WordPress Developer + Web Designer

Hi! I’m Alexandra, founder of Who Is Amsterdam Tours (www.whoisamsterdam.com), an established Amsterdam tour company offering walking tours, private experiences, food tours, museum tours and countryside experiences. I’m looking for a senior WordPress developer with strong web design/UX skills who can become our go-to person for ongoing website development. This is not a one-off project. I want to find someone I can work with long-term who gets to know our website and business and can take responsibility for the website side as we continue to grow. About the website Our website is built in WordPress, but it was custom designed and developed from scratch. We do NOT use Elementor, Divi, or another drag-and-drop page builder. I’m not a developer myself, so I don’t want to incorrectly describe the exact technical architecture. One of the first things I would expect from you is to review the existing setup/codebase and understand how the website has been built. So please only apply if you are genuinely comfortable taking over and working with an existing custom-built WordPress website. What I need - Our website is constantly developing. - We regularly launch new tours and experiences, which means I need someone who can do much more than small WordPress fixes. You should be able to: - Review and understand the existing WordPress setup/codebase - Modify and improve existing pages - Build completely new pages - Design new page layouts and sections when needed - Keep new pages consistent with our existing brand and website - Improve mobile responsiveness - Improve UX and conversion - Add or change functionality - Work with third-party integrations, including our booking system - Troubleshoot technical problems and bugs - Help with forms, email/SMTP and similar website issues - Improve website speed and performance where needed - Understand technical SEO basics - Make changes safely without breaking other parts of the website - Test your own work properly on desktop AND mobile before considering a task finished - I need someone who can DESIGN as well as DEVELOP This part is important. I will normally provide the content, the business goal and direction. But I do not want to have to design every page myself and explain where every image, heading, section and button should go. If I tell you: “We’re launching a new private Amsterdam food tour. Here is the content, here are some existing pages, and this is what we want visitors to understand and ultimately book.” …I want you to be able to think about the page structure, UX and design and come back with a strong solution. Of course we’ll discuss things together. But I’m looking for someone who can think with me, not just execute instructions. Strong attention to visual details such as spacing, typography, hierarchy, consistency and mobile design is therefore very important. Communication matters. A LOT. I run a small company and don’t have an internal web department. I’m looking for someone who makes my workload lighter — not someone whose work I need to constantly check. That means I need someone who: Reads briefs and messages carefully Pays attention to details Asks questions when something genuinely isn't clear Doesn't make assumptions about important information Communicates clearly about progress Tells me when something is technically not a good idea Suggests a better solution when there is one Checks their own work before sending it to me Notices obvious problems without waiting for me to point out every single one Is reliable with agreed deadlines I don’t expect you to read my mind. I do expect you to read my messages. :) Technical experience You should have strong experience with: WordPress Custom-built WordPress websites PHP HTML CSS JavaScript Responsive development Working with existing/custom codebases Staging environments Backups and safe deployment Website performance Technical SEO fundamentals Third-party integrations Experience with tourism, travel, booking, experience or e-commerce websites is a big plus. Experience with booking platforms/integrations such as FareHarbor is also a plus. About Who Is Amsterdam Tours Who Is Amsterdam Tours is a storytelling-focused tour company based in Amsterdam. We don’t want to be another generic “follow the umbrella and hear 37 historical dates” tour company. Our tours are about understanding Amsterdam through its history, culture, mentality and people. We offer everything from introductory walking tours to premium cultural experiences, family tours, private food tours, museum tours and countryside experiences. The company is growing, our product range is expanding, and our website is becoming increasingly important for direct bookings. That means there will be ongoing work: new tour pages, landing pages, improvements to existing pages, technical fixes, conversion improvements and new functionality. For the right person, I would love this to become a long-term collaboration. To apply Please send me: 3–5 WordPress websites you have personally worked on, preferably custom-built websites rather than page-builder projects. For each example, briefly explain what YOU personally did. Did you design it? Develop it? Take over an existing codebase? Build specific functionality? Please show me at least one page you both designed and developed. Tell me about your experience taking over existing custom-built WordPress websites created by other developers. Tell me how you normally handle staging, backups, testing and deployment. Tell me your hourly rate. Tell me your general availability and usual response time. Tell me your timezone/location. And one more thing: Please take a look at whoisamsterdam.com and tell me the first three things you would improve on the website and why. I’m intentionally not telling you what I think needs improving. I’d like to see what YOU notice. Finally, please start your application with: “I read the whole thing.” If those aren't the first five words of your application, I’ll assume you didn't. :) How we'll start I’m not planning to immediately hand over our entire live website to someone I’ve never worked with before. I’ll shortlist a few candidates and start with a small paid test assignment. If that goes well, I’d like to move into an ongoing collaboration. I’m looking for someone technically strong, visually sharp, proactive, reliable and easy to communicate with. Basically: someone who cares about the finished website as much as I do. If that sounds like you, I’d love to hear from you.