10 Tips for creating a WordPress agency

You’ve been working in the digital world for years. Working mainly with WordPress. And thanks to how well you’ve been doing as a freelancer, you’re considering launching your own agency.

That happened to me a few years ago before I set up Uniqoders. And today I want to tell you based on my experience the most important learnings I found along the way growing the company from 2 to 10 people and making websites with WordPress for large multinationals and small companies and startups alike.

You must be clear that taking the leap entails a whole challenge. But it is certainly a sector full of possibilities.

If you are in this situation or in a similar one I will tell you what you would like to have been told to me then.

Why create an agency around WordPress?

WordPress is an almost infinite ecosystem.

Thanks to the huge community that exists behind, to all its plugins, themes, etc … and, of course, to the fact that it supports about 40% of all the websites that exist, with WordPress you can do almost anything.

That’s why what seemed like it could be limited to making blogs in its beginnings 20 years ago has become a tool that allows you to make corporate websites, ecommerce, online teaching platforms, reservation systems, etc…

And around this infinite possibilities arise in relation to digital marketing and the online strategy of a business. Since, for example, creating an ecommerce is not just about creating a website that allows you to make payments. You need a digital marketing strategy, a way to capture leads, constant web maintenance and much more.

Therefore, creating a WordPress agency does not mean that you can only make web pages. If not, it opens up the possibility of having a much broader portfolio of services that allows you to add more value to your clients.

How to get started with your WordPress agency?

If you have had this idea in mind for a long time, it’s because you have experience and know the sector. You’ve been creating websites with WordPress for years, you’ve faced different types of clients (not all of them are wonderful, I know) and so far you’ve come out on top.

However, it is very important to take into account several aspects that we do not usually think about when we are determined to take the leap. We think about them when we are already in the pool and we see that it has little water.

So I’m going to try to help you with them.

Define your goals

What do you want to achieve with your agency?

Do you want to grow and become a great company within the WordPress ecosystem with tens or hundreds of employees? Do you want to work with many small clients? Or do you prefer to dedicate yourself to fewer clients but bigger? Do you want to specialize in something in particular? Or do you prefer to be more general?

It’s true that life goes around a lot and probably what you want is not what will end up happening. At least not the way you had planned. But it is important that you consider what your motivation is to set up a WordPress agency and where you want it to reach.

Here it would be nice to define a mission that by transmitting it to your potential customers and your employees/teammates, they will want to choose you.

Looking for a partner

“If you walk alone you will go faster, if you walk accompanied you will get further.”

It doesn’t matter if you are creating a large company, a project to pass the time or, as in this case, an agency specialized in WordPress.

Always, always, always, I would recommend doing it accompanied.

Because if I had to say that it is the best thing about having a company instead of being self-employed, without a doubt, I would say that it is having another person by your side who accompanies you both in good times and in bad. And that you know he is 100% in this adventure with you.

If this person also complements your skills it would already be the milk. For example, you are dedicated to sales and SEO and your partner to the design and implementation with WordPress.

Of course, be very careful to choose the person who is going to accompany you well. Think of it as a marriage. It is not worth that there is a fit with labor. There has to be as people too.

Choose an easy name

Or at least make it easy to spell.

You don’t know how hard it is to have to explain how to spell your name on the phone every time you have a call with a client or collaborator.

Of course, choose a name for your agency that you like, in the end it does not stop being your project. However, try not to waste too much time to decide (a mistake I’ve made several times).

If you can afford it, hire a branding expert. If not, do a brainstorming with ideas that arise and ask for feedback from people around you.

Or you can even use an online tool like Namelix, where you probably won’t get the name out, but you can use inspiration by combining the keywords that are important to you.

A while ago I would have said to be very careful and think of a name that has the .com domain extension available. But nowadays it is becoming more and more common to see extensions like .io or .agency even in the domains and it seems to me something less important.

After all, if we look at the statistics of Google Analytics on your website you will see that only a small percentage of your visitors type the complete domain into the browser to find you. That’s why we have Google.

Think about the services you are going to offer

What is your specialty? What do you think the market needs? Can you offer a solution?

There are agencies that focus solely on offering SEO positioning services, or web maintenance or even UX design. And they’re doing great.

At the same time, there are others that offer a 360º digital marketing service. Website, maintenance, SEO positioning, social media management, SEM, email marketing campaigns…. Sometimes even offline marketing campaigns or graphic design services.

Choose which services you are going to offer. Either because you are an expert, because you are going to hire someone who is, or because you plan to collaborate with someone who is.

Because beware, nowadays setting up an agency does not mean that all the people who work on your projects are hired 100% of the time. Collaborating with freelance experts in fields where you are not is something more and more common.

In this post we tell you 11 additional services that you can offer to the clients of your WordPress agency.

Set the prices of your services

The usual debate. How much does a website cost? Well, the Galicians already tell you that. It depends.

That’s the reality.

Each project has its characteristics and particularities and in the many years I have been working in this sector I have found few similar (not the same anymore).

However, it is essential that you have control of your prices.

One of the most common ways is to put an hourly price on the services of the agency, and based on that take out the budgets of the different projects based on the estimate you can make of the work that they will take.

Another option is to package services. For example:

A corporate website with up to 5 pages with different design, 1.000€.
An email marketing strategy for 3 months with 4 emails each month, 800€.
An ecommerce with 20 products and a Stripe payment gateway, €3,000.

And thus have a list of services and/or packs with basic prices that can always be modified based on the needs of the claro project.

Mind you, the prices are completely made up. Notice that I don’t want any problems.

Prices are also something that you should discuss as soon as possible with a potential customer. Even if they are a few ranges and estimates. So as not to waste time if it is something that does not fit.

What I’m not so clear on is whether you should put them on the web. We never did it.

Choose the tools you are going to work with

Based on the fact that WordPress is going to be the core of the business, we have other important decisions to make regarding the tools that will accompany us on a day-to-day basis.

Some of them are:

• Hosting and domain provider: Make sure you have a quality hosting (good performance) prepared for WordPress. If you think you are going to need it, look at the comments about their technical support. And also see if you are interested in hosting your all websites, taking reseller plans or hiring each client their own. Finally, if it is specialized for agencies, such as Digital Factory, much better. Because they will be able to help you with many more things and will have experience in the subject.
• Theme or visual builder: It is very common within the WP ecosystem to use a base theme or at least a visual builder (Elements, WPBakery, Divi…). If you have been working with WordPress for a long time, you probably already have yours.
• Plugins: Usually in WordPress every professional has his favorite plugins. As for optimization, cache, security, translation, etc… It is important that you try different options and choose your own since you probably use the same ones in most projects. This will allow you to save time in the configuration and, in many cases, money (if they have premium licenses they are usually cheaper if you install them on more sites).
• Accounting application: It will surely come in handy to have an application to keep the numbers of the agency. Maybe you already had it as a freelancer, but if not, it’s time to take the plunge.
• Maintenance tool: If the core of your business is WordPress websites, you are probably interested in offering maintenance services. You know, updates, backups, reports, etc… Not to give us too much publicity, but our Modular tool can help you centralize the maintenance of all your websites on the same platform and save a lot of time. It also has a free plan. There are others on the market that you can also use so choose the one that convinces you the most.

There are more, such as the different web statistics alternatives that exist and that you are going to offer to your customers. Or also another very interesting thing, productivity tools that you can use in your team to optimize time and increase profitability.

Contrata una gestoría en la que confíes

There is one thing that no one (that I know) likes who has set up a company. Take care of tax issues, account books, etc…

Delegate this to a management company so that you can focus on what you like. Not only because you will be able to spend more time providing value to your customers, but also because your head will thank you for it.

That’s right. It’s an important thing. Especially in Spain where it is very easy for you to have a tax or social security inspection. So hire a person or company that you trust.

Create a spectacular website for your agency with WordPress

As a WordPress expert, you have to impress your clients with WordPress.

Your website is your clearest presentation sheet and if it has a Moderna design, clearly explains what you do and is technically optimized, your potential customers will get a good impression.

What things can not be missing on your agency’s website:

• A portfolio with your best works. I put it first because although it is what takes the most work to update, I consider it almost the most important thing and what can most differentiate you from the competition. If your potential clients see in what you have already done for others what they want, it will be much easier for them to want to work with you.
• The services you offer. It’s true that these can be very broad but you have to make it clear to your potential customers what you can do for them. Nowadays it is very fashionable to talk more about the problems of the client than about what you offer him. Both of these things are important in my opinion. If you combine them correctly it will be easier to convince them.
• A presentation of your team. In the end, people want to work with people. Even today I find many companies and entrepreneurs who do not want any photos of themselves or their team to appear on the web. Mistake. If you’re just starting out (most likely if you’re reading this) people will work with you because they want a close deal. Otherwise I would work with big companies.
• Make it easy for them to contact you: You can do it with forms, highlighting your email or phone if you prefer that way or even with a chatbot (although this seems too much for an agency to me). The number 1 goal of your website should be to get more customers and for this to be possible they have to contact you.

Find the first clients of your agency

If you are thinking about starting a business, you probably already have customers. Maybe a lot and that’s precisely why you’re taking the plunge. So I’m not going to dwell much on this aspect either.

By now you will know that most clients come from recommendations from other clients or from people who know you. So one of the best ways to get clients is to treat the ones you already have well.

A few quick tips to find more would be to be active on LinkedIn (the potential that this network has is tremendous), join an association of entrepreneurs in your city or look for collaborations with other companies or freelancers that offer complementary services to yours and with which you can work on different projects.

People who enjoy what you do

I leave it for the end but it is another of the keys to long-term success.

If you are taking the leap to become a company it is because you alone cannot achieve your goals. And you know you need other people’s help.

It is very important that you get right with the first people you hire to be by your side in this adventure.

An entire post could be written about this. But if I had to choose one characteristic to look for in the first hires to create a web agency, without a doubt, I would choose passion.

The passion for the digital world and for helping other businesses grow online.

Looking for someone who really enjoys making websites, looking for how to improve SEO positioning, designing or thinking digital marketing strategies.

The beginnings of a company are always difficult and we are in a sector that is constantly changing. That’s why you need people by your side who like to learn new things, try and make mistakes.

Bonus 1: Automate processes

If there’s one thing that can allow you to grow your agency once you start getting clients on a recurring basis thanks to word-of-mouth and your good work, that’s automation.

Automating processes such as the generation of documents (proposals, contracts, invoices, etc…) or the management of web maintenance tasks with a tool such as Modular, can greatly help you increase your profitability per project.

In addition, you will save time and be able to work with more clients (earn more money) without having to increase the hours you dedicate or the number of people.

Conclusion

Starting with an agency focused on the design and development of websites with WordPress is not easy. Just like the creation of any other company.

It requires a lot of work, but surely it is also a great illusion. And, as we have seen, we are lucky to be in a sector full of opportunities.

Many times (almost always) we leave aside the things that concern us (our website, process improvement, automation) and focus only on searching and doing projects for clients.

But working on these internal things is what in the medium-long term will allow the project to grow and achieve its objectives.

I hope this list of tips will help you in the first steps and help you get from point 0 to 1 a little faster and without so many obstacles.

And if you ever want to talk about it I will be happy to share learnings.