As Junior WordPress Developer, expect salary anywhere between 40-60K, as Mid Level you can command 60-80K, and as Senior WordPress Developer you can expect for 100K.
I am Sydney based WordPress Developer. I do work full time and I do freelance depending upon the type of project I select and free time. I started working as Front End Developer, did some PHP coding and later on moved to Custom WordPress Development. I am also providing SEO Services and WordPress web design as separate services. I had to up-skill on both departments, and it was bit easy learning curve for me as I was passionate about both.
How I chose my career to be WordPress Developer
I started writing HTML and CSS when IE 6 were still supported. Then I learnt PHP and MYSQL and wrote my own custom PHP Content Management System (CMS) too. But ever since moving to WordPress Development, I have never looked back. I currently work as Digital Developer building websites on WordPress Framework.
WordPress Developer salaries are varied
In short, you get what you are worth. I have seen jobs advertised for the role of WordPress developer from anywhere around 30K to 6 figures for the role based in Sydney. So why does salary varies this much?
There is still myth that working on Premium Theme and adding data is WordPress Development. Though it is still WordPress related work, it doesn’t involve any code related job unless theme customisation is involved.
WordPress Developer must at least:
- Understand WordPress architecture, and be able to write code to build framework around it
- Build Custom Theme
- Build Custom Plugin
- Write CSS and JavaScript as needed
WordPress have evolved as a complex framework over few years. As bare minimum to call one a WordPress Developer, you must be able to code the PSDs provided to you and convert it to industry standard custom theme.
Next level up would be creating or be able to write custom plugins as needed by the client’s requirement.
One of the most complained subject about WordPress had always been it security issues. I personally think it’s over exaggerated. But it’s good to make yourself aware to various security issues or updates WordPress overcomes with every updates and releases. One of the blog I recommend is WordFence Blog. They do good job keeping you update with latest WordPress related security issues.
Rough idea about WordPress Developer salary in Sydney
From my experiences, there are 3 main categories where salary for WordPress Developer fall under. They are:
Junior WordPress Developer
Junior developer role is the entry level role. As junior developer, you are expected to have some experiences anywhere between few months to couple of years.
Junior Developers get paid between 40-60K packages.
Mid-Level WordPress Developer
A level up to the Junior Developer, you are expected to have experiences anywhere between 3 to 5 years with solid skills sets and portfolio.
As a Mid-level developer, you can get packages anywhere between 60-80K or bit higher.
Senior-Level WordPress Developer
As Senior-level developer you are expected to have solid skill set, guide or mentor Junior Developers and have solid problem solving skill sets. Employers will be looking at least 5 years of experiences. Any contributions to WordPress core or Plugin Development is highly regarded.
I have seen ads for Senior Developer at 6 Figures package and above offered in Sydney.
Learning New Trades in the Industry
My guess is that if you are thinking of being a WordPress Developer, you must have some idea about PHP. My suggestion would be learning new skills in the industry. Keep in mind that IT industry is evolving every day so making oneself a good fit in the industry is always a clever idea.
If you are in digital or marketing industry, learning SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) and SEM (Search Engine Marketing) is highly rewarding. This is where I am standing at the moment. I build custom WordPress theme where conversions are the main requirement. My On Page WordPress SEO had been quiet good and I am always learning new ideas by reading many blogs. I had been learning Google Adwords recently.
Another skill you might want to add would be learning some web design skills. I started learning WordPress web design few years back and now I provide web design as my services. Now I market myself as full stack WordPress developer and designer. One of the advantage of being a designer and developer had been, I am able to minimise the communication barrier of designer and developer. A good example of this is in the case of lack of communication between designer and developer where the project will end up costing over the budget or when web design ends up being too complex either for development or User Experience. This can lead to chaos in cases where clients have limited budget.
You will get what you deserve – Stay Updated
Yes you will only get what you deserve or worth. If you end of doing same type of job for years without adding any new skills set, you won’t be getting pay rise soon.
Try learning new things. Stay smart. Read various blogs. Always think of bringing something new to the team. And try to be a problem solver. Experiment yourself and challenge yourself.
As mentioned above, as per industry standard salary ranges are significantly varied. It’s really up to you to be where you want to be.
