When I started working as WordPress Developer, I even did some free working helping a not for profit organisation. I was new to the industry and needed some local experience. My first few projects were done within a budget of 1,000 dollars. But as I started getting more experience I started to go with ballpark figure. Now at the time of writing I design and develop WordPress site and my minimum ballpark is at 1,500 dollars for any project. I don’t work with premium themes or job done by other developer.
We all know WordPress is free to download and there are numbers of free plugins and themes available on WordPress repository and internet. Does that mean WordPress website are really cheap? Well, the answer is Yes or No depending upon what you are looking for.
Yes WordPress website can be up and running for couple of hundred dollars. There are free themes and plugins that you can download and outsource your project to overseas developer at very cheap rates and cut your cost significantly. Doing this there is a good chance you will create a mess out of your project and end up with something that you weren’t looking for. I am not blaming that all overseas developer are bad. If you are willing to invest more time and select developer wisely, it can be a good decision too.
So in reality how much does a WordPress websites cost?
Option 1: Free – Learn yourself
I often suggest my clients to learn some basic WordPress, be it just editing pages or post. Playing around with WordPress Content Management is really easy and if you can learn some basics about how image editing, that’s quiet helpful too.
There are many websites that provide WordPress Theme for free. Do some research when choosing a free theme from any websites?
Make sure:
- You are downloading theme from reputed sources
- See how often themes are updated
- If possible try to find out if there are proper documentation written for the theme
If you are working with tight budget and are good learner and can get your head around theme documentation, option 1 might be a way to go with.
Option 2: Outsource with strict budget
Outsourcing your project can definitely save you money and can be done within strict budget. Couple of websites that might be handy are Upwork and Freelancer. They might charge certain fee for posting your jobs though. But quality of your project may lie in the hands of your developer or designer on how you select them.
It’s good to do some research about the developer before you hand over your project. If possible try to find out what previous clients are saying about them, ask for some sample projects they have done.
Option 3: Find someone locally
I would personally suggest someone to find locally. Two main reason to choose someone locally are:
- Their reputation lie with the work they deliver
- They know the market niche where you are
For a local freelance WordPress developer, with every project they do lies their reputation too. If they deliver a good result, it will help them in future to make their portfolio stronger too. In other case, if they end up not delivering the client’s requirement, it will affect their portfolio which in turn will devalue them to get future projects.
No matter, what your budget is, it’s advised to do some research before you select any option. If you can:
- Finalise the content of your website, copy, imagery and video before you start your project.
- Guide your developer to your exact requirements.
- Provide some sample reference sites you like.
- Touch base with your developer in different phases of development before going live