MP
Mohammed Parvez Khan

How to Hire a WordPress Developer in Mumbai: A Practical Checklist

By 3 min read

Mumbai has no shortage of people who build WordPress websites. The hard part is telling apart a developer who installs a theme and a page builder from one who can build, fix and scale a WordPress site properly.

Here's the checklist I'd use if I were hiring a WordPress developer myself — whether for a new website, a WooCommerce store or an existing site that needs fixing.

1. Be clear about what you need

"WordPress developer" covers very different skills. Before you start looking, decide which of these you need:

  • A new marketing or company website built from a design (Figma to WordPress).
  • A custom theme or custom plugin with features no existing plugin provides.
  • WooCommerce development: checkout changes, payment gateways, CRM or ERP integrations.
  • REST API work or a headless WordPress build with React/Next.js.
  • Speed optimisation, security hardening or fixing a broken or hacked site.

2. Look at live work, not just screenshots

Ask for links to live websites the developer built and open them on your phone. Check that they load quickly, look right on mobile and that forms and menus work. Ask what exactly they did on each project — design, development, or both.

3. Check the technical fundamentals

  • Do they write custom PHP themes and plugins, or only use page builders? Both are valid, but you should know which you're paying for.
  • Do they follow WordPress coding standards, use child themes and avoid editing core or plugin files?
  • Can they explain how they'd keep the site fast: image optimisation, caching and Core Web Vitals?
  • How do they handle security: updates, least-privilege user roles, backups and hardening?
  • Do they use version control (Git) and a staging site before pushing changes live?

4. Ask about SEO basics

A developer doesn't need to be an SEO specialist, but the site they hand over should be technically sound: one H1 per page, clean URLs, correct title and meta tags, an XML sitemap, structured data where it helps, working redirects when URLs change, and fast mobile performance.

5. Confirm ownership and access

  • You should own the domain, hosting account and WordPress admin — registered in your name or your company's.
  • Premium themes and plugins should be licensed to you, not to the developer's account.
  • Custom code should be handed over, ideally in a Git repository.

6. Agree on scope, timeline and support

Get a written scope listing the pages, features and integrations included, the number of revision rounds, and what happens after launch. Ask whether they offer ongoing maintenance — updates, backups and small changes — and how quickly they respond to urgent issues.

7. Local or remote?

A developer based in Mumbai is useful when you want to meet in person, share the same working hours and understand local payment gateways and business needs. That said, most WordPress work is done remotely, so communication and reliability matter more than distance.

Questions to ask before you hire

  • Can you show me two or three live sites similar to mine, and what you built on each?
  • Will you use a page builder or custom code, and why?
  • How will you make the site fast on mobile?
  • How do you handle updates, backups and security after launch?
  • Who owns the code, themes and plugin licences at the end of the project?

Next steps

I'm a Full-Stack WordPress Developer based in Mumbai with 7+ years of experience in custom themes, plugins, WooCommerce, REST APIs and headless WordPress. If you're planning a project, send me a short brief and I'll reply with questions and next steps.