A new custom site build typically takes a minimum of 30 hours development time, with the calendar duration varying according to project complexity, scope, and stakeholders involved.
The full process is broken down into six key stages:
Project scoping
Web design and copywriting
Web development
Manager training
Deployment
Ongoing support and maintenance
At the end of these stages, you will have your fully functional, stable, performant website online and ready to work for you.
At this point, you can work with your in-house or agency marketing/sales teams to add content, generate backlinks, grow sales, and run campaigns.
A significant percentage of my time is spent working with creative agencies in London.
If you don't have an in-house web developer, need a London-based WordPress expert for an ad-hoc project, or simply have too much work to handle - I can help.
My specialist WordPress knowledge means I am able to help you with theme development, plugin development, custom builds and complicated integrations, while quickly getting up to speed alongside your in-house team.
I will make your job easier, letting you focus on the client, while I produce the deliverables - on schedule and to industry standards.
Plus, because I work remotely for most of my projects, I'm fully equipped and experienced when dealing with remote work challenges. I'm also available to work on-site in London.
A web designer can design your perfect theme for your company, but it still needs to be built. Think of the designer as the architect, and the developer as the construction company.
I have been developing websites for over 20 years, and have been working as a freelance web developer in London, building WordPress themes with WordPress since 2013. I have the skills needed to deliver your custom design as a unique WordPress theme.
Once your theme is ready, you can be confident that you'll have a beautifully designed, responsive, and extensible front-end to your site, which will work for you for many years to come.
Every WordPress theme I build has the following features:
Responsive design, suitable for mobiles, tablets, and desktops
Lightweight CSS, JavaScript, and HTML, to improve load times for visitors
Integration with plugins to improve SEO, add contact forms, implement caching, etc.
Easily extensible if you require further features or pages in the future
The ability for non-technical managers to make updates to theme settings
On-going support and training services for managers
WordPress plugins are part of what make WordPress so popular. There are literally thousands of WordPress plugins available, most of which are free to use.
However, you may have a unique use case, which is too niche, or relates to a specific area in your industry. There may be a plugin out there that covers 80% of what you need, but the remaining 20% is crucial to your success. There may be no plugin out there at all right now!
I have been coding custom WordPress plugins since the start of my WordPress career back in 2013. I have built custom events and ticketing plugins, back-ends for React, Vue, & Svelte SPAs via the WordPress REST API, custom WooCommerce tools, data syncing tools with CRMs, and more.
Once your plugin has been fully tested and deployed to your site, you'll have a unique plugin that is tailored to your specific business requirements.
No matter what your requirements are, every WordPress plugin I deliver comes with:
A well documented codebase, allowing for ease of maintenance and extensibility
Code structure following the WordPress coding standards
Documentation explaining how the plugin works, and how non-technical website managers are able to use the plugin dashboard
Extensive testing, logging, and validation checks
Full support and testing with PHP7 and PHP8
On-going support and management services
As a specialist WordPress developer, I also full eCommerce set-ups using WooCommerce or Easy Digital Downloads (EDD).
I can provide a completely custom solution for your online store, whether you are selling customisable products, subscriptions, license keys, downloadable media, memberships, or anything else.
If you have an existing eCommerce store on another platform, like Shopify, I'm able to help migrate your store across to WooCommerce.
As your WooCommerce developer:
I can build a shop front unique to your business
I can create custom products and services
I can build custom checkout flows and product customisation options
I can integrate your store with 3rd party tools and services for reporting, fulfilment, accounting, analytics, marketing, and advertising
I can help you set-up a subscription service or product
I can integrate your site with Stripe, Paddle, PayPal, Amazon, Google Pay, Apple Pay, and more
Since starting my career as a freelance web developer in London back in 2013, I’ve worked with hundreds of London & UK businesses, agencies and start-ups across a diverse range of industries and fields.
From eCommerce stores to technology start-ups and agency commissions, my experience spans a wide range of different areas of expertise.
I pride myself on the highest-standard results for WordPress development, working with my clients to deliver exceptional websites alongside designers, content creators and UX/UI specialists.
I am based in London, UK.
I work fully remotely, but am available for in-person consulting/development in London.
Novice WordPress website owners often fall into the trap of installing too many plugins, or downloading a cheap page builder or theme that has too many options they don't need.
The result is a bloated mess with unnecessary PHP, HTML, JavaScript and CSS; a slow site vulnerable to attacks due to poorly-coded or out-of-date plugins; and frustration trying to keep on top of random errors and layout glitches that aren't easy to fix.
I am all for using off-the-shelf plugins, page builders and themes when appropriate, but in moderation.
A well coded, well supported plugin may have thousands of hours of development time put into it, and the annual license costs of premium WordPress plugins are usually in the hundreds of dollars - a fraction of what you would pay a WordPress developer to build the same functionality from scratch.
Some of my go-to WordPress tools are:
Oxygen Builder is a page builder, allowing web developers to create custom layouts.
Oxygen Builder a bit different from other page builders like Elementor, Divi, WPBakery, and Beaver Builder, in the sense that it gives the developer much more control and flexibility to create custom layouts - something that is a bit harder to do with the other page builders that only allow you to pick from a selection of pre-built components.
Oxygen is great for building custom designs, but it also allows non-technical website managers to make copy and media changes with a little bit of training. While it has a bit more of a learning curve, compared to the other page builders, it allows WordPress developers to build very lightweight, performant pages.
Cloudways is a managed hosting provider - meaning that they handle all the underlying infrastructure running your WordPress website.
Managed hosting means they actively support their clients' websites -vs. giving you a server and letting you do what you like with it - that includes keeping the servers up-to-date, running quickly, and secure, but also live chat with their knowledgeable technical support team.
Cloudways is my go-to hosting provider, but I can also develop, manage and support your WordPress website running on your own server or WP Engine, Kinsta, Flywheel, AWS, etc.
Rank Math is an SEO plugin, adding key features to help with Search Engine Optimisation.
Some of its features include page indexing, sitemap generation, adding schema data to pages and products, managing integrations with social sites, and a content evaluation tool to help you with your writing and organic rankings. All in a lightweight package.
Rank Math works best when paired with your marketing strategy. It requires a bit of SEO knowledge to set-up correctly, but I am able to help do this alongside your marketing/SEO team.
UpdraftPlus is my go-to plugin for performing full-site backups and migrations.
Before I do anything on a WordPress site, I always take a full backup, stored securely off-site (i.e. not on the same server your WordPress website is hosted on). UpdraftPlus lets me do this quickly and - most importantly - reliably.
UpdraftPlus is the perfect tool to assist with site migrations as well, whether it's moving your existing site to a new domain, or copying over changes from the staging server to live or vice versa.
Lots of hosting providers, including Cloudways, offer their own backup solutions, so having two sets of backups may excessive, but when you need it, you need it.
Preventing data loss is something I take very seriously.
Atarim is my plugin of choice for managing change requests for your website project.
Atarim allows your website managers to add comments directly to specific elements on your website. For example, need to change a contact form field? Just select the field and leave a comment with your request and Atarim will handle the rest.
No more lengthy back-and-forth with your web developer requesting screenshots, console logs, browser, and device details. Atarim will capture it all, so you can just flag an issue and I can handle it.
Given my years of experience working with B2B clients, I am able to give initial estimates for new websites, features, and functionality - remaining competitive by offering an hourly rate for development and consulting services.
I am a highly experienced, results-driven WordPress specialist based in London UK, with a solid portfolio of websites for B2B clients that have delivered returns on their investments many times over.
I deliver no-nonsense, performant, custom WordPress sites for small businesses, creative agencies, and third-sector organisations that you can't just buy off-the-shelf. Each website is tailored to my clients' specific requirements to maximise their ROI.
Developing a WordPress website should be considered an investment. A well-thought-out website, should be one of your main sources of new online leads, sales, and growth for your business.
Once your site is ready, you will have a solid foundation from which to build your marketing and sales efforts on. Allowing your WordPress site to work for you, while you work on your business.
I work at a competitive hourly rate, which allows freedom for feature requests, and scope changes, while remaining transparent about costs. I always offer an initial estimate for any bits of work - as well as my technical advice and potential alternative solutions, which may be more cost effective - so you can get an idea of costs before getting started.
To discuss your WordPress project and get a free estimate, you can book an intro call today.
James Whayman helped The Cocktail Society with the development of a WordPress website for a new subscription service. The subscription features their line of premium bottled cocktails, cocktail mixes and snacks.
The subscription service - powered by WooCommerce, WooCommerce Subscriptions, and a custom-built WordPress plugin - has seen an excellent subscriber growth and a high customer retention rate, partly due to a well architected, easy-to-use platform for subscribers to manage their subscriptions, accounts, and personalisations.
Working with Recruitment Revolution, James Whayman built a custom WordPress recruitment website as a marketing tool, and real-time jobs board for job seekers.
The jobs board functionality was built from the ground up in order to interface directly with the client's in-house CRM, syncing job postings and updates in real time, as well as allowing job seekers to apply for roles.
The flexibility offered by the custom WordPress plugin, has allowed Recruitment Revolution to focus on their core business, while their internal CRM and jobs board plugin takes care of the admin for its clients and candidates.
James Whayman worked with Beast Bin Bags to design and build a custom WooCommerce subscription service, shipping household consumables to subscribers at specific intervals unique to each customer.
Customers are able to manage their renewal dates and adjust product quantities and sizes, all from an easy-to-use interface, using the WooCommerce & WooCommerce Subscriptions plugins with lots of custom coding.
The custom checkout and subscription features reduced customer sign-up friction and subscriber churn, allowing Beast Bin Bags to focus on optimising other areas of their business and new subscription products.
