicating through email, send the web designer an email. But if you’d rather talk on the phone, try calling them. Be prepared to leave a message if no one answers.

This is your first test of how the designer responds to your questions and treats you as a customer. New customers should feel welcomed and accomodated. If the designer can’t do that, or doesn’t respond quickly, don’t expect the communication to get any better.

Step 4: Figure Out If the Designer Adds Value to Your Search Process

Getting some extra value goes a long way, since the whole point of hiring a web designer is to free up time for you and save money along the way.

One way the best designers provide value is by offering a free consultation. This takes no money out of your pocket and displays that the designer is willing to take a look at your website and discuss options beforehand.

Another value-added benefit is when they send you helpful information or offer to do a free review of your website and send you a report on how you can improve your website or a roundup of all the services they’ll complete for you on a monthly basis.

Step 5: See If the Designer is Available for On-going Support

Some webmasters set up your site or complete some maintenance in the short term and you never hear from them again.

Dedicated WordPress Webmaster care plans

The goal here is to partner with a designer that’s going to offer you ongoing website care, with backups, renewals, monitoring, and more. It’s also essential that the WordPress web designer doesn’t lock you into any long term contracts. You should be able to cancel whenever you want.

Step 6: Check on Additional Services

There’s a good chance that all you desire right now is website management. Not every business is ready to dive into the tricky world of SEO, social media marketing, or digital marketing.

However, partnering with a dedicated WordPress webmaster frees up time for you, so in the future you might decide that it’s time to explore other marketing options.

The big question is, does that same webmaster provide those types of add-on services? If not, you’ll have to do the work to seek out another contractor, wasting more time and money.

Step 7: Examine The Designer’s Experience

This ties into checking a web design company’s website, where you should put a magnifying glass to the portfolio and see what types of sites have been built and managed by the company or an individual designer.

Example work from a dedicated WordPress webmaster

For instance, let’s say you’re trying to add eCommerce to your site and have the backups and security monitoring done by the webmaster. Upon landing on the portfolio, you should see that the designer has worked on eCommerce sites in the past or added this type of functionality to other client sites.

In short, what your web designer has done in the past matters quite a bit. You don’t want to be the guinea pig.

Get Started with a Dedicated WordPress Webmaster

There you have it! You can now confidently start and walk through your search for a webmaster and know that the process will find you the best candidate possible.

We specialize in offering ongoing support for WordPress websites, so feel free to contact us if you need assistance!

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We focus on beautiful web design that delivers results for your organization. Our specialty is creating customized WordPress websites.

Effective websites require security, backups, updates and maintenance.

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Johnny Flash Productions

Johnny Flash Productions is a creative agency based outside of Washington D.C. that focuses on digital strategy, web design and development, graphic design and event production that helps businesses get better results from their marketing.