WordPress developer: what do I do exactly?
Many businesses offer “WordPress” as a solution. The information below will help you understand whether I am a good choice for your project.
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What I do
The majority of my work is in the role of “WordPress developer”. This means I design and write code for the following:
- bespoke web sites powered by WordPress
- original WordPress themes
- original WordPress plugins
- troubleshooting for any of the above
Really, though, beyond having a deep understanding of how to leverage WordPress code, what you are paying for is my experience putting together a tailored solution to meet your project goals.
I don’t charge you because I know how to use a specific type of software that you’re not familiar with. You choose to work with me because I can help you realise requirements specific to you, while avoiding common mistakes that can affect a project long-term.
What I don’t do
I’m not a good choice for you if you’re trying to achieve any of the following:
- You want to design and develop with Divi or a similar page-builder tool
- You’re starting a project with a theme from somewhere like Envato or Themeforest
- You have a wordpress.com website
Advice is free
I really enjoy this type of work and if I didn’t need to pay my bills I’d probably still end up building projects for free. What I can do is offer free advice and guidance on any topic related to the services I offer.
The sooner you get in touch for a chat, the better chance of avoiding long-term costs based on an unfortunate decision made early on.
Rates
New projects
My preference is to provide a final total cost at the outset of a project. This means you can be confident about how much your project will cost, while I can focus on doing the best job possible (rather than watching the clock). For this to be possible, we need to have an in-depth discussion about your project as early as possible.
If you really want an hourly rate: use the Maintenance rates below as a guide.
Maintenance
- By the hour: $75 NZD
- By the day: $400 NZD
Discounts
- 75% discount for artists
- 50% discount for not-for-profits
Discounts apply to new projects, only.
Mark-ups
Has your site been put together using a theme from somewhere like Envato or Themeforest and/or has been laid out using a page-builder tool? My hourly rate raises to $150 NZD for this type of maintenance project (no day rate available, sorry).
The reason for the increased rate is simple: these types of themes offer a huge variety of layout options and presets. This is an attractive selling point and makes for an easy “feel good” purchase, but, for this reason, it helps defer important decisions around what is the best approach for your specific project. The result is usually a mess behind-the-scenes.
Long-term, with these themes you are buying into a large codebase of which the majority is redundant. This is a great example of what is termed “technical debt” because the large redundant part still needs to be accounted for when any remedial work is performed.
Have a question?
If you have a query that isn’t covered here, please get in touch: Email daniel@chthonic.nz