WordPress Development

WordPress Development for Small Business

WordPress development at LiberationTek covers three things: building your site, hosting it, and keeping it healthy after launch. WordPress runs a large share of small business sites because it is flexible and easy to edit, but it needs care. Plugins go stale, updates break things and a neglected site becomes a target. We build the site, run it on our own U.S. infrastructure and offer plans to look after it.

This page explains what WordPress development involves, what a healthy WordPress website looks like, how to tell a solid build from a fragile one, and when a different tool is the better answer.

Custom WordPress design

Integrations

E-commerce

Custom functionality

Managed hosting

Migration and ongoing care

Tell us about your WordPress project

WordPress development dashboard shown in Liberation Technology Services software — Liberation Technology Services: WordPress development

Responsive designFast loadingEasy editing

A custom WordPress site in action

Store, memberships and videos on one WordPress build.

Open the live demo site

demo.ltshosting2.us

WordPress development demo site

WordPressWooCommerce

What our WordPress development covers

Our web development team builds custom websites for small to large organizations, including WordPress and WooCommerce sites. Projects start with consulting so the right approach is chosen before anything is built. Our WordPress development work is the same team and the same standards as the rest of our web projects.

Custom WordPress design.

100% custom designs, not a template with your logo on it. See our web design guide for the design side.

Integrations.

Connections to email marketing, social media, e-commerce, analytics and other third-party services.

E-commerce.

Custom e-commerce built around how you sell, including memberships, merchandise and fundraising features where they fit.

Custom functionality.

Custom applications and add-ons when off-the-shelf plugins fall short.

Thinking about adding a plugin? Our guide on how to vet a WordPress plugin shows what to check first.

Who WordPress development suits

WordPress development is a good fit when your site needs to grow in ways a simple page builder cannot follow, or when you already have a WordPress site and want it done properly. Typical situations include:

A service business that needs a flexible site.

Pages for each service, a blog, forms and room to add more later.

A store that wants control.

WooCommerce lets you shape the shopping experience, and our team can build around how you sell.

An organization with members or donors.

Memberships, recurring plans and fundraising tools are part of what we build.

An owner with an inherited site.

The previous developer is gone, nobody knows the logins and updates have stopped.

If none of that sounds like you, the simpler option is probably the better one, and WordPress development would be more than you need.

What a WordPress website is made of

It helps to know the parts before you hire anyone. A WordPress website has the core software, a theme that controls the look, plugins that add features, a database that holds your content and a set of files on a server. Each part needs updates, and each part can fail on its own. Good WordPress development keeps that list short on purpose. Fewer plugins and a lean theme mean fewer things to patch and fewer ways for two pieces of software to disagree.

The official WordPress documentation is a reasonable place to see how the platform itself works, even if you never touch the admin screens yourself.

Good WordPress development also leaves a paper trail. You should be able to answer, in a sentence each, which theme the site uses, which plugins it needs and why, where it is hosted and who can log in. If a developer cannot tell you that, the site is a risk no matter how good it looks.

Custom WordPress design versus a purchased theme

Many sites begin with a purchased theme. That can be fine for a simple site. Custom WordPress design makes sense when the theme fights you: layouts that will not bend, features bolted on with extra plugins, or a look that is identical to every competitor using the same theme. The questions to ask are practical ones. Does the design match how your customers buy? Can your staff edit pages without breaking the layout? What happens if the theme author stops updating it?

A custom build, which is the core of our custom WordPress development, is designed around your content and then built to be edited by non-developers. We would rather give you a site your office manager can update than one that needs a developer for every price change.

Hosting built for a WordPress website

A WordPress site is only as dependable as the server under it. Our WordPress hosting runs on our own U.S.-based network, and every shared hosting plan includes free SiteLock Lite scanning. For sites that need more resources, we also offer VPS hosting. If you want a self-hosted WordPress site you control, this is the setup. Read more in our WordPress hosting security guide, or see the basics on shared web hosting and SSL certificates.

One practical point about hosting and WordPress development together: when the same team builds the site and runs the server, problems have one owner. There is no finger pointing between a designer, a plugin author and a host. That is a large part of why we offer building, hosting and care as a set.

Care plans so the site stays healthy

The most common cause of an unplanned WordPress outage is an update. The second most common is an update that was skipped for months. Our WordPress care plans exist to take that chore off your plate, and they are the ongoing half of our WordPress development service. They sit alongside CodeGuard backups, which keep encrypted daily off-site copies of your files and databases, and SiteLock scanning for malware and vulnerabilities. If you suspect a problem, our post on signs your WordPress site was hacked is a useful checklist, and our website backups guide explains why a tested backup matters more than a promised one.

Speed up WordPress site performance

A slow site loses visitors and search visibility. If you want to speed up WordPress site performance, which is a common reason people come to us for WordPress development, start by finding what is actually slow instead of guessing. The usual culprits are oversized images, too many plugins, weak hosting and a heavy theme. During a build we keep the plugin list short, size images properly and check the site on a phone, not just a desktop.

Step 1

Measure first. Run a test and note which pages are slow and why. Our guide to testing website performance shows how.

Step 2

Fix the biggest item. Often that is images, or a plugin that loads on every page.

Step 3

Check hosting last. Sometimes the server is the limit, and a move to better hosting is the real fix.

Our posts on why your WordPress site is slow and optimizing WordPress for mobile go further. The aim to speed up WordPress site pages is worth the effort because a faster site is easier for visitors and for search engines to use.

WordPress development: talk to an engineer.

Tell us about your WordPress project

Migrating WordPress site content, email and forms safely

Migrating a WordPress site is routine work, but it has a few places where things go wrong: email attached to the same domain, redirects, forms that stop sending and a changeover that happens at the wrong moment. If your site lives with another host and you are migrating WordPress site files to us, our migration services can move it. A careful plan for migrating WordPress site files, databases and settings covers:

A full backup before anything changes.
A working copy of the site to test before it goes live.
A list of what else depends on the domain, such as email and forms.
A cutover time that avoids your busiest hours.
A check of links, forms and checkout after the move.

If the site is on a hosted builder rather than WordPress, we can also transfer content from most site builder platforms. Ask us how a move would work for your setup, including what to do about email on the same domain. Our business email service can be set up alongside the site if you want everything in one place.

Slow site, old site or someone else's site

Many WordPress development projects are not new builds. They are rescues. We can look at a site that has become slow, unstable or hard to update and recommend what to fix, rebuild or leave alone. Sometimes the honest advice is that the site is fine and needs only updates and a backup plan. Other times a rebuild is cheaper than another year of patches. You get the recommendation, and you decide.

Questions to ask any WordPress developer or agency

Whether you hire us or another WordPress agency, a few questions separate a solid build from a fragile one.

Who will own the hosting and domain logins?
Which plugins will the site depend on, and who updates them?
Is the theme custom or a purchased template, and what happens if the original author stops supporting it?
Where do backups live, and has a restore ever been tested?
Who do you call when something breaks on a Friday afternoon?

Our WordPress development process answers these up front. You keep ownership of your site and your logins, we document what the site relies on, and you get a person to call rather than a ticket queue. Our guide to giving a developer WordPress access safely explains how to share access without handing over the keys to everything. If you are still budgeting, what it costs to hire a WordPress developer outlines what shapes the price.

How our WordPress development process works

Step 1

Free consultation. Tell us what you have, what is broken and what you want.

Step 2

Plan and quote. We propose an approach and send a clear quote before any work begins.

Step 3

Build, host and look after it. We build or fix the site, host it, and can manage updates, backups and security afterward.

What to expect on cost and timing

We do not publish a flat price for WordPress development because the range is wide. A five-page brochure site and a store with memberships are different projects. What we do promise is process: a free consultation, then a clear quote before any work begins, so the number you approve is the number you pay for the scope described. Timing depends on scope and on how quickly content and approvals arrive, so ask for a schedule in writing. Care plans and hosting are separate from the build, which lets you see what each part costs.

Whatever you decide, keep the list of what you own: domain, hosting account, WordPress admin login, theme and plugin licenses and backups. That list is your protection if a vendor relationship ends.

When WordPress development is not the answer

WordPress development is not right for everyone. If you want simple pages and would rather skip maintenance, our Site Builder may serve you better. Our comparison of WordPress vs a website builder lays out the trade-offs, and we will say plainly if a different route suits you. Good WordPress development begins with an honest answer to whether WordPress is the right tool at all.

Book a free WordPress development consultation →

WordPress Development FAQs

What does your WordPress development service include?

Custom WordPress and WooCommerce builds from our web development team, with custom design, integrations, e-commerce and custom functionality where needed. We can also host the site on our U.S.-based network and offer care plans for ongoing updates. Scope depends on your project and is quoted after a free consultation, with no obligation.

How much does a custom WordPress site cost?

Every project is different, so pricing depends on scope. After a free consultation we send a clear quote before any work begins. For background on typical costs, read our guide on the cost to hire a WordPress developer before you call.

Can you take over or fix my existing WordPress site?

Yes. We can review a slow, unstable, hacked or outdated site and recommend what to fix or rebuild. If it is hosted elsewhere, our migration services can move it to our network without you rebuilding it. Tell us what is going wrong, how old the site is and who has access today, and we will advise on the most sensible next step for your budget.

Do you offer WordPress hosting and maintenance?

Yes. We offer WordPress hosting and WordPress care plans, and CodeGuard backups and SiteLock malware scanning are available as add-ons or included on some plans. See the WordPress hosting and care plans pages for exactly what each plan includes today, since features can change.

Should I use WordPress or Site Builder?

Pick WordPress when you need flexibility, custom features or complex e-commerce and are happy to have it maintained. Pick Site Builder for simpler sites that you want to manage yourself, with hosting, SSL and a free domain included in annual plans. We can help you decide on a quick, no-pressure call.