If you want to maximize your business website’s conversion rate and profit, a custom theme will undoubtedly add to the benefits rather than general themes. Before you wish to have a custom theme, you should know how to choose the best WordPress theme development agency. Let’s dig in to find the best one for your project.
Tips to Pick the Best WordPress Theme Development Agency
Below are the tips that will help you for choosing the best WP theme developer.
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Ensure the expertise meets your needs
Any WP theme agency should be ‘jack of all trades, meaning be able to create themes per demand. However, professionals who have deep knowledge of a specific niche of a website can meet the client’s needs better.
You may want to have a membership site, online course site, or payment or lead generating site. To make it possible, you need to find an agency that has plentiful knowledge and experience in your project’s area.
They will develop a clear theme development strategy to convert your visitors into valuable customers. But it is not only the agency’s responsibility to create an intuitive website. First, you need to understand what you want to achieve with your site.
Next, explain your needs in detail to the experts and ask them how the project will be completed by respecting your budget. Finally, verify if their techniques can really meet your objectives or not.
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The portfolio is the biggest checkpoint.
For a WordPress theme development agency, a portfolio site means a lot. Lacking a strong portfolio leads the agency to experience a potential pitfall.
While thinking of hiring an agency to create a secured and SEO-friendly theme, you must take their portfolio into account. It is the biggest checkpoint where you can know their previous projects and the person/s responsible for designing the portfolio.
Don’t forget to ask them how many WordPress theme projects they have completed till now and how strong their problem-solving skills are. Once you receive a satisfactory answer, shift your focus to the aesthetics of the portfolio site.
Learn how many hands were involved in completing the portfolio site-building. Also, check if the portfolio site is visually catchy, SEO-friendly, and well-optimized. Drop the deal if the portfolio is extremely diverse, inaccessible, or lacks agency details, experience, and client reviews.
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Agency size matters!
The agency size matters when it comes to the project’s resources and the affordability of both the client and the agency.
The bigger the agency, the more proficiently they will work on a given task. But not everyone can afford to do business with a big agency. As a client, you need to understand what you need the most for your project.
If you are a startup owner, you will want to emphasize the most important elements of the website. And if you are a well-established business owner, you definitely won’t compromise with web design and development quality.
Therefore, for a startup, you may want to work with a small agency to ensure your site runs the best with minimum features. A big agency will provide the best visuality and other amenities on your website. Also, it’s affordable when you are a business owner better-off to pay them.
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Be clear about responsibilities.
The agency will develop the entire site or the theme only, not provide the content that will be displayed on the site. Content delivery mostly depends on you. However, responsibilities might change.
As a business owner, if you have to provide write-ups only, you have to write them or hire a copywriter. If your responsibility is to deliver photos, you might need a professional photographer. Or else, you might have to provide both types of content.
Apart from developing a website theme, sometimes an agency can help provide quality photos, SEO-optimized words, or both. In the discussion stage, you need to be clear about the responsibilities of both sides.
Once the matter has been cleared, you both have to handle the given tasks to keep the project smoothly moving forward.
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Meeting timelines is a must.
Failure to meet timelines can make a promising deal nip in the bud, which both you and your preferred agency surely won’t want to happen. You want your project done within the timeline, and you need the WordPress agency to ensure that.
Time management can be a bit hard for strong and reliable agencies since they have lots of projects to complete. They might not be able to start working at the moment you approach them.
In such cases, you need to be patient till the agency finds time for you. If the project is time-sensitive, you better look for agencies that are available to work right away.
What if you fail to maintain the timeline instead of the agency? If you can’t supply the content, you are responsible for in time. The agency will delay delivering the final product. Hence both sides should be equally responsible for maintaining timelines.
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Value vs. cost or value and cost?
When hiring a WordPress theme development agency, you may think that their service is really worth your money.
Some agencies may demand higher charges but provide lower quality services, whereas some may do the opposite. Both situations are common, and you need to think wisely about which thing you should prioritize – value or cost.
If an agency charges three times higher than the current market price, look at the value they offer at this price. Since they are charging comparatively higher, the outcome will be better than other agencies.
But this statement will turn true only when they remain true to their words regarding maintaining deadlines. However, if cost is the core point, then look for an agency that ensures a moderate outcome within your budget.
Prioritizing value or cost depends on how grand your project is and how much work it requires. So do some research before approaching a professional help.
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Is the agency available 24/7?
Before finalizing the deal, check the availability of the agency you have chosen to work with unless you think your bucks got wasted. If something unexpected happens to your site and you badmouth the agency because you couldn’t reach them in time, know beforehand how their team works.
Ask who will handle your website, what is the best way to connect with him, and if he can remotely troubleshoot issues and make emergency changes. If a small group is in charge instead of an individual teammate, make sure their accessibility matches your expectations.
When the site is in the ‘developing’ stage, regularly communicate with the dedicated team to get the progress report. Instead of emails, use contact numbers or set virtual meetings to keep in touch with the team.
The Bottom Line
Now that you know how to choose the best WordPress theme development agency do your best to find a suitable deal and call it a day. Finding a reliable agency to have a fair estimate and turnaround time may require time and patience. But you must take this load if you want a prosperous business.