What does a WordPress consultant do and what are the differences between a consultant and a freelancer? Which one is best for your business?
There will come a time when you need to redesign your business website.
It’s likely that you don’t have the skills or the time to do it yourself.
You are going to need to hire somebody to get the job done.
The question becomes “Who do you hire to redesign your website?“.
When to Choose an Agency
If you are a large or enterprise corporation looking to rebrand part or all of your business, an agency can be a desirable option.
You mitigate risk because they have a large pool of experts in their chosen vertical who can work together across multiple strategies such as website design, marketing, brand, print, social media, content creation, SEO and pay-per-click advertising.
Hiring an agency will likely require a hefty budget if you are employing them across many strategies.
If you are looking to get moving quickly on a project, or don’t have access to free-flowing bags of cash and you do not need to engage in all those strategy verticals, hiring an individual can work out to be the best decision.
What’s the Difference Between a Consultant and a Freelancer?
A freelancer is a general term given to an individual who works for themselves.
You will find that many developers, copywriters, designers, and marketers are offering their services under the freelancer banner.
Freelancers are quick and flexible and have the skills to complete sets of given tasks.
Good ones can also help you figure out which next steps you should be taking to achieve a set goal or help you choose the best option from some presented options.
A freelancer becomes a consultant when they achieve expert skills in one or more niches.
A consultant will probably charge more than a general freelancer because they have a more honed skill set.
They have more skills in their expert niche and business.
A consultant looks past your list of to-do tasks and helps you formulate strategies on how to tackle issues and diagnose problems.
Asking Questions
A good consultant will ask you a lot of questions at the beginning of your project that seems at first to have nothing to do with the list of tasks you need doing.
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Some of these questions will be about your business operations, your customers, your ROI, your spending habits and where you see things going in 2 or 5 years.
A common question will be “Why is that important to you?“.
A good consultant will ask “Why?” a lot!
You may feel uncomfortable with all the probing questions.
You may also wonder what it has to do with your project.
You’ll likely get a bit frustrated having to keep answering the “Why?” question.
Consultants operate in the world of the big picture which is why they ask so many questions about you and your business.
An expert consultant will give you advice on how to best implement a solution that will fit in with your business goals now and be future proof for where you need to expand in the next few years.
They will challenge you on the requirements and list of tasks you have brought to the table to make sure they are the right ones for your focus.
An expert consultant will be more interested in saving you time and increasing your ROI and profits for your business than knocking off a list of tasks.
What Does a WordPress Consultant Do?
A WordPress consultant is an expert in the WordPress niche.
They should be very knowledgable about WordPress as a product and know it inside and out.
Knowing the strengths that WordPress has allows an excellent consultant to help integrate it into your project scope.
An expert WordPress specialist should also be involved in the WordPress community such as WordCamps and Meetup groups and the open-source project itself.
You should be asking them some questions to find out their involvement in WordPress such as:
“How long have you been using WordPress?”
“In which way do you contribute to the WordPress project?”
“Tell me how are you involved in the WordPress community?”
“Why do you think WordPress is a good solution for a business?”
If they have trouble answering any of these questions, they may not be the expert you need.
A WordPress consultant will be able to advise you how best to implement WordPress in your online projects.
Conclusion
Big enterprises require a big budget and a big scale.
Think about engaging the skills and workforce of an agency.
Are you looking to hire somebody to quickly knock-off some theme or plugin tasks cheaply?
A general freelancer is your best choice in this circumstance.
If you are looking for somebody who has intimate knowledge of WordPress to help you develop and implement your next WordPress project, and do a quality job, a consultant is your best choice.
We are WordPress consultants based in Sydney and are happy to consult with you on your next project. Speak to us today.
