A complete hiring guide for WordPress Developers in 2025

If you need a WordPress developer, you probably need an easily maintainable, custom-made website. Instead of brainstorming the whole hiring process, you need to start with a job ad you can tailor to your needs and a planned roadmap for the entire process.

Let's revise the ins and outs of interviewing and hiring WordPress developers.

About WordPress

WordPress is a content management system famous for its simplicity and popularly used to create blogs and websites. It is an open-source CMS, free to use, and licensed with GPLv2 (General Public License Version 2.0) which allows any user to modify the software of WordPress without any programming skills).

It was created in 2003 as a standalone project resulting from its previous parent, the b2/cafelog. Since then, WordPress has gained popularity for hosting and building websites through its simple-to-learn template system and plugin architecture.

WordPress can be used in 60+ languages.

Sourcing and interviewing a WordPress developer

To successfully hire a WordPress developer, you must also prepare and browse helpful recruitment strategies.

Technical skills checklist

The WordPress developer must have expertise in (most of) the following:

• WordPress builders (Visual Composer, Elementor, Gutenberg)

• Markup languages (HTML, JavaScript, CSS, PHP, or jQuery)

• Server-side languages (e.g., PHP)

• Query languages (e.g., MySQL)

• Backend and frontend development

• Online security (for protecting vulnerable business sites)

• Version control

• WordPress command-line interface (WP-CLI)

Checklist of preferred requirements

The following are good to have but not mandatory:

• A degree in Computer Science or a related field

• Good knowledge of SEO (defining crawling, indexing, meta tags, and sitemap, among others)

• Knowledge of Google Analytics for following recurring patterns and trends regarding website visitors

• Knowledge of mobile development (because users mainly browse from mobile devices. The WordPress developer should know how to handle screen sizes and resolutions to maximize accessibility)

Minimum requirements

• Knowing how to change behavior by using filters/hooks

• Creating custom page templates

• Knowing how to add custom JavaScript and/or logical operators

• Using WordPress builders well

• Working with actions and filters accurately

• Knowing how to update plugin functionalities

However, these are the bare minimum requirements for hiring a WordPress developer. If you want someone with excellent skills and experience, they will go above and beyond and ace their technical tests better than other WordPress developer candidates.

WordPress fields of expertise

The role of WordPress developer contains various fields of expertise for the same technology. Here are some different role titles within it to help you narrow down your search:

• Web designers – Web designers focus on the visual elements of your website, and have experience in frontend development or UX/UI.

• Plugin developers – WordPress Plugin Developers focus exclusively on plugins, integrating them into your website. They choose only the quality plugins for specific needs, and know which plugins are best for maximum security.

• Theme developers – Theme developers can create custom themes for specific needs and leverage the existing WordPress themes. They can release customized themes to the WordPress Theme Directory or even commission them online for other customers.

• Web developers – Web developers are responsible for the backend functionalities of the website.

• WordPress maintenance specialists – WordPress maintenance specialists have expertise in maintaining and updating WordPress websites for particular needs, businesses, and clients.

• WordPress support specialists – WordPress support specialists test the plugin functionalities within WordPress. Usually, they work for WordPress itself or affiliated companies.

• Generalist WordPress developers – These developers are a one-person show for everything WordPress-related on a single website.

Interview questions and answers

Use these questions when you assess WordPress developers, and compare the example answers with theirs:

1. What is the difference between WordPress.org and WordPress.com?

Example answer: WordPress.org is where you get the program itself and then construct the website on your own. WordPress.com is a service assisting you to build a website with WordPress and managed hosting.

2. What is the difference between a page and a post?

Expected answer: Pages are used for static content, and posts are used for frequently updated content. The number of pages and posts varies depending on the website. The pages have a body text and a title, and their content is more generic.

3. Define the Action Hooks.

Example answer: The Action Hooks represent a helpful tool for carrying out specific actions in certain locations of the plugin or the theme. With them, developers can extend and customize the WordPress code and its functionality.

4. How would you define Filter Hooks?

Example answer: The Filter Hooks allow developers to modify the behavior of some function before it is shown on the website. WordPress is extendable, thanks to the Hooks system. To use a filter, we first register a function in the code directly to an existing Filter Hook (also known as a callback function).

5. What is WordPress taxonomy?

Example answer: WordPress uses taxonomies for organizing posts based on limited connections. In a standard post, two taxonomy kinds are always included: Categories and Tags. These are useful to ensure users easily access relevant information on your website.

6. What are the simplest and most popular ways to reset a WordPress password?

Example answer: There are many approaches for this, but the easiest and most popular ones are:

• Changing the password through the dashboard
• Resetting the password manually by using phpMyAdmin
• Choosing a different password through email

7. How would you enhance the functionality of your WordPress website?

Example answer: Improving the website's performance is essential to raise its domain rating. These are the necessary actions to optimize the website's speed:

• Keep the website regularly updated
• Split longer posts into small pages
• Use a simple framework and theme
• Use a CDN (content delivery network)
• Use a caching plugin

8. Why would you choose a specific WordPress theme?

Example answer: WordPress themes can be free or paid (some of them), but we always choose the theme that is SEO-friendly, has the solid support of many plugins, is simple but highly functional, and is responsive too.

9. How would you make a WordPress website more secure?

Example answer: WordPress websites might sometimes be attractive to hackers, so they could need more robust protection. We reduce the risk of such attacks by:

• Choosing a solid host
• Using SSL (secure sockets layer)
• Having a strong password
• Enabling 2-step authentication
• Limiting the number of login attempts
• Regularly updating the website

10. What are some steps to take for a database backup?

Example answer: You have all your comments, posts, users' information, plugin settings, and metadata stored in the database, so it's essential to back it up. First, select the WordPress database that was created when you installed WordPress.

• Click Export
• If the database is small, we use Quick, and If it's large, we use Custom
• A table appears (assuming we chose Custom previously)
• We select all tables we see
• Next, we move to the Output
• Select SQL (from the Format menu)
• Select Add Drop table
• Select If not exists
• Choose Go, and save the data

Possible challenges when hiring a WordPress developer

Every business owner or hiring manager needs to know (and prepare for) some potential hiring/recruitment challenges:

• Not having a roadmap – Without a plan or a roadmap, it is possible to face severe challenges later on. Use a systematic approach, plan every stage, and set realistic goals, budgets, and deadlines.

• Lacking budget – Allocate the budget for the recruiters, hiring managers, and the compensation you'd offer potential new team members, and set aside resources if the process takes longer.

• Shortage of developers – Globally, we are witnessing a developer shortage in the tech industry. The most qualified developers are already hired, or asking for much higher compensation than the one you are ready to give. You can resolve this issue if you leave it all up to services that hire developers for you in just days.

Industries and uses of WordPress

With WordPress, you can create almost everything you need – forums, blogs, business websites, eCommerce, membership websites, social networks, and more. It is most popular in the following industries:

Tech companies

Whether big or small traditional companies, or startups in the tech industry, business owners rely on WordPress to create communication apps, blogs, specific products, and virtually anything they'd need.

Music streaming, gaming, gazettes, and blogs

WordPress is ideal for powering websites that showcase the latest news, music artists, feed chat channels, game releases, and much more. Its easy maintainability and customization makes it excellent for news and editorial.

Publishing and books

Many publishing companies rely on WordPress to upload news on best sellers and filter the content by age, characters, and preferences, which is simple and easy.

eCommerce

Those in the eCommerce industry rely on WordPress because it's easy to promote products to sell, promote gift ideas, shopping guides, and similar inspirational prompts.

Banking services

Many banks use WordPress since it's reliable for sharing their products, mortgage information, and payment notifications.

Business benefits of using WordPress

These are the reasons why you need to start using WordPress for your business:

It is free

The only costs you should expect are the domain and website hosting fees, but all else is free.

It is intuitive and easy to use

When the developer is done building the website, you can later customize it however you want and update it easily too.

It is customizable

Customization is easy with WordPress and visually appealing too. You can do it independently, change the WordPress theme, and edit images, videos, CTAs, widgets, or customize embedded articles.

It is safe for visitors

WordPress is built in a way that defends the website from malware attacks or malicious hacking. This prevents sensitive data leaks and protects your website users too. Only on rare occasions, WordPress websites need an extra boost of protection.

It has thousands of plugins

Another excellent feature of WordPress is the thousands of free plugins. This means you don't need to develop various functionalities from scratch.

It is SEO-friendly

WordPress is written with a semantic markup of high-quality code. This is why WordPress websites rank higher than others in search engines, all possible because WordPress is clean, simple, and easy to read and index. Every post, image, or page has its assigned meta tag, title, descriptions, and keywords, allowing for clean SEO.

It enables easy scaling

When your business grows, your website will too. WordPress websites are effortless to scale, a core goal every business needs.