The flexibility of WordPress as a website builder has made it a widely popular platform, capturing 43% of the website development's total market share. While it began as a blogger’s platform in 2003, it now supports online community forums, online courses, job vacancies, podcasts, and crowdfunding efforts.
The no-coding content management system (CMS) currently powers small and large businesses, including big names like eBay, Yelp, Sony, Samsung, Forbes, UPS, CNN, Time, Disney, and The Rolling Stones.
By creating a WordPress website, you can establish an engaging and efficient online presence. To ensure the continuous appeal and functionality of your website as your business grows, you can outsource the design to WordPress experts.
To help you find the right professionals for your project, we have compiled a list of recommended companies.
10 Leading WordPress Website Design Experts
The ten WordPress website design providers below have the experience and expertise to widen your brand's global reach and improve your conversion rate and sales. You need to contact the sales team of most agencies regarding pricing as rates will depend on your site's complexity.
Best for: Businesses of any size that need a feature-rich but intuitive site for internal teams and clients Services offered: Site audit, custom web design and maintenance, website hosting, conversion rate optimization, video production, and technical SEO Cost: $1,000 to $10,000/month Thrive Internet Marketing Agency aims to build authentic and high-converting websites through a sales-centric approach, focusing on clear calls-to-action, easy page navigation, and A/B testing to determine the design and messages that would be most profitable for your site. A Shopify and certified Google partner, Thrive uses software and search engine algorithm updates, ADA guideline compliance, and advanced analytics on your brand campaigns to position you as an industry leader. The agency’s expected completion speed depends on your project’s complexity but Thrive targets your 100% satisfaction on mutually agreed-upon timeframes. Thrive is also a seven-time Inc. 5000 lister and specializes in eCommerce (including Amazon) and PPC marketing, online reputation management, and SEO. Thrive Internet Marketing Agency is a full service agency specializing in UI/UX, Web Design, Branding, SEO, PPC, Social Media Management, Link Building, and more. 50+ Arlington, Texas Best for: Enterprises, Large and Small brands Thrive Internet Marketing Agency is a full service agency specializing in UI/UX, Web Design, Branding, SEO, PPC, Social Media Management, Link Building, and more. Best for: Small to enterprise-level firms that want action-spurring website components Services offered: Custom site design and maintenance, plug-in development, SEO, and other optimizations Cost: $125/hour With over 900 websites under its belt, SmartSites helps grow your business online by building a unique—and not template-based—portal that looks great and loads fast on any device. It optimizes your portal for top search results through competitor research, SEO, and Google Analytics and applies the latest in data privacy technology. After launching your site, the agency lets you retain 100% ownership of their output and provides ongoing assistance through Google Analytics and other services to help your team manage your site independently. You can also beef up your website’s optimization efforts by choosing SmartSites for your pay-per-click advertising, email and SMS, and social media marketing requirements. Outsmart the competition with best-in-class digital marketing services. With over 1,000 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ reviews online, SmartSites is America's #1 rated digital marketing agency. Get more traffic. Acquire more customers. Sell more stuff. SmartSites w... 50+ New Jersey Best for: Small and Medium Size Businesses Outsmart the competition with best-in-class digital marketing services. With over 1,000 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ reviews online, SmartSites is America's #1 rated digital marketing agency. Get more traffic. Acquire more customers. Sell more stuff. SmartSites w... Best for: B2B and B2C companies looking for unique, cutting-edge design Services offered: Web design, branding, user experience design, packaging design Cost: $150/hour DD.NYC uses “bespoke originality” in combining your brand identity elements and other digital assets to produce user-friendly, visually stunning, and optimized web interfaces that drive brand value, sales, and omnichannel engagement. The company has created over 250 WordPress websites and offers end-to-end services, from strategy and planning to development and ongoing support or maintenance. Their developers ensure that you have a portal that is mobile-first, tablet-responsive, and cross-browser-tested. Whether you need a cost-effective brochure website that displays your products or services in one to five pages with captivating images, an animated site, or an eCommerce platform, DD.NYC has you covered. Additionally, as experts in branding and UX/UI design, their design team will ensure that the outcome not only looks clean and pixel-perfect for your target audience but also loads quickly, remains stable, and is scalable. DD.NYC® is an award-winning NYC digital design agency for branding, web design, UI/UX & packaging design! 10 - 50 New York, NY Best for: Midmarket, Enterprise, Small Business DD.NYC® is an award-winning NYC digital design agency for branding, web design, UI/UX & packaging design! Best for: Fast-paced startups and established businesses with high traffic (eCommerce, academe, news) Services offered: Custom web design, themes, plug-ins Cost: $100 to $149/hour; hourly rate, fixed rate, and retainer plans are available Devrix has been dubbed “the original WordPress maintenance company” due to the demand for its 11 WordPress core and 13 community contributors. Since its inception in 2010, the company’s WordPress experts have developed over 560 custom and 50 open-source plug-ins. After launching your site, the Devrix team will optimize it further based on analytics collected within the two months after the launch date. As a full-service website management provider, the company also offers website backup, secure updates, gradual facelifts, and rebranding. Developers can also integrate your portal into your company’s CRM, affiliate (JVzoom), shopping cart (Zaxaa), and payment software (PayPal or Stripe). Devrix believes that simply having a web design that reflects your corporate identity won’t be enough to drive sales. They recommend utilizing their team for landing pages and inbound marketing, such as email, social media, and SEO, to grow your website. Best for: Startups, SMEs, enterprises Services offered: Custom site development, UX/UI design, digital strategy, site audit, content/data migrations, security Cost: $5,000+/project WebDevStudios (WDS) is a veteran in website development, offering website services a year before WordPress’s 2003 launch. In 2009, it shifted its focus to WordPress with the rise of open-source projects. Today, it serves eCommerce, education, enterprises, non-profits, and consumer packaged goods firms. Over 50% of the WDS team contributes to the platform’s core development through plug-ins that they made accessible to the public. WDS applies best practices to ensure your site’s long-term performance. It also handles software installation, setup, and configuration in a secure hosting environment with suitable caching and infrastructure that prepares you for scalability. To future-proof your site, you can work with WDS for ADS compliance, internationalization (offering content in multi-lingual versions), and a branded social network via BuddyPress. Best for: Small to mid-sized businesses Services offered: Site customization, site review, updates for a content management system, themes, and plug-ins, speed optimization, SEO, plug-in cleansing, website rebuild, maintenance, support Cost: One-off projects start at $5,000; Plans start at $1,200/month Geared toward small to mid-sized firms, WPRiders takes pride in its comprehensive quality control process, which includes a rigorous 27+ step test before presenting the site for client review. WPRiders is known for its white-glove treatment. Their teams meet clients weekly and provide status reports every three days. The company is the only WordPress site developer in this list that offers transparent pricing. Its popular Performance Plan includes SEO, site improvement suggestions, plug-in cleansing, security scans, and uptime monitoring. Complex integrations are available under the highest-tier Growth Plan. Best for: Mid to enterprise-grade companies Services offered: Custom site development, ad optimization, paywall and subscription services, corporate newsroom Cost: $50,000+/project In just 10 years, Human Made has already produced websites for large-scale organizations, such as Google, Capgemini, Siemens, TechCrunch, News UK, USA Today, and the UNISON trade union. This WordPress agency partner, headquartered in the UK and with 100 employees, devotes 5% of its resources to the platform. Human Made developed Altis, a digital experience platform, to allow its WordPress solutions to tackle the challenges of big organizations beyond content management. Altis’ core modules provide tools for developers to accelerate website development, hasten data-driven decision-making, and drive customer engagement on the web, mobile, connected devices, TV, and more. Best for: Any business type advocating a more sustainable web Services offered: WordPress CMS, UI/UX design, multi-site WordPress networks, digital strategy Cost: $100 to $149/ hour or $10,000 to $49,000 per project If you’re looking for a low-carbon web design or a site that consumes the lowest possible energy levels to run, consider partnering with Wholegrain Digital, “London’s first specialist WordPress agency.” Based in the UK, Wholegrain says 67% of its websites are less polluting than the industry average. The company achieves this by using the eco-friendly Granola framework, which 20% of self-hosted websites worldwide already use. Additionally, Wholegrain claims that its sites are 180% faster than others, with a self-scored 90/100 average for SEO and accessibility. Wholegrain also has advanced search and multi-language solutions plus extensive API integration experience to connect your site with CRMS, email marketing, social platforms, and news aggregators. Best for: B2B, B2C, D2C businesses Services offered: Page-building, theme customization, custom plug-ins, eCommerce, payment gateway solutions, e-course management, maintenance Cost: $80/hour or a minimum budget of $1,000 to $10,000 per project WPExperts is a full-stack WordPress company with offices in Claymont and Karachi. It’s the platform’s first VIP Silver Agency Partner from the Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan, and Pakistan (MENAP) region. They provide a range of WordPress VIP services, including front-end development, code audit, performance optimization, and migration. In addition, they offer B2B services such as multi-vendor marketplace development and payment solutions. Their developers are certified Elementor, Divi, BeaverBuilder, Visual Composer, and Gutenberg page builder users. They can create e-learning systems, multi-lingual sites, and membership platforms besides standard customized websites. Best for: Mid to large-scale companies Services offered: Customization and integration, theme and plug-in development, content migration, hosting service, security Cost: $50,000+/project (Hostinger); $150 to $195/hour or $30,000+/project Crowd Favorite is another website development pioneer that began in 2002. The agency develops integration strategies that allow WordPress to perform optimally and safely within your existing business infrastructure. It also offers business intelligence services to turn data from your web, social media, sales, and customer service into insights that can help inform your business strategy. The agency’s developers apply their plug-in development capabilities to build customized functions for your site, including third-party integrations, interactions with external APIs and eCommerce platforms like WooCommerce, and content generation development. Crowd Favorite also performs automated and peer-reviewed code audits and training for clients so they can make future updates to the website independently.1. Thrive Internet Marketing Agency
Thrive Internet Marketing Agency
Thrive Internet Marketing Agency
2. SmartSites
SmartSites
SmartSites
3. DD.NYC (formerly DigitalDesign.NYC)
DD.NYC (formerly DigitalDesign.NYC)
DD.NYC (formerly DigitalDesign.NYC)
4. Devrix
5. WebDevStudios (WDS)
6. WordPress Riders
7. Human Made
8. Wholegrain Digital
9. WPExperts
10. Crowd Favorite
7 Tips for Choosing the Right WordPress Web Design Agency
With so many agencies to choose from, how do you determine the one that fits your business needs? These seven tips can help you out:
1. Take stock of your needs.
Evaluate and clarify your objectives. Get your team's input about the features your website should have. Consider conducting a SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) to understand your current digital presence and what your new website needs to accomplish.
Visit several sites similar to the portal type you have in mind. Do you prefer a traditional structure? Or do you need an interactive site to form a community and sell your products?
2. Write your project brief.
A project brief contains your project scope or specifications for your new or redesigned website. If you want to build an eCommerce site, indicate the payment modes you want to offer so developers know what to integrate into the checkout page. Include details like desired website loading times and mobile responsiveness, as these factors significantly impact user experience and SEO rankings. Also, include your tentative timeline and budget for the project.
The brief also describes your consumer journey or the path your leads and customers take from awareness to loyalty. Incorporating insights from customer feedback or analytics can greatly refine this journey, making it more tailored to your audience. Lastly, list your design assets (written content, images, and videos) and brand messaging to give the design agency a clearer picture of your business.
3. Search for agencies with the skillset and experience relevant to your project.
We've laid the groundwork for this step with our listicle of 10 recommended companies. Go through their websites and case studies or past work to see whether they've built websites offering a product or service similar to yours. Visit specific ones that match your envisioned design and check for ease of navigation and overall functionality. Also look for awards or certifications they may have received, as these can be indicators of quality and expertise. This should be as detailed as the accolades and client feedback displayed by agencies, similar to how Thrive showcases its 50+ reviews on Clutch and UpCity, reinforcing their credibility and expertise.
Source: thriveagency.com
A professional service provider can harness WordPress's flexibility to provide you the following:
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Data-driven design
Your website’s design is responsible for 94% of the public’s perception of your online presence. To create a website that caters to your visitors and customers' behavior, WordPress experts use analytics to gather insights about your users' favorite pages, what devices they use to view them, how long they spend time on those pages, and what actions they take. These agencies can integrate your website with your content management system, Google Analytics, social media networks, and email marketing tools to collect, analyze, and manage data.
UX designers also identify web navigation pain points and examine user demographics to address the specific needs of your target audience. They'll test individual components, features, and user acceptance to optimize user experience.
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Custom theme development
WordPress service providers can create visually appealing layouts and features specific to your business, enhancing your digital presence and UX through easy navigation, organized content, and clear call to actions. Compared to pre-built templates, custom themes incorporate your distinct brand identity and scalability goals. The design team can apply your brand's color scheme and fonts to strengthen brand recognition and set you apart from competitors. At the same time, developers can personalize your theme so that you can add or remove features as your company evolves. You'll find this aspect valuable if you're running an eCommerce site, wherein you'll have to manage several functionalities from inventory to payments.
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Strategic SEO integration
Developers combine WordPress's built-in features and best practices to improve your site's visibility on search engines. Creating SEO-friendly URLs, improving webpage load speed, refining your site architecture, meta tags, and content organization, and ensuring your site's readability and accessibility on various screen types are part of attracting organic traffic.
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Content strategy
WordPress experts can also help you with content marketing strategy, using analytics to ensure blogs and other written text resonate with your audience. They're familiar with plug-ins for content scheduling (editorial calendars), curated topic lists, email marketing, and social sharing. Regularly updated website content engages visitors, encourages sales, and retains existing customers. 65% of marketers with a documented strategy say this tactic gives their brand a better chance of appearing higher on SERPs by 434%.
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Privacy compliance and data security
Evaluate your potential partners for website security knowledge. Ask them about their experience on WAFs or web application firewalls and typical attacks, such as XSS or cross-site scripting (injecting malicious scripts into a website's code by emailing a link and enticing a user to click it), an SQL injection that attacks an app's database, and CSRF or cross-site request forgery that triggers unwanted action on a web app where a user has logged in.
Skilled developers enable security controls through various means, including multi-factor authentication to verify user identity, Captchas to ensure only humans access your portal, and SSL/TLS for encrypted data transfer.
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Post-launch support and maintenance
One of the top benefits of hiring a WordPress site development team is maintenance support, which gives you access to core WordPress updates (themes and plug-ins), uptime monitoring, load time checks, website backup, security scanning (firewall checking and malware removal), spam management, and reporting to name a few. These "health checks" are necessary, given that every second of delay in website loading can reduce conversion by up to 20%. Moreover, 43% of cyberattacks hit small businesses. Check what your shortlisted companies offer in their maintenance package.
Meanwhile, ask the WordPress agency whether it offers the following services if you plan to include or add unique or advanced functionalities to your website:
- AI, VR, and voice search integration
- Multimedia support
- Sophisticated eCommerce actions
4. Choose a well-established company.
Credible agencies would be transparent enough to showcase their track record, design and development team, and office locations on their official website. For example, as seen in the 'Meet the Team' section on an Major Tom’s website, which displays a diverse and professional team, each with their specific role and expertise; this gives a face to the service and instills confidence in their capabilities.
Source: majortom.com
Check reviews, testimonials, and recommendations.
Reputable design firms are unlikely to walk away from your project midway. They find ways to deliver in case some team members fall ill or have an emergency.
5. Understand the agency's workflow.
Trustworthy firms include their project development process in their websites. These agencies typically assign a dedicated project manager who will coordinate the work of designers, developers, and copywriters.
6. Conduct a thorough interview.
To learn more about your candidate agencies, ask the following questions:
- How do you manage projects?
- How will you update me on the project's progress?
- What is the estimated timeline for my project?
- Who will be my point of contact? What customer support do you offer?
- Can you provide references from similar projects?
- How do you handle project challenges?
- What post-launch maintenance services do you offer?
- What is your payment schedule?
Also, inquire about specific services such as responsive design, SEO, integration with third-party tools, web hosting, and their costs.
Most importantly, find out who owns and has access to your website's files and materials. Ensure that the design agency will provide the login information, instructions, and training you need for proper website administration.
7. Compare pricing and costs.
Request detailed proposals with a breakdown of their work's scope, pricing ranges, and due dates. Ensure that these proposals include not just the initial costs, but also any ongoing maintenance or support fees that could affect your budget over time. Compare the rates of your short-listed agencies to see where you'll get the most return on your investment.
Strike a balance between the company's fees and services. Look beyond the numbers; evaluate the potential return by examining case studies or performance metrics from the agencies' previous campaigns. For example, MEC's testimonial about Major Tom highlights an impressive return of $17 for every dollar spent, underscoring the tangible value of choosing an agency with a proven ROI, particularly for eCommerce-based businesses.
Source: majortom.com
Consider the long-term value—getting more visitors, increasing leads, and nurturing customer confidence—from each offer.
Pro Tip
One thing to do is to try WordPress for yourself before hiring web design experts. Doing so will allow you to familiarize with the CMS. Click here to get started.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why should I hire a WordPress website design agency?
Here are some benefits of outsourcing your website design project to WordPress professionals:
- Clarification of goals
Web design agencies have industry knowledge about WordPress and users in your niche. They can provide advice or market research to give your website an edge in your industry. - High-quality site performance
Design agencies have the technical know-how to ensure fast website loading times across web browsers and devices, especially when visitor and user numbers start rising. - Money savings and faster time-to-market
Outsourcing is cost-effective because you won't need to invest in new software or in-house staff training. You pay a fixed amount for the third party's services, covering the online solution used, equipment, and more. You can expect faster turnaround times when an agency assigns a team to work on your website. - Higher visibility
Website development services typically include search engine optimization, which involves structuring your site's content, so your ranking improves in search results. - Strengthened security
The best WordPress site developers protect you against data breaches and compliance violations through security firmware, data encryption, authentication plug-ins, automated backups, and proactive monitoring against malicious activities. - Continuous support
Web design agencies can provide maintenance and updates so that your site stays relevant and glitch-free.
What is WordPress web hosting?
Web hosting makes your website accessible to people online. Your site must reside on a server so internet users can access its content.
There are two main types of web hosting: shared and private (dedicated). Check with your design agency to determine which type you are using. Web hosting plans often include a free domain name or URL.
