WordPress and PHP development
WordPress written by hand, not assembled in a page builder.
Custom themes, bespoke plugins and the PHP behind them, for sites that have outgrown a template and a stack of plugins. The person writing the code also understands what Google needs from the markup, the caching and the Core Web Vitals, so the build is fast and crawlable by default rather than handed to an SEO to fix afterwards.
Straight answer
The page builder that built your site is now the thing slowing it down.
It got you launched, and for a small site that is the right trade. On a site with real traffic it becomes the tax: layout you never use, scripts on every page, and markup a crawler has to dig through. A hand coded theme removes all of it.
What a page builder costs you
- Scripts and styles loaded on every page whether needed or not
- Layout and options you never use, shipped anyway
- Markup a crawler has to dig through to find the content
- Core Web Vitals dragged down by weight you cannot remove
- Templates you cannot change when the SEO work needs them changed
What a hand coded theme gives you
- Only the CSS and JavaScript the page actually uses
- Clean, semantic markup a crawler reads without effort
- Templates you own and can change when you need to
- Schema and performance built in, not bolted on later
- No plugin's worth of weight for a layout it renders once
Said plainly
The developer writing the PHP is the same person handling the technical SEO, so the build is fast and crawlable from the start rather than needing a second supplier to come and correct it. Everything is documented in a living knowledge base, so you are never locked to us and the next developer can pick it up.
Scope
What custom WordPress development covers.
The parts most agencies avoid, because they need actual PHP rather than a plugin. Custom post types, the query, hooks, the REST API and WP-CLI are where a WordPress site earns its keep or falls over.
Custom themes
Themes coded from the design rather than assembled in a builder, classic PHP or block themes, with the URL structure, templates and schema decided while they are still cheap to decide. Light, semantic, and built to render fast on real devices rather than a lab score.
Bespoke plugins
When a feature does not exist off the shelf, or the plugin that does it carries ten features you do not want. Custom functionality written to do one job well, without the bloat and the attack surface of a general purpose plugin.
Custom post types and fields
Content modelled to fit what you actually publish: custom post types, taxonomies and fields, with the archive and single templates to render them. The structure that lets an editor add content without breaking the layout or the SEO.
WooCommerce
Custom WooCommerce templates, the checkout, and the technical work large catalogues need: faceted pages that do not go thin, variant handling, and the caching and schema that stop a big store crawling slowly.
Child themes and rescue work
Adding to or fixing a theme you already have through a child theme, so an update never wipes the work. Performance, custom functionality, markup and security fixed on an existing build when a rebuild is not warranted.
Performance and security built in
Caching that clears when it should, an edge that serves modern image formats, and a login and admin hardened against the traffic every WordPress site attracts. Built into the development rather than sold as a separate cleanup afterwards.
Evidence
What we have actually built.
Full technical ownership of a high traffic WordPress site, measured live rather than claimed.
Theme
A custom theme on a busy site
A hand coded theme carrying the whole front end of a high traffic directory, plus two bespoke customer facing tools built into it. Around 151 hours logged and documented, so the next developer can pick it up without us.
Performance
Field data, not a lab score
On that site: a gallery template at 372ms LCP with 51ms INP, a homepage at 1032ms LCP, and CLS at 0.00 across home, gallery and profile templates, measured in the field on throttled mobile. The build is why those numbers are what they are.
Infrastructure
An image pipeline that stays warm
Around 9,676 images rebuilt into a custom three size plus AVIF pipeline, served with a one year cache and returning a hit. Wired to a purge that clears HTML on edit without ever flushing the images, so they stay fast.
Fit
Worth reading before you enquire.
This works well if
- Your site has outgrown a page builder and it is now slowing you down
- You need custom functionality no off the shelf plugin does cleanly
- A cheap build already went wrong once and you want it done properly
- You want the developer and the SEO to be the same person
- You run WooCommerce and the catalogue has got technical
- You want the code documented so you are never locked to one supplier
Probably not a fit if
- You need a simple five page brochure site. A template is cheaper and we will say so
- Price is the only factor. There is always a cheaper developer
- You want deep Shopify Liquid work. That is a different platform and specialism
- You want it live next week regardless of whether it is right
- You are happy with the page builder and it is not costing you anything
Cost
What it costs.
Development is £90 to £100 an hour, or a £95 blended rate where it crosses into SEO. Most builds are scoped as a fixed project once we have seen what the site needs. Minimum engagement is 4 hours.
Fixes and features
From £380
Custom functionality, a child theme, a plugin, or a performance and markup fix on an existing site. Charged by the hour against agreed work, the right choice when you do not need a rebuild.
Custom theme or build
Scoped
A theme coded from your design, or a bespoke plugin built to spec. Fixed scope and cost agreed in writing once we have seen the design and what it has to do.
Ongoing
Monthly
A set number of hours a month for sites that keep evolving, covering development, performance and the small fixes that stop a healthy site decaying. Detailed on the maintenance page.
Time is logged as it is spent and the ledger is open to you, including anything scrapped or reverted. Full breakdown on the rates page.
FAQ
Questions clients actually ask
What kind of WordPress work is this, exactly?
Hand written WordPress. Custom themes coded rather than assembled in a page builder, custom plugins where a feature does not exist off the shelf, and the PHP behind both. We work in classic PHP themes and block themes, and we are comfortable in the parts most agencies avoid: custom post types, taxonomies, the query, hooks, the REST API and WP-CLI.
If your problem is a five page brochure site, a page builder and a good template is the cheaper answer and we will say so. This is for sites that have outgrown that.
Why build a custom theme instead of using a page builder?
For a small site, no reason. For a site that carries real traffic and has grown complicated, a page builder becomes the problem: it ships layout you do not use, loads scripts on every page whether they are needed or not, and buries the markup a crawler needs under its own. A hand coded theme stays light, keeps the markup clean, and does not carry a plugin's worth of weight for a layout it renders once.
The other reason is control. When the performance work or the schema work needs the template changed, a custom theme lets us change it. A locked page builder often does not.
Can you work with our existing theme rather than rebuilding?
Usually, yes, and it is often the right call. A child theme lets us add and change what you need without touching the parent, so an update does not wipe the work. We can fix performance, add custom functionality, correct the markup and harden the security on a theme you already have, rather than charging you for a rebuild you may not need.
If the existing theme is the actual problem, bloated, abandoned by its author, or fighting every change, we will tell you that too, and a rebuild becomes a redesign with the rankings kept.
Do you do WooCommerce?
Yes. Custom WooCommerce work, theme templates, the checkout, and the technical SEO that large catalogues need. Where we stop is deep Shopify Liquid development, which is a different platform and a different specialism. On the WordPress and WooCommerce side, the development and the SEO come from the same person, which is the point.
What makes this different from hiring a cheaper WordPress developer?
Two things. The first is that the person writing the PHP also understands what Google needs from the markup, the caching and the Core Web Vitals, so the build is fast and crawlable by default rather than needing an SEO to come and fix it afterwards. The second is that everything is documented. Every project keeps a living knowledge base covering the architecture, the deployed code and the decisions, so you are never locked to us and the next developer can pick it up.
If price is the only factor, there is always someone cheaper. We are the option for sites where a cheap build already went wrong once.
Keep reading
Related services
Book me
Tell us what your WordPress site needs to do.
A custom theme, a feature no plugin builds cleanly, or a rescue of a build that went wrong. Describe it and we will tell you whether it needs custom development or whether something simpler will do, honestly.