WordPress development in London: built fast, built to rank.
Most slow WordPress sites weren't built badly on purpose. They accumulated, a page builder here, a slider plugin there, three contact form plugins because nobody deleted the old ones. Five years of managing sites has taught me exactly where that weight hides, and a BS in Software Engineering means I can remove it properly rather than papering over it with a caching plugin.
I build landing pages, small business sites and custom WordPress projects that load fast on cheap phones, score well on Core Web Vitals, and are structured for SEO from the first template. And when a site needs rebuilding, I migrate it without losing the rankings it already has, redirects mapped, metadata preserved, Search Console watched through the switch.
If you want to go further than WordPress can comfortably go, I also hand-code React and Next.js builds for sub-second loads.
What I build (and fix)
New builds & landing pages
Small business sites and campaign landing pages, designed and built by one person, so the copy, design and technical structure all pull in the same direction. Lightweight themes, minimal plugins, clean markup that search engines parse without effort. Every build ships with titles, metadata, structured data and analytics already in place.
Rebuilds without losing rankings
The most dangerous moment in a website's life is its relaunch, most businesses lose traffic because nobody mapped the old URLs. I do rebuilds the careful way: full crawl of the existing site, a redirect map for every page, preserved metadata, and Search Console monitored daily through the switch. Rankings held, site transformed. See live examples.
Speed & Core Web Vitals fixes
Page speed is a ranking factor and a conversion factor, a site that takes six seconds on a phone loses customers before it loads. I profile what's actually slow (it's rarely what the plugin salesman says), strip the dead weight, optimise images and fonts, and get your Core Web Vitals into the green with proof from real-user data.
Fixes & rescues
Hacked site, white screen, broken update, plugin conflict, a developer who vanished mid-project, the unglamorous emergencies. More than five years of maintaining sites means I've probably seen your exact problem before. Honest diagnosis first; if it's a ten-minute fix, you'll be billed for a ten-minute fix.
How a project runs
Scope, honestly
A short call and a written scope with a fixed price. If you don't need a rebuild, plenty of sites don't, I'll say so and quote the smaller job instead.
Design & build
Built on a staging link you can watch progress on. You review real pages in your real browser, not mockups that never survive contact with WordPress.
Launch, carefully
Redirects live, metadata checked, analytics verified, Search Console submitted. Launch day is a checklist, not a leap of faith.
30 days of cover
Every project includes a month of post-launch support. After that, most clients move to a website management plan from £65/month.
Three project sizes, fixed price
Every project is quoted fixed-price after a short scoping call. You know the number before anything starts.
Before you read the timelines
Timelines run from receipt of content and assume feedback within 5 working days. Copywriting is quoted separately if required. That is not a get-out clause, it is the single biggest reason web projects overrun, so it is stated up front rather than discovered in week six.
One high converting page. For local businesses, lead capture, or a single service launch.
After launch: optional Website Management from £65 a month, or take the keys and run it yourself.
Book a callA full 5 to 8 page WordPress site. The right fit for most London service businesses.
After launch: optional Website Management from £65 a month. Recommended, never required.
Book a callFor larger sites, rebuilds, or anything beyond a standard service site. Scoped per project.
Full crawl of the old site, a redirect for every URL, metadata preserved, Search Console watched daily through the switch.
After launch: custom Website Management plan, quoted alongside the build.
Book a callWordPress, asked honestly
How much does a WordPress website cost in London?
One page sites start at £550, rebuilds at £850, and speed optimisation at £350. A standalone landing page, without a full WordPress build behind it, starts at £350. Every project is quoted fixed-price after a short scoping call, so there are no surprise invoices. London agencies commonly quote £3,000 to £10,000 for comparable small business sites.
Will a rebuild hurt my Google rankings?
Done carelessly, yes, it's one of the most common ways businesses lose traffic. Done properly, no. I crawl the existing site first, map a redirect for every URL, preserve titles and metadata, and monitor Search Console daily through launch. Protecting rankings is a core deliverable, not an afterthought.
Do you use page builders like Elementor?
When it's right for the client, yes, an editable site the owner can update matters more than developer purity. But I build lean: minimal plugins, optimised assets, and none of the bloat that makes most page-builder sites slow. If a site needs to be truly fast, I'll recommend a lighter approach and explain the trade-off honestly.
When should I choose Next.js over WordPress?
When speed and search performance matter more than editing everything yourself, or when the site has to do something a plugin cannot. A hand-coded Next.js build loads in under a second and scores 95+ on PageSpeed, and it can still use WordPress behind the scenes so you keep the editor you know. If that sounds like your situation, the Next.js Development page covers it properly.
Can you take over a site someone else built?
Yes, a large share of my management work started exactly that way. I'll audit what's there, tell you honestly what's fine and what isn't, and take it from wherever the last developer left off. No lectures about their code, just a plan.
Who owns the website afterwards?
You do, completely. It's built on your hosting, your domain, your accounts, I just have access while I work. If we part ways, everything stays with you, including documentation of what was done.
Do you do e-commerce?
Small WooCommerce shops, yes, product catalogues, local delivery, straightforward checkout. Large multi-warehouse operations need a specialist team, and I'll tell you that upfront rather than learn on your budget.