WordPress Developer in Ottawa
I build custom WordPress sites – not page builder templates, not off-the-shelf themes with your logo swapped in. Custom child themes built on WordPress core, clean markup, minimal plugins, and an admin you can actually use without calling a developer every time something needs changing.
Who Needs a Custom WordPress Build?
Not everyone does. If you just need a fast, single-purpose page for a campaign, a landing page is a cheaper and faster option. But a custom WordPress build is the right call when:
- You need a site that matches your brand precisely – not a template that “almost” works
- You’ll be managing content regularly and need the admin interface to actually make sense
- Performance and SEO matter – custom builds are leaner than page builder sites by default
- You have specific functionality requirements: forms, WooCommerce, custom post types, gallery management
- You’re building something you’ll rely on for years, and want to own it properly
How I Build
Mobile-first and WCAG 2.1 accessibility compliance isn’t an add-on – they go in from the first line of CSS. Every plugin gets justified: if it’s not doing something essential, it doesn’t go in. I use the default Gutenberg page builder. It’s drag and drop blocks make it easy for you to shift, add, or remove things. Plus, everything is displayed on your edit page, nothing hidden in separate menus, so content changes are quick and painless.
The Stack
Every site I build runs on a consistent, vetted set of tools. Everything here is free – no per-plugin recurring costs, no premium license renewals. No bloat, no guesswork.
Page design
- Gutenberg is the native block editor built into WordPress core. Fast, lightweight, no paid license, actively maintained by the WordPress team. Drag-and-drop blocks, everything visible in the edit view – no hunting through separate menus. No third-party page builders.
- Smart Slider 3 fills the gap that Gutenberg doesn’t cover well: galleries and slideshows. Think an Instagram carousel but embedded in your site – useful for infographic sequences, before-and-after sets, or product showcases. One caveat: I don’t put sliders above the fold on the front page. The JavaScript adds load time, and that spot on your homepage is too important to slow down.
Security
- Wordfence – firewall, malware scanning, login attempt limiting, and a non-default login URL. These three together block the vast majority of automated attacks.
- Cloudflare WAF – if your domain is on Cloudflare, you can block traffic from regions you don’t need. Reduces server load and filters bad actors before they ever reach WordPress.
- WPS Hide Login – blocks low-effort attackers by changing your default login page URL.
SEO
- Yoast SEO for basic metadata markup and sitemaps, plus a convenient text box to customize meta description and SERP appearance.
- Custom schema markup for more detailed schema markup. This isn’t a plugin, but doing this helps both Google and AI agents understand your site more quickly.
- Site Kit by Google for connecting Search Console and Analytics directly in the dashboard. This gives you a visual graph and links out to GSC and GA, so you can see how your site is doing
Email and forms
- WP Mail SMTP routing through a dedicated sending service. I use Mailjet, which has a solid free tier and good deliverability. Getting email land in inboxes rather than spam also requires DNS configuration: SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records that tell receiving mail servers your domain is legitimate. I set these up and run deliverability tests before launch.
- Forminator handles contact forms – straightforward to use, integrates cleanly with WP Mail SMTP.
- Cloudflare Turnstile to protect against spam and code injection attempts
Backups
- UpdraftPlus on a scheduled automatic backup. Disasters happen – this costs nothing and saves everything.
Page speed and optimization
- EWWW Image Optimizer for compression and WebP conversion, plus Regenerate Thumbnails for keeping image sizes consistent.
- Autoptimize for CSS and JavaScript minification, plus Cloudflare in front of the site for CDN caching and additional performance gains.
E-commerce (if needed)
- WooCommerce for the store itself – product listings, cart, checkout, order management. It’s the standard for a reason.
- Kadence WooCommerce Email Designer for transactional emails. Most businesses treat order confirmations as receipts and nothing else – but that email has a 100% open rate from someone who just gave you money. Kadence lets you brand those emails properly and add what you actually want in there: a Google review link, a referral offer, a mailing list signup. That’s marketing that costs nothing extra to send.
What’s Included
- Custom child theme built on WordPress core – no page builders
- Mobile-first responsive layout
- WCAG 2.1 accessibility compliance
- SEO foundation – proper heading structure, image alt text, schema markup, XML sitemap
- Performance optimization – minimal plugins, clean markup, fast load times
- Editor styles matching the front end
- Contact forms via Forminator with reliable email delivery through WP Mail SMTP
- Basic content management training so you can handle day-to-day updates yourself
Frequently Asked Questions
It depends on what the project actually involves. A simple small business site is a different scope than something with WooCommerce, custom post types, or extensive custom functionality. I quote based on what’s actually in the build – get in touch and I’ll give you a clear number before anything starts.
Depends on what you need. A well-chosen premium theme with your branding applied is a legitimate option – faster to build, lower cost. The tradeoffs are performance (themes carry code you’ll never use), flexibility (eventually you’ll want something the theme can’t do), and longevity (theme companies disappear or change direction). If you’re building something you’ll rely on for years, custom is worth the investment. If you’re early-stage and testing, a good theme is fine to start with.
WordPress.com is a hosted service – easy to start but restricted in what you can customize, and you’re paying them monthly for a platform you don’t control. WordPress.org is the open-source software you install on your own hosting – full control, your own plugins and themes, no platform restrictions. Everything I build uses WordPress.org on your own hosting. It’s the version that lets you actually own your site.
A typical small business site takes two to four weeks from signed agreement to launch. That includes design review, revisions, content loading, and testing. Larger projects with more pages or custom functionality take longer – I’ll give you a realistic timeline in the quote, not an optimistic one.
If you already have a site that needs a rebuild rather than a new build, the process is similar but includes mapping existing content and handling SEO redirects carefully so you don’t lose rankings. More on the redesign process here.