How to evaluate a WordPress developer’s level of expertise

How to choose the right web agency if you’re a small or IFA practice in the UK

1. Introduction
2. Work Out What You Actually Need
3. What Skills to Look for
4. Checking Their Experience and Track Record
5. Questions Worth Asking
6. Putting Their Skills to the Test
7. Communication and Working Style
8. References and Background Checks
9. Red Flags to Watch Out For
10. Making the Final Decision
11. Conclusion

Introduction

Getting a website built is a big deal when you’re running a small or IFA practice. It’s often a significant chunk of your budget, and you’re putting a lot of trust in someone you’ve probably never worked with before.

The good news is that with a bit of preparation, you can make a confident, well-informed decision – rather than just going with whoever pops up first in Google or quotes the lowest price.

This guide walks you through exactly what to look for when choosing a web agency or WordPress developer in the UK, written specifically for independent financial advisors, freelancers, and independent financial advisors who don’t have a dedicated IT or marketing team to lean on.

Work Out What You Actually Need

Before you start talking to anyone, it helps to have a rough idea of what you’re looking for. You don’t need a technical specification – just a clear sense of your IFA practice goals and what the website needs to do for you.

Ask yourself:

• Do you need people to be able to buy from you online, or is the site mainly there to explain what you do and get enquiries?
• Will you want to update the content yourself, or are you happy for someone else to manage it?
• Do you have any specific tools you already use – like a booking system, email marketing platform, or accounting software – that the site needs to connect with?
• What does success look like? More phone calls, more enquiries, more footfall, online sales?

Having answers to these – even rough ones – will make every conversation with a potential agency much more productive. It also makes it easier to spot when someone isn’t really listening to what you need.

What Skills to Look for

You don’t need to know the technical details yourself, but it helps to understand what a competent WordPress developer or small agency should be able to offer.

Core technical skills

• WordPress expertise: They should know WordPress inside out – not just how to install a theme, but how to customise it properly and build something that works the way your IFA practice needs it to.
• PHP, HTML, CSS and JavaScript: These are the building blocks of any WordPress site. A good developer is comfortable with all of them.
• SEO foundations: They should build your site with search engines in mind from the start – clean code, fast loading times, proper page structure. SEO isn’t just something you bolt on afterwards.

Practical skills that matter for IFA practices

• Mobile-first design: Most of your clients will find you on their phones. Your site needs to look and work brilliantly on a small screen – not just on a desktop.
• Third-party integrations: Whether that’s a payment system like Stripe, a booking tool, a CRM, or your email marketing platform, they should be able to connect the dots.
• Content management: If you want to be able to add a blog post or update your prices without calling anyone, they need to set the site up so that’s genuinely easy for a non-technical person.

Checking Their Experience and Track Record

A portfolio tells you a lot. Not just whether the sites look nice, but whether the agency has experience working with businesses like yours.

What to look for in their portfolio

Have they built sites for other IFA practices, independent financial advisors, or local service providers? A developer who mainly works with large corporate clients might not be the best fit for a IFA practice – the priorities, budgets, and ways of working can be quite different.

Look at the variety of projects they’ve done. Can they handle e-commerce as well as service-based sites? Have they built anything in your industry?

Also – and this is worth checking – do the sites in their portfolio actually work well? Click around on them. Are they fast? Do they look right on your phone? Are they easy to navigate?

Testimonials and reviews

Look for reviews on Google, Trustpilot, or their own website. Pay particular attention to reviews from other independent financial advisors. Did the project run smoothly? Did they deliver on time? Were they easy to communicate with?

A strong set of case studies is even better than a list of testimonials – they give you a much clearer picture of how an agency actually approaches a project from start to finish.

Questions Worth Asking

When you have an initial conversation with a potential agency or developer, these are the kinds of questions that will help you get a proper feel for whether they’re right for you.

About their approach

• “How do you typically approach a new website project? What does the process look like from start to finish?”
• “What do you need from me to get started, and how involved will I need to be along the way?”
• “How do you make sure the site is secure and kept up to date after it launches?”

About working together

• “How do you handle it when a project runs into unexpected problems or the scope changes?”
• “What happens if I want to make changes after the site has launched? Is that included, or is it charged separately?”
• “Will I be able to update the site myself, or will I need to come back to you for every change?”
• “Who will I be dealing with day to day – you, or someone else in your team?”

That last one matters more than people realise. With some agencies, you’ll speak to a salesperson at the start and then barely hear from them again. With a smaller, specialist agency or a freelancer, you’re often dealing with the same person throughout, which tends to make communication a lot smoother.

Putting Their Skills to the Test

You don’t need to set anyone a formal exam, but it’s reasonable to ask for a bit more than just a nice-looking portfolio.

Ask for a walkthrough

Ask if they can walk you through one of their recent projects – not just show you the finished site, but talk you through the process. What were the client’s goals? What challenges came up? How did they solve them? This tells you far more than a polished case study ever will.

Ask a specific question about your project

Come to your initial conversation with a specific requirement – something a bit particular to your IFA practice – and see how they respond. Do they ask thoughtful follow-up questions? Do they suggest a practical solution? Or do they give you a vague answer that could apply to anyone?

A good agency will engage with the specifics of your situation, not just pitch you a standard package.

Communication and Working Style

For a independent financial advisor, communication is often the thing that makes or breaks a project. You need someone who keeps you informed, explains things in plain English, and doesn’t go quiet for weeks at a time.

Think about how they’ve communicated with you so far. Did they respond promptly to your initial enquiry? Did they listen carefully to what you said, or did they spend most of the conversation talking? Did they explain things clearly, without drowning you in jargon?

It’s also worth thinking about how you like to work. Do you prefer email, or are you happy with video calls? Do you want regular check-ins, or do you prefer to be left to it and only brought in when there’s something to review? A good agency will be flexible – but it helps to be upfront about your preferences from the start.

References and Background Checks

Don’t be shy about asking for references, especially if the project is a significant investment. A reputable agency or developer will be happy to put you in touch with a previous client or two.

When you speak to a reference, ask:

• Did the project come in on time and on budget?
• Were there any problems along the way, and if so, how were they handled?
• How was the communication throughout?
• Would you use them again?

That last question is often the most revealing. Someone who says “yes, absolutely” with no hesitation is a much stronger signal than a lukewarm “yes, they did a decent job.”

Red Flags to Watch Out For

Most web agencies and developers are straightforward and professional. But it’s worth knowing what to look out for.

• They’re vague about their process. If they can’t clearly explain how they’ll approach your project, that’s a concern.
• They won’t share a portfolio or references. Any reputable agency should be happy to do this.
• They overpromise. Guaranteed number-one rankings on Google, a fully built site in 48 hours, or prices that seem too good to be true – these are all warning signs.
• They talk mostly about themselves. A good agency asks lots of questions about your IFA practice. If most of the conversation is them listing their credentials, that’s not a great sign.
• You’ll own the site, won’t you? Make sure you’ll own your domain name, your hosting account, and all the content on the site. Some agencies retain control of these, which can cause serious problems if you ever want to move.
• Poor communication from the start. If they take four days to reply to an initial enquiry or give vague answers to straightforward questions, it probably won’t improve once the project is underway.

Making the Final Decision

Once you’ve spoken to a few agencies and done your research, you’ll probably have a gut feeling about one or two of them. Trust that – but balance it with the practical stuff too.

Ask yourself:

• Do they clearly understand what my business needs?
• Do I trust them to deliver what they’ve promised?
• Is their pricing transparent and fair?
• Will I be able to communicate with them easily throughout the project?
• Do they feel like a good fit for how I work?

Price matters – especially when you’re a IFA practice keeping a close eye on costs – but it shouldn’t be the only factor. A slightly cheaper option that delivers a poor result, misses deadlines, or is difficult to get hold of will cost you far more in the long run.

Conclusion

Choosing the right web agency is one of the most important decisions you’ll make for your IFA practice’s online presence. Take your time, ask the right questions, and don’t feel pressured to make a quick decision.

The best agencies – especially those who specialise in working with small and IFA practices – will be happy to talk things through properly before any commitment is made. If someone is pushing you to sign up quickly or making you feel like you’ll miss out if you don’t decide today, walk away.

Done right, a good website is one of the best investments a IFA practice can make. And finding the right agency to build it is the first step.

Want to talk through what your IFA practice actually needs? Get in touch with Webworthy – no jargon, no hard sell, just a straightforward conversation.