Many people use WordPress because it is so easy to use. This is why it is the most commonly used content management system and the technology behind about a quarter of all websites. The widespread adoption of WordPress has led to almost as many people claiming to be WordPress developers, though their skills range from downloading a few plugins and calling it done to turning WordPress sites into a rival for the most advanced standalone websites.
The challenge for website administrators is knowing whether the developer is doing the job right. Here are 3 signs you should switch WordPress developers.
Contract? What Contract?
You know you’re working with an amateur if they don’t provide a contract. There are several problems with this. First, if you’re outsourcing the work to a developer you’ve selected off the internet, you have no legal protections if they just take the money and go silent.
Second, if they are working without a clear statement of work, they can take the money and say the changes they’ve put on the website are what you wanted. Third, good developers want the contract so that they have a clear scope of work for which they are paid and the ability to charge you more if you keep piling on requirements or accept the deliverable as originally promised. If your WordPress developer won’t sign a contract that outlines the scope of work and pay rate for it, you need to find another developer.
They Say Yes Immediately to Everything
At first blush, this doesn’t sound like a problem. My developer is eager to please and ready to do what I want. Why is this considered a problem? First, someone who immediately says yes to everything probably isn’t investigating the level of effort involved. They may simply be saying yes to make you think it is fine while doing nothing at all. The alternative is letting the technical debt pile up, and then the developer will rush through everything and call it done.
The better choice is a developer who comes back with time and cost estimates for every request, and is willing to advise you against certain changes that conflict with each other.
Lack of Communication
You must have good communication with your WordPress developer. Developers that take days to return emails and just as long (or longer) to return urgent phone calls hurt you, whether you don’t like what they uploaded to the site or are asking for a status report. The silent developers are deadly. The inability to get a hold of them developer when newly discovered security glitches or shopping carts that don’t work correctly are crippling your business and will eventually kill it.
In contrast, good WordPress developers like Lexel give you regular status updates and ask questions if you change the requirements. The best developers engage with your team regularly so that everyone is on the same (web)page.
These should be clear signs that you should ditch your current designer and start looking for a new one. If the developer you’re working with exhibits any of these traits, maybe you should start considering your options.
