The page builder tax
Drag-and-drop builders ship their own CSS and JavaScript on every page, whether or not you used the features. It is usually the largest asset on the site.
WordPress development
WordPress, without the bloat.
Most WordPress sites are slow because of how they were assembled, not because of WordPress. I build clean, plugin-light sites with no page builder, so your team can run them and Google can read them.
44%
of WordPress sites pass Core Web Vitals on mobile
<2.5s
Largest Contentful Paint target on mobile
100%
of clients own their code, domain and hosting
Source: GigaPress, WordPress Core Web Vitals 2026. Read more in why most WordPress sites now fail.
Why they get slow
It is rarely WordPress. It is what was bolted onto it.
WordPress can be genuinely fast. Its reputation comes from how sites are typically assembled, which is a choice rather than an inevitability.
Plugins nobody audits
Added for one campaign, still loading on every request. On an established site, roughly a third fail the question: what breaks if this goes?
Themes fought, not used
A bought theme customised past recognition, so every update risks the layout and nobody dares apply it.
INP, the metric that fails
Every plugin attaches event handlers. None is the problem alone; together they are why most WordPress sites fail the responsiveness metric.
What I build
Four kinds of WordPress work.
Custom theme development
A theme written for your site rather than bought and bent into shape. Block-based and editable by your team, and fast because nothing unnecessary ships.
A site that passes Core Web Vitals on launch day.
WooCommerce stores
Product pages built so the path to a paid order has as few places to hesitate as possible. Payments, shipping and VAT configured for EU trade.
Fewer abandoned carts and more completed orders.
Speed audits and fixes
An existing site diagnosed properly: which plugin, which script, which template. A written report with fixes ranked by what they are worth.
You learn what is costing you before spending anything.
Migrations and headless
Moving off a page builder or poor hosting, or onto a headless front end while keeping the WordPress admin your team already knows.
Redirects mapped, rankings kept, nothing quietly lost.
How it runs
Four steps. No mystery.
- 01
Audit
What the site does now, measured rather than guessed: plugins, templates, hosting and field data.
- 02
Decide
What stays, what goes, what gets rebuilt, agreed in writing with a price attached before anything starts.
- 03
Build
On staging, visible to you throughout. Real pages on a real URL, not flat mockups.
- 04
Hand over
Redirects checked, Search Console connected, your team shown how to run it, plus thirty days of support.
Pricing is fixed and agreed before work starts. See packages and care plans.
Questions
What people ask first.
Is WordPress still a good choice in 2026?
Yes, when it fits. It remains the most practical option where non-technical people need full control of their content at a reasonable cost. Its reputation for being slow comes from page builders and plugin sprawl, not from the platform itself.
Can a WordPress site pass Core Web Vitals?
Comfortably, if it is built carefully. Only around 44% of WordPress sites pass all three metrics on mobile, but that reflects how they are typically assembled. A lean install with a hand-built theme and a short plugin list passes without difficulty.
Will you use Elementor, Divi or another page builder?
No. Page builders are the largest single source of JavaScript on most WordPress sites. I build block-based templates your team can still edit. If you already run a builder, moving off it is usually the biggest speed improvement available.
Can my team edit everything themselves?
Yes, that is the reason to choose WordPress. Text, images, pages and layout blocks are all editable from the dashboard, and handover includes a walkthrough so nobody has to call a developer for routine changes.
Can you fix or speed up my existing WordPress site?
Yes. A speed audit identifies which plugins, scripts and templates are costing you, ranked by impact, with a written report. You can act on it yourself, or I can do the work for a fixed price.
Do you build WooCommerce stores?
Yes. Stores are configured for EU trade, including payments, shipping zones and VAT, and the checkout is reviewed for the points where customers hesitate and abandon.
Send me your WordPress site.
I will tell you what is slowing it down: which plugin, which script, which template, and what each one costs you. No obligation and no sales sequence.