Introduction
Hiring a WordPress developer in 2025 is more than just finding someone who can build a functional website—it’s about partnering with an expert who understands your business goals, user experience, performance optimization, and the evolving WordPress ecosystem. With the rise of Full Site Editing, advanced themes, and headless WordPress solutions, today’s developers need to be more versatile than ever. Whether you’re launching a new project, revamping an existing site, or adding complex functionality, asking the right questions during the hiring process is essential. In this post, we’ll walk you through 20 key questions to ask any WordPress developer before you hire them—so you can make an informed decision, avoid costly missteps, and set your website up for long-term success.
Why Hire a WordPress Developer?
While WordPress is known for its user-friendly interface and vast library of themes and plugins, building a high-performing, secure, and scalable website often requires more than just drag-and-drop tools. A professional WordPress developer brings technical expertise, custom coding skills, and deep knowledge of the platform to help you create a site that goes beyond basic templates.
Whether you need a custom theme, advanced plugin functionality, seamless third-party integrations, or improved speed and SEO performance, a skilled developer can handle it all. Most importantly, they help future-proof your website by writing clean, maintainable code that’s easy to scale as your business grows. Hiring a WordPress developer is an investment in quality, security, and long-term success.
20 Key Questions to Ask a WordPress Developer Before Hiring
The key is asking the right questions. Below are 20 must-ask questions to help you vet candidates and make an informed decision.
1. How long have you been working with WordPress?
This helps gauge their level of experience. Ideally, you want someone with at least a few years of hands-on work, especially with recent WordPress versions and the Gutenberg editor. If you are planning to hire a WordPress development company, make sure to ask about the experience of the developer/s who will be working on your project. Ideally, you should hire a WordPress developer or company having a minimum of 3 to 4 years of experience in a variety of WordPress solutions.
2. Can you show me your portfolio of WordPress projects?
A portfolio showcases the developer’s style, technical capability, and range. Reviewing their past work helps you see if they’ve built websites similar to what you need and whether their design and functionality align with your vision.
3. Do you have any expectations from the owner?
It is a two-way process as the developer would expect certain things from the owner. These may include:
- Payment details – advance and monthly portions
- Website content, images, company data & details
- Domain and web hosting platforms etc.
- Contract terms & signing conditions
4. What would be the mode of communication and reporting?
Frequent reporting about the development process, the status of the project development, the accomplishment of milestones, and more, is a must. The owner of the site should have a concise idea about how things are going. Check with the developer or the web development company about the reporting methods, and modes of communication so that both sides are in touch regularly.
5. How do you approach responsive web design?
Responsive web design is a technique that equips your website to display seamlessly according to the size and orientation of the device and screen that the user is viewing it on. It ensures that your website looks good and functions well on any device, whether it is a desktop, laptop, tablet, or smartphone. Responsive web design is imperative for providing a positive user experience and improving your SEO ranking. You want to hire a WordPress developer who can create or improve your website with responsive web design.
6. What are custom post types in WordPress?
Custom post types are content types other than the default ones (posts and pages) in WordPress. They allow you to create different types of content, such as portfolios, testimonials, products, or events. Custom post types are defined using the register_post_type() function in the theme’s functions. php file or a custom plugin.
7. How much would be the estimated cost of a WordPress website?
Get a rough idea about the probable cost of WordPress website development, which depends on the requirements and time frame. It may vary as per the purchase of the theme and the inclusion of extensions. Based on the requirements, the WordPress developer will give an estimation to help you decide whether to move forward or not.
8. Are you familiar with WordPress Full Site Editing (FSE)?
With WordPress shifting toward Full Site Editing, it’s important your developer understands how to use blocks for creating templates and site-wide changes. Familiarity with FSE ensures they can build more dynamic and flexible websites using the latest WordPress tools.
9. Are deactivated plugins likely to slow down WordPress websites?
No, Plugins that are inactive or deactivated don’t slow down WordPress. Deactivating a WordPress plugin simply turns it off. The plugin is still installed on your site, so you can activate it again if need be. Uninstalling a plugin, on the other hand, removes it from your website completely. If there are deactivated plugins preset, they will be treated as if they didn’t exist. WordPress will load only the active plugins.
10. Do you specialize in front-end, back-end, or full-stack WordPress development?
Knowing a developer’s specialty helps you understand their strengths. A front-end developer focuses on user experience and design, while a back-end developer handles functionality and server-side operations. A full-stack developer can manage both, offering a more holistic approach.
11. What themes or page builders do you typically work with?
Different developers have different preferences—some swear by Elementor or Divi, while others work exclusively with custom themes. Make sure their preferred tools align with your project requirements or long-term maintenance plans.
12. Which WordPress plugins will you incorporate into our website?
Check whether the web developer plans to use WordPress plugins or not. The most commonly used plugins are SEO Plugin, Caching Plugin, Anti-Spam plugins, Contact Form plugins, etc. Discuss which are relevant for your website.
13. Do you build custom themes or use pre-built themes?
Custom themes provide tailored functionality, faster performance, and a unique brand feel, but they take more time and budget. Pre-built themes are quicker to deploy. Knowing their approach helps you weigh costs against benefits.
14. How do you ensure WordPress websites are optimized for SEO?
A good WordPress developer should understand basic and technical SEO principles. This includes semantic HTML structure, optimized images, fast loading times, mobile responsiveness, and integration with SEO plugins like Rank Math or Yoast.
15. How will you manage our WordPress website’s security?
The developer must create a secure and hack-proof website. There should be a complete focus on bug-free code, licensed themes and secure plugins, and regular auto updates of all of them. Check if there is a need for integrating advanced security mechanisms or not.
16. What do you mean by WordPress Hooks?
Whenever you wish to alter or customize something in WordPress, you can almost certainly make use of a hook. WordPress hooks enable you to manipulate the behavior of a procedure without having to modify the WordPress core files. With hooks, you can modify or add new features to WordPress without modifying the core files.
17. How will I get complete ownership of the website?
It is vital to know all your access rights for the website. These include hassle-free access to FTP, WP Admin, Database, Domain, and DNS settings. Absolute ownership of the website should be achieved once the development is completed.
18. How do you handle responsive design and mobile optimization?
With mobile users dominating web traffic, responsive design is non-negotiable. Your developer should prioritize mobile-first design and thoroughly test the site on different screen sizes and devices to ensure seamless usability.
19. Are you capable of developing a custom WordPress plugin or extension?
If you have a layered website with intricate functionality, then it’s important to hire a WordPress developer who can create tailor-made plugins for specific features. Check if the probable candidate has the experience and expertise for it or not.
20. Have you worked with WooCommerce or membership plugins?
If you plan to sell products or offer memberships, you’ll want a developer with experience in WooCommerce or plugins like MemberPress, Paid Memberships Pro, or Restrict Content Pro. These tools come with unique challenges that require expertise.
Conclusion
Hiring a WordPress developer is a crucial decision for your website’s success in 2025. These 20 questions will help you confidently evaluate potential hires and avoid costly mistakes. Whether you’re building a blog, eCommerce site, or corporate platform, the right developer will turn your ideas into reality—efficiently and professionally.
Frequently Asked Questions
What qualifications should I look for in a WordPress developer?
Look for developers with a strong portfolio, knowledge of HTML, CSS, JavaScript, PHP, and experience with WordPress core, themes, and plugins. Familiarity with Full Site Editing, SEO best practices, and security protocols is also important in 2025.
Do I need a full-time developer or a freelancer for my WordPress site?
It depends on your needs. For one-time projects or smaller tasks, a freelancer may be sufficient. For ongoing development, maintenance, or complex builds, a part-time or full-time developer—or even an agency—may be more suitable.
