You may not have hired someone to perform technical support work on your WordPress site before. This post is designed to give you a feel for what you should consider when selecting WordPress help.
Why Hire Technical Support?
You may be able to struggle through and fix your own issues, but brining in technical support for the more complex tasks on your site can save you a lot of time and effort, time which can be better spent on your core business or blogging activities.
I could probably do many of the jobs a plumber can do, but the plumber has the years of experience, an eye for where problems may occur and all of the correct tools for the job. They will do it faster, better and more efficiently than I could. This is why you should consider bringing on technical support for your WordPress project.
Type Of Tasks To Outsource
I would say that 80% of the day to day tasks required to look after a WordPress site can be performed by people with little or no technical skills. WordPress was designed that way. People write plugins and develop themes to remove that layer of complexity, there is however a final 20% that requires an understanding of the core technologies behind WordPress; php, css and mysql, these can include:
- Tweaking theme code
- Integrating plugins and themes
- Fixing hacked sites
- Building new sites
- Fixing crashed sites
- Optimising and fixing database issues
These are the types of tasks people don’t have the skills or inclination to attempt.
Assessing Your Potential Contractor
The rest of this post is all about the types of things you should be asking of your potential WordPress contractor.
Translate Your Request Into A Technical Project
Will your contractor translate your requirements into a viable project or will they take you at your word and do exactly what you ask rather than what is best for your site? You are probably not a WordPress “techie” if you are hiring contractors to fix your issues, you want someone who can take your request and translate that into what is really required to fix your site.
This is done through experience of WordPress, an ability to translate a request to a technical specification and a desire to be open and honest. If there is a free plugin to solve a problem tell the client that rather than attempt to sell your services to write some custom code. I often loose projects by telling potential clients that there is a quick fix, but people appreciate this and the I’m pretty sure I will hear from them again in the future.
Backup & Recovery Plans
Will your contractor backup your site and have a recovery plan before they even start on your project. Even the best techies sometimes break sites by accident when performing complex technical work, make sure they put in place a backup and recovery plan before they begin work.
Testimonials & Client Track Record
The barrier for entry into the technical support world is not high, WordPress is free the ability to learn and become proficient is realtively easy. Check that your potential contactor has testimonials from real live projects they have worked on. Do they have a track record of treating their clients well, do they fix sites on time and to budget? Are they personable and professional or are they nerds speaking gibberish who cannnot express what needs to be done without resorting to jargon.
Go for seasoned professionals every time.
Fixed Bid
Try to work with someone who will give you a fixed bid for your work, rather than someone working by the hour. Those hours will very quickly mount up and you will find yourself with an unexpectedly large bill.
Guaranteed Work
Does their technical work come with a guarantee or warranty? Many people work on a by the hour basis, so every hour spent on your site is another hour billed, even if it is time spent fixing issues they have created or not fixed with the first pass.
Payment Upon Satisfaction Rather Than Completion
Do you have to pay up front or are payment terms upon completion. This is a big deal for me, I only bill once my clients are satisfied, I have seen numerous clients coming to me after someone has taken their cash done half the job and disappeared into the internet ether. There is very little recourse for someone hiring people over the net, I like to bridge this trust gap by not invoicing until they have signed off the project.
Post Project Support
Will your contractor give you post project support? Will they answer your emails about the work they have done, will the log back in and make a few five minute tweaks? I hate to see people who are billed for even the most trivial piece of work, I want to build long term relationships with my clients not suck them dry of cash.
Hire Me and My Team
This is of course how my team and I work, check out the video on my services pages on how me and my team conduct our business, so if you are in need of technical support for your site why not request a fixed bid no obligation quote.