What to expect when you hire a WordPress agency in Manchester: A step-by-step guide

Introduction to WordPress for Business

WordPress powers over 40% of all websites on the internet – and for good reason. As discussed in our recent blog, the WordPress CMS is flexible, scalable, and super SEO-friendly. However, for businesses in 2025, choosing the right CMS platform for your website is only half the battle. It’s equally important to partner with the right team who can bring your site to life.

As a WordPress agency based in Manchester, we’re well accustomed to the landscape. Our city is one of the UK’s leading digital hubs – home to thousands of businesses across tech, professional services, hospitality and more. If you’re looking to grow your brand and convert more online leads, choosing a local agency with WordPress expertise can make all the difference.

Why hire a WordPress agency in Manchester?

If your current site isn’t performing in line with your goals, you’re not alone. Whether it falls short with lead conversion, or isn’t set up to grow with your ambitions, many businesses reach a point where redesign becomes essential.

Working with a WordPress agency – rather than a solo developer – connects your project to the region’s top talent, and a wider pool of expertise. From UX experts to SEO specialists and developers, hiring an agency means you have access to the full suite of skills needed to deliver a website that doesn’t just look great, but performs too.

By choosing a Manchester-based agency, you’ll also benefit from local insight and connections. We understand regional markets, business culture, and the kinds of challenges companies in the North West might face day-to-day. We’ve helped B2B firms, charities, hospitality brands and tech startups alike build websites that genuinely move the needle.

As well as our 20 years in the local industry, our founder Matt and finance director Sue are both directors of K-Club – an entrepreneur network supporting the wider business community in Manchester and the North. Trust us, we know our stuff! 

What is the process of building a new WordPress website with a top Manchester agency?

Step 1: Define Your Website Goals

Before you even begin the process of reaching out to agencies, it’s important to think about what exactly you want your website to achieve. Are you aiming to generate more leads? Improve your SEO visibility? Simplify the process for adding content?

Knowing your goals will help to guide your conversations to ensure you and your web team are aligned from day one.

Step 2: Research and Shortlist Agencies

You’ll want to look for WordPress agencies with proven results and experience, in both design and development. You’ll want to see a strong portfolio of work, in your sector or with businesses similar to your own. Deep dive on their website, explore their case studies, read client testimonials, and reach out for a chat to see if you gel with the team.

Tips for choosing the best Manchester WordPress agency –

• Look for sector-specific experience – Have they worked with similar industries like professional services, hospitality, or charity?
• Check they offer end-to-end service – This includes strategy, UX, design, development, SEO, and support.
• Look for local presence – A team based in or around Manchester can offer face-to-face collaboration when needed.
• Avoid red flags – Vague service offerings, lack of responsiveness or transparency, or unclear timelines are a warning sign.

Step 3: Initial Consultation

Once you’ve found your agency, book in for a discovery session. At Ultimate, we use this space to explore your business, audience, competitors, and current website and pain points. It’s also your chance to ask questions (as many as you like!) and get a feel for how we work.

Here are some questions to ask your web agency – 

• What’s your typical process and timeline?
• Can we add more features to the website in the future?
• Can you help us with content and SEO?
• Will the site be easy to manage day-to-day?
• Can you help with maintenance after the launch?

Step 4: Proposal and Planning

After an initial consultation about your project, we’ll provide a proposal outlining the project scope, suggested timeline and quote. This will also include –

• A breakdown of project phases (discovery, UX, design, dev, UAT)
• An overview of your website’s abilities and functionality
• Key deliverables and milestones
• Hosting and maintenance considerations
• Next steps.

It’s important to remember that price does not equate to value. A cheaper quote may miss key considerations like mobile optimisation, an SEO-ready setup, or a user testing phase.

Step 5: Design and Development Process

Once the scope is signed off, we’ll get started!

At Ultimate, we follow a collaborative approach so that you’re involved at every stage of design and development – 

• Wireframes and user flows – We create wireframes and map out user journeys to clearly define how people will interact with the site.

• Website design – Our UX and UI teams work within your brand to design pages that are both eye-catching and easy to use. During this phase, we’ll also agree on details such as hosting before development kicks off.
• Website development -Once the visual side is signed off, our developers get to work bringing the site to life! We’ll also configure WordPress so your team can update content easily, with no need to dig into code.

We keep comms open throughout the process, via regular check-in calls, milestones, and over email or the phone. Feel free to reach out whenever you have a question!

Step 6: Testing, launch, and support

You’ll have access to a demo of the site before it goes live. From here, content can be added to build out your pages.

Whilst content is being populated, user acceptance testing (UAT) can also begin. This is where we work together to click every button, browse every page, and use every component to make sure everything is working across devices and browsers. Find a bug? No problem. We’ll sort it before go-live. 

Make sure you consider a detailed migration plan to help minimise any disruption to your SEO. We use industry leading software like SEMrush to help us do this before launching any new website.

Our hosting and maintenance packages will keep your website up-to-date and secure in the months ahead. We also offer post-launch support, including training, troubleshooting, content updates and more. This is alongside bolt-ons for digital marketing, CRM integrations and ongoing SEO work to help your site grow over time.

The Importance of Follow-Up Digital Marketing and Tracking

Once your new WordPress site is live, it’s time to drive traffic and measure success. At Ultimate, we help clients build out full digital strategies, from content calendars to paid campaigns.

We can also ensure that tracking is set up from day one. That means Google Analytics, Meta Pixel, CRM integrations, lead tracking, form conversions and heatmaps – so you can understand how users are interacting with your site and where we can optimise.

Work with a Trusted WordPress Agency in Manchester

Ready to chat about your website? Why not get in touch?

Or, explore a few of our WordPress builds here:

• James’ Places – A WordPress multisite to allow for many venues and sub-brands for this UK hospitality giant.  Full case study.
• The Beatles Story – Our WordPress design and development allowed for lots of fun features to match their upbeat brand! Full case study.
• Workwell Global – A full rebrand, website design and development following a merger of three international recruitment brands. Full case study.