I see backups more suitable for a slighlty different topic. Something like "how to take care of your website" where there would be db otpmization, recurring backups, daily & monthly snapshots, etc.

I'm not so sure. When shit goes wrong, backups are not directly part of "solving the problem" but they are a part of the process, an essential one that can mitigate losses and provide developers with a clear path forward.

Good article though - and you're right backups probably deserve their own focused article.

thanks man!

My take: You just don’t shoot some keywords on forums and wait for people to bring up all the answers. You need to do your part as well.

Interesting points here, specifically 2). What do you mean by asking the developer his thoughts about hosting?

Here is the text of an email I sent a relative when they were looking for WP development. This is the part about hosting.

"The dev sounds pretty sharp. About the hosting ... it's great they want to offer a one stop for the development effort, but keep in mind a few things:

1) If you discontinue your relationship with the developer, it might be difficult to "take your site" to another host if your agreement includes hosting.

2) The developer might be a reseller for a hosting company, which is usually ok. Try to find out which hosting company it is and let me know. Some hosting companies are better suited for the sales you are trying to drive versus an informational site.

3) Find out if the developer is responsible for regular maintenance of the back end (web server serving pages and security updates to the operating system). "

I wrote about WordPress just because it's what I've direct experience with. Within the post, in fact, I wrote that these tips apply to other CMSs and other development-related jobs you outsource.

Do you have any tips related to WordPress I should add to my list? If so, let me know :)

> Within the post, in fact, I wrote that these tips apply to other CMSs and other development-related jobs you outsource.

Exactly, your article isn't about working with Wordpress "experts" and does not really touch on this topic. If it were, I would expect to read about specific issues you have come across when dealing with external Wordpress developers or even freelance PHP developers and how you've mitigated them.

My argument is that the headline contextually has little to do with the generic tips you are giving. It just seems like you are generating content for the sake of content and the search engines. Which is fine, but not really productive for a site like this.

Thanks man, happy you enjoyed it!