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Most WordPress projects that go wrong were predictable from the first conversation: a vague quote, no questions about the business, a portfolio of screenshots and no plan for what happens after launch. Here’s how to spot a good developer before you sign anything.
Step 1: judge the work, not the portfolio page
Screenshots tell you a developer can make something look good. They don’t tell you whether it loads fast, works on a phone or ranks on Google. Ask for links to live sites and check them yourself:
- Open each site on your phone. Does it load quickly, and is everything easy to tap and read?
- Run the homepage through PageSpeed Insights. A mobile score in the 80s or 90s is a good sign; a score under 50 on a site they built recently is a warning.
- Click around. Broken links, slow pages and layouts that jump around point to rushed work.
- Search Google for the business name and the service it offers. Does the site show up?
Step 2: ask these five questions
01Who will actually do the work?
With an agency, the person you speak to is often not the person who builds your site. With a freelancer, check whether they subcontract. Either can work, but you should know who is responsible.
02What will you build it with, and why?
A hand-coded custom theme, a page builder like Elementor or Divi, or a premium theme each suit different projects. A good developer explains the trade-off for you: page builders are easier for your team to edit, custom themes are faster and cleaner. A developer who uses the same tool for every project is selling the tool, not a solution.
03How will you protect my Google rankings?
This matters for any redesign. The right answer mentions keeping URLs where possible, a 301 redirect for every URL that changes, carrying across titles, meta descriptions and schema, and checking Search Console after launch. If the answer is vague, your traffic is at risk.
04Who owns the site, the code and the logins?
You should own your domain, your hosting account, the theme code and every admin login. Some developers host client sites on their own accounts, which makes it hard to leave later.
05What happens after launch?
WordPress needs updates, backups and security monitoring every month. Ask whether they offer a maintenance plan, what it costs and what’s included, or what you’ll need to do yourself.
Step 3: read the quote properly
A good quote is fixed, itemised and clearly based on what you told them. Red flags:
- No questions asked before the quote was sent. They haven’t understood your project.
- “Starting from $X” with no upper limit. The final bill will almost always be higher.
- A custom site promised in three days. That isn’t how quality development works.
- Unlimited revisions. It sounds generous, but it usually means no clear scope.
- No mention of mobile testing, speed or SEO.
- Hosting, domain or plugin licences you can’t transfer to your own name.
Freelancer or agency?
| Freelancer | Agency | |
|---|---|---|
| Typical cost | Lower: no agency overhead | Higher |
| Who you deal with | The person building your site | An account manager |
| Best for | Business sites, stores, redesigns, speed and maintenance | Large projects needing designers, writers and developers at once |
| Risk to watch | Availability if they’re ill or busy | Junior staff doing the work |
For a sense of price, typical New Zealand ranges are in the NZ pricing guide: a business site from NZD $1,200–$2,500, a custom theme from NZD $2,500–$6,000 and a WooCommerce store from NZD $3,500–$9,000+.
Hiring a developer in another country
Plenty of NZ, Australian and US businesses work with remote developers, including me: I’m based in Pakistan and work with clients across all three. It works well when:
- Calls are scheduled at a time that suits you, and day-to-day communication is written (email or Slack), so there’s a record.
- You get staging links to review work in progress, not just a finished site at the end.
- Quotes and invoices are in your currency, with clear payment milestones.
- The developer has live work in your market they can show you.
A quick checklist before you sign
- You’ve tested at least three of their live sites on your phone and in PageSpeed Insights
- You know who will do the work
- You understand why they chose that build approach
- They’ve explained how they’ll protect your rankings
- You’ll own the domain, hosting, code and logins
- The quote is fixed and itemised, with a clear revision scope
- You’ve agreed what happens after launch