WordPress developer for Minneapolis businesses

A ready-made theme suits a small site with a modest brief. It takes less configuration than a custom build, although it can include features you never use and become harder to change extensively. A custom theme with Advanced Custom Fields suits structured content: your editors fill in fields and the layout stays fixed.

The WordPress block editor with custom blocks gives your team more freedom to assemble pages while keeping to the design rules. Page builders such as Elementor or Divi offer drag-and-drop editing, but the trade-offs include heavier pages, layouts that editors can accidentally break and content tied to the builder.

Headless WordPress keeps WordPress as the editor and uses a separate front end such as Next.js. It suits a site needing very fast pages or app-like features, but adds hosting complexity and means some plugins stop working. Start with the editing experience you need, then weigh that against the flexibility and upkeep of each option.

For a business open to the public, US guidance says the ADA covers the goods and services it offers on the web. We use WCAG as guidance when designing the pages and editing blocks, so accessibility is considered in the build.

If your site supports commercial email, including business-to-business email, the messages need a valid physical postal address and a clear opt-out. We set up the email content to include both and plan how opt-out requests will be honoured.

Bring what you have so we can understand the site and the people who will use it.

• List your editors and what they change most often, from news to product pages.
• Gather administrator access for your current WordPress site, hosting and domain, plus a list of the plugins you rely on and what each does.
• Name the tools the site must connect to, such as your CRM or booking system, and have account access ready.
• Decide whether to keep your host, move to managed WordPress hosting or ask for a recommendation.
• Choose someone to test adding a page, a post and an image in the editing setup.

• !

  Adding a plugin for every small feature

  Keep the plugin list purposeful. A large collection can slow the site, cause conflicts and increase the updates you need to manage.

• !

  Skipping updates

  Test them on staging first. Outdated plugins are a frequent route into hacked sites, while old PHP versions can expose security vulnerabilities.

• !

  Making everyone an administrator

  Give editors and authors lower roles to limit the damage if a login is stolen.

• !

  Using pirated themes or plugins

  Avoid nulled copies. They can contain hidden malware and do not receive security updates.