WordPress
Looking for a WordPress developer near you? That's most of what we do.
WordPress runs roughly 40% of the web, including most of the sites we've built over the last twenty years. If you're looking for a WordPress developer — whether to build something new, fix what someone else broke, speed up a slow site, or just take maintenance off your plate — you're in the right place. We're based in Lake Ozark, Missouri, and "near" covers anyone in the continental US as far as the work goes. In-person meetings for local clients, Zoom and screenshare for everyone else. Same quality either way.
What we do with WordPress, specifically
Custom themes. Not cobbled-together page builders with thirty plugins — real code, readable templates, fast on mobile. We still write PHP and template partials by hand when the project calls for it.
Custom plugins. When there's functionality off-the-shelf plugins don't handle cleanly — a custom post type, a complex form, an integration with an internal system, a raw-HTML content editor for clients who've outgrown the visual editor — we write the plugin. Many of our clients are running custom plugins we built for them five or ten years ago, still working.
Speed and performance work. Page caching, CDN integration, image optimization, critical CSS, deferred JS, unused-plugin audits. Most slow WordPress sites can be taken from a 40 Lighthouse score to 90+ in a few days without rebuilding them.
Maintenance retainers. Monthly plugin and core updates, security monitoring, backups, uptime alerts, and a person who answers the phone when something breaks. That's the boring, necessary work most agencies don't want to do.
The full stack we run
If you're a WordPress developer yourself or a technical prospect wondering what you'd inherit: our current stack across client sites is WordPress core, a custom base theme refined over many years, self-hosted infrastructure (Caddy + Docker + MariaDB on a DigitalOcean droplet for dynamic sites, Cloudflare Pages for static ones), NinjaFirewall in full-WAF mode for security, UpdraftPlus for nightly backups, Cloudflare at the edge for caching and TLS, and SMTP2GO for transactional mail. Boring, stable, runs without drama.
Where we fit
We fit owner-operated small to mid-size businesses who want a real person on the phone, a WordPress site that works, and somebody who'll still be here to call in 2030. That's exactly our lane. If you want to see what "still here to call" looks like, the first site on the portfolio below is a client we've supported since 2008.
For very-large enterprise WordPress with 20-person editorial teams and headless React frontends, there are specialists better suited. For bargain-bin template sites, a template shop is a better fit. For everything in between — that's us.
Recent work
Live sites we've built lately
A sample from the portfolio. Every one of these is a site we designed, built, or are actively maintaining today.
Pike Chiropractic ↗
Professional-practice site, a long-running client since 2008. Patient-education library and booking flow.
Ozark Ridge Calls ↗
E-commerce retailer running WooCommerce since 2013. Long-term hosting, maintenance, and feature-dev relationship.
eCardWidget ↗
SaaS marketing site with 58+ product pages. Custom theme, raw-HTML editor plugin, custom showcase shortcodes.
CKE Properties ↗
Real-estate team site. Custom WordPress plugin for flat-HTML neighborhood pages that rank and load instantly.
First Baptist Camdenton ↗
Church website with live Planning Center integration, YouTube livestream auto-detection, raw-HTML editor for staff.
FAQ
Common questions
Do we have to meet in person?
No. Many of our clients are in Missouri, but we've worked with clients nationwide for years over email and Zoom. The "near me" part mostly matters if you want to meet over coffee; the work is just as good either way.
What versions of WordPress do you support?
Current stable and the previous major. We do not work on WordPress 4.x sites unless the first step is upgrading them — those versions haven't received security updates in years, and building on top of them is a liability.
Can you take over a site another developer built?
Usually, yes — as long as it's reasonably-built WordPress. We audit the handoff first and tell you honestly whether to take it over or rebuild it.
Do you work with Elementor / Divi / WPBakery?
We can. We generally don't recommend them for new builds because they slow sites down and lock content into a specific editor. But if you're already on one and it's working, we're happy to work within that.
Ready to talk?
Tell us what you're thinking.
We quote every project as a flat fee in writing once we understand the scope. Drop us a note or give us a call — we'll get back within one business day.