WordPress developer in Birmingham, minus the plugin pile
We build WordPress sites that your team can update on a Tuesday afternoon without calling anyone. They're custom-themed, quick to load, accessible, and put together so the next update doesn't break them. We're a WordPress developer based in Chelsea, just outside Birmingham, and we've been building for the web since 1997.
WordPress is easy to start and easy to get wrong
Most of the WordPress trouble we see isn't caused by WordPress itself. It comes from how the site was put together: a page builder stacked on a premium theme, plus thirty plugins, half of which do the same job. It works on launch day. Then a plugin update moves your header, or the site slows down a little more each month, and nobody's sure which piece is responsible.
We build the other way around. We start with what your editors actually need to do, write a theme around that, and add plugins only when they earn their place.
What custom WordPress development with us includes
A custom theme, not a modified one. Your design gets built as a theme we write and maintain, using our own front-end framework where it fits. You don't pay for features you'll never use, and you won't hit "this theme can't do that."
Editing that fits your team. We set up the editor around the content your team actually publishes, and we train your editors at handoff. Pages are built from an ACF-based component layout: Advanced Custom Fields gives your editors a set of page sections that match your design and can be arranged without touching code. If you also want custom blocks for the block editor, such as cards, callouts, or team listings, we'll build them on request and tell you whether they're worth it for your site.
Plugins chosen on purpose. Every plugin we add is one we've vetted for security, maintenance history, and performance. If ten lines of code do the job better than a plugin, we write the ten lines.
Accessibility from the first template. We check color contrast with our own open-source tool, dd_wcag, and build to WCAG 2.1 AA while aiming for WCAG 2.2, so accessibility isn't a cleanup project before launch. See WCAG accessibility.
A real deploy process. Changes are made in development, reviewed in a test environment, and then pushed live. Our preferred host is Pantheon, and we're a Pantheon partner, largely for this reason. More on Pantheon hosting and DevOps.
Already have a WordPress site?
We also take on sites someone else built. We'll be upfront about what we find, since we can't take responsibility for problems in code we didn't write. Common requests:
- "It's slow." We find where the time goes, whether that's images, scripts, hosting, or a plugin doing far more than it should, and fix the causes.
- "Every update breaks something." We set up a staging environment and run visual checks before anything reaches your live site. Our tool dd_sitediff compares pages before and after a change and highlights what moved.
- "We need it connected to our other systems." Forms into your CRM, events from a calendar, products from an inventory system. See API integrations.
- "Nobody's looking after it." That's what our care plans are for.
Case study: one WordPress template, a network of chapter sites. A multi-site non-profit organization needed one consistent web presence without taking local control away from its chapters. We built a shared WordPress starting template that each chapter could tailor, put the national site and more than 70 chapter sites on Pantheon, and rolled the sites out in phases, with SEO and accessibility work built in. The relaunch brought about 20% more visitors and a significant rise in donation clicks.
WordPress packages
Starter: from $10,000
- Hosting on Pantheon (third-party service), with three environments for fast development and continuous integration
- WordPress with rolling updates
- Fully responsive, mobile-first design
- A streamlined authoring experience, with an ACF-based component layout (Advanced Custom Fields)
- Built-in site search
- Integrated forms (third-party service)
- Events through EventCalendarApp (third-party service)
- User-level access control: decide what each person can see and do
- Group-level access control: set permissions for whole teams or departments at once
- 4 custom templates
- Up to 50 pages
Growth: from $25,000
Everything in Starter, plus:
- Smarter search that matches word variations (stem-based processing), with weighted results and auto-populated suggestions
- Events (third-party platform chosen for your needs)
- Group-level publishing control: an editorial workflow, so content is reviewed and approved before it goes live
- 6 to 8 custom templates
- Up to 150 pages
Every project is scoped individually, and non-profits get 20% off. Tell us about your site and we'll recommend a starting point.
WordPress or Drupal?
We build in both, so we don't have a stake in which one you choose. For marketing sites, small-to-mid content sites, and teams that want the most familiar editing experience, WordPress is usually right. Drupal earns its keep with complex content, granular editor permissions, and heavy integration work. If you're weighing it up, read Drupal development or just ask.
FAQ
Do you use page builders like Elementor or Divi?
Only if you ask. Our standard is an ACF-based component layout: Advanced Custom Fields gives your editors flexible page sections that match your design, without the weight of a full page builder. Elementor and Divi make it quick to get a first version up, but they tend to add weight, lock in your content, and complicate updates. If your team relies on one and wants to keep it, we'll build with it and talk through the trade-offs honestly.
Can you redesign our site without losing our content?
Yes. If you want to keep your existing posts, pages, and media, we carry them over to the new build. Either way, we always map redirects from your old URLs, so you don't lose search traffic you've already earned.
Will we be able to edit the site ourselves?
That's the point. We build for your editors, and training is included at handoff.
Do you work with WooCommerce?
If you need it. We build WooCommerce stores on request, depending on the scope of the project. Tell us what you sell and how, and we'll tell you whether WooCommerce is the right fit.
Are you a freelancer or an agency?
We're a small, home-based studio in Chelsea, Alabama, working with clients in Birmingham, Montgomery, and beyond. Our team scales as needed per project, so you get senior WordPress experience without a big agency's layers.
How much does a WordPress site cost?
Our WordPress packages start at $10,000 for Starter and $25,000 for Growth. Where your project lands depends on the number of templates, integrations, and the content you're moving over. Tell us what you need and we'll put a clear estimate in writing. Non-profits get 20% off.
Tell us what your site needs to do
New build, rebuild, or a site that's starting to creak? Send us the details. A developer will get back to you, not a salesperson. Not sure where your current site stands on accessibility? Start with a free WCAG audit.