Custom theme development
Themes built from your design rather than adapted from a stock template. Clean template hierarchy, proper use of the block editor, and markup that does not fight you when the design changes.
Web platforms
WordPress and WooCommerce development
Custom WordPress websites, plugins, and WooCommerce stores, with performance, maintenance, and straightforward content editing.
Delivered remotely. We are based in West Covina, California, and work with clients in the US, Canada, Europe and the UK, scheduling across Eastern and Western time zones. USD $30–$100/hr depending on the type of work. Request a free initial analysis. Pairs naturally with AI-assisted content updates after launch, and with custom web and mobile development where WordPress alone is not the right tool.
What’s included
What we build in WordPress
Six things that decide whether a WordPress site is an asset or a liability two years from now. Two we built and run: the Tad’s Construction contractor site and the Zulu Estate Media studio site.
Plugin development
Custom post types, fields, admin screens and third-party integrations packaged as proper plugins — so your functionality survives a theme change instead of disappearing with it.
WooCommerce stores
Product catalogues, variable products, tax and shipping rules, payment gateways and a checkout that does not lose people. Built to stay responsive when a promotion lands.
Speed & Core Web Vitals
Query auditing, caching strategy, image handling and plugin pruning. Most slow WordPress sites are slow for two or three specific reasons, and we find them rather than installing another optimisation plugin.
Security & maintenance
Hardening, sensible user roles, backups you have actually tested, and a patching routine. WordPress sites need regular patching; an unmaintained install accumulates known vulnerabilities.
Migrations & hosting moves
Moving hosts, consolidating multisite, or escaping a builder-locked theme. We migrate with a staging rehearsal and a rollback plan so the cutover is boring.
Store, performance, security and migration artwork above is illustrative, not a customer screenshot or measured result.
Who it’s for
Who we build WordPress for
Small businesses
A site that needs to load fast, rank, and be editable by someone who is not a developer — without a maintenance contract that costs more than the build.
Online stores
WooCommerce shops where checkout reliability and page speed translate directly into revenue, and where a plugin conflict on a Friday is a real problem.
Publishers & content teams
High post volume, editorial workflows, and search performance that depends on the templates and the taxonomy being right.
How we work
How a WordPress build runs
Staging first, migrations rehearsed, and launch scheduled in a window you agree.
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01
Audit & scope
If a site exists we audit it first — plugins, theme, queries, Core Web Vitals, security posture. You get a written list of what is wrong and what it costs to fix before committing to a rebuild.
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02
Build on staging
Theme and plugins developed on a staging environment that mirrors production. You review real pages with real content rather than approving a flat mockup.
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03
Migrate & launch
Rehearsed cutover with DNS, redirects and a rollback plan. Existing URLs are mapped to their new equivalents so links and search listings keep working.
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04
Maintain
Patching, backups, uptime monitoring and a point of contact. Optional, but an unmaintained WordPress install is the most common way these projects go wrong.
WordPress work
A WordPress site we built
Zulu Estate Media runs on WordPress. It is live and public, so you can judge the result directly.
Pricing
WordPress development pricing
Cost depends on how much is custom versus configured, how many templates the design needs, and whether WooCommerce and migrations are involved. A brochure site on a tuned theme is a very different build to a store with variable products and bespoke checkout logic. Send us the current site or the design and we will quote a fixed price.
Questions
WordPress and WooCommerce FAQ
Do you use page builders like Elementor or Divi?
Only when a client already has one and wants to keep editing that way. Builders make the first version fast and every version after it slower — they add significant page weight and tie your content to one plugin, which makes leaving expensive later. Our default is a custom theme built around the block editor, which keeps editing friendly without the weight.
Can you fix a slow WordPress site rather than rebuilding it?
Usually, and it is normally the cheaper answer. Most slow WordPress sites are slow for two or three findable reasons — unbounded queries, oversized images, a caching layer that is not actually caching, or one badly written plugin. We audit first and tell you honestly whether a fix or a rebuild makes more sense, including when the answer is the one that bills less.
Is WooCommerce good enough for a serious store?
For most small and mid-sized stores, yes. It handles variable products, tax and shipping rules and the major payment gateways, and you own the data rather than renting it. Where it struggles is very high catalogue counts and very high concurrent checkout volume, both of which are solvable with proper hosting and caching, but should be designed for up front rather than discovered on a sale day.
Will a redesign lose our Google rankings?
The risk is manageable when the migration is planned. The usual cause of a post-launch traffic drop is URLs changing without redirects, or metadata and heading structure being dropped in the redesign. We map every existing URL, carry over titles and descriptions deliberately, and keep the internal linking that already works.
Can our team edit the site without breaking it?
That is the point of building it properly. Content editors get block patterns and fields that constrain what can go wrong, rather than a blank canvas where a stray setting breaks the layout. We also hand over documentation for the parts that are specific to your build.
Do you offer ongoing maintenance?
Yes, and we recommend it for anything handling payments or customer data. That means core, theme and plugin patching, tested backups, uptime monitoring and someone to call. Tell us whether you want us holding that or just handing it over to your team.
What does a WordPress developer cost per hour?
We charge USD $30–$100 per hour depending on the type of work. Maintenance and content changes are billed at $30/hr; development, including custom plugin and integration work, at $100/hr. We confirm which rate applies before any paid work starts.
WooCommerce or Shopify — which should we choose?
Shopify is a hosted product you rent: faster to start, less to maintain, and limited to what the platform allows. WooCommerce is software you own and host, so it bends to unusual catalogues, pricing rules and integrations. If Shopify is the better fit for your store, we will say so.