WordPress consulting
Advice on a WordPress site, for when you need a decision or a plan and not a repair. A developer looks at your site or your plan and tells you what they find. Sold as developer time by the hour, in blocks, and quoted before any time is spent.
In short
- For questions and plans. A broken site starts with the free diagnosis instead.
- Sold as developer time, by the hour, in blocks. There is no monthly advisory plan.
- You get a quote before any time is spent.
- Carrying out the advice is separate work with its own price or quote.
- No ranking, speed score or sales figure is promised.
- The guides and free tools linked on this page answer many questions at no cost. Try them first.
Consulting is for when you need an answer about a WordPress site and not a repair. You might be planning a rebuild and want the choices checked first. You might have taken over a site someone else built and need to know what state it is in. You might have a long list from a speed test and want to know which items matter.
We sell this as developer time. A developer looks at your site or your plan and tells you what they find. It is charged by the hour, in blocks, and quoted before work starts.
If something is broken right now, that is a different job. A free diagnosis gives you the cause in writing and a fixed quote.
Who it is for, and who it is not
Consulting fits a question with no fault behind it, where the answer depends on your own site. The three cases above are the kind: choices to check before a rebuild, a site you have taken over, and a list you need put in order.
In these cases a different page fits better, and some of them cost nothing.
- Something is broken. The free diagnosis gives you the cause in writing and a fixed quote. The fix itself is a one-time fix, or emergency support if the site is down.
- You think the site has been hacked. The hacked site check reads your site from outside and reports the signs it finds. Cleaning one is malware removal.
- You already know what you want built. You do not need advice first. Custom development and design and development are quoted from your description, before any work starts.
- You want faster pages, not advice about speed. Speed optimization comes with before-and-after measurements on the pages you name.
- You are thinking of changing platform. A platform migration starts with a free assessment. It tells you in writing what moves by itself and what has to be rebuilt, before you decide.
- You want to know whether the site needs a care plan. Is WordPress maintenance worth it? answers that for free, both ways.
- Your question is about law, tax or compliance. That is not what this is. See "What it does not cover" below.
What you get
- A developer's time on your question. A developer looks at your site or your plan and tells you what they find and what they would do.
- The cost known first. We quote the hours the question needs. No time is spent before you have the quote and agree to it.
- A written quote for a larger piece of work, such as a review of a whole site.
- Advice you can take anywhere. We can carry it out as separate work, or you can hand it to your own developer.
It is sold the same way as custom development and design and development: as developer time, by the hour, in blocks. The hourly price is shown on this page. What differs is what you are buying the time for. Here it is an answer. Changing the site is separate work.
How it works
Step 1: Describe the question
Write to us on the contact page. Give the site's address, say what you are trying to decide, and say what form you want the answer in.
Step 2: Get a quote
We quote the hours the question needs. A larger review gets a written quote.
Step 3: Agree, then we start
No time is spent before you have the quote and agree to it.
What we need from you to start
The contact form asks for your name, an email address and your message. We reply by email. In the message, give:
- the site's address
- the question, in one or two sentences, and what you are trying to decide
- what form you want the answer in
- anything you have already tried or been told
- which pages matter most to you, if the question is about speed or search
What it does not cover
- Doing the work. Advice and carrying it out are separate, and each has its own price or quote.
- A standing arrangement. There is no monthly advisory plan. Each question is quoted on its own.
- Legal, tax or compliance advice. This is advice about how a WordPress site is built and run.
- Results. We tell you what we find and what we would do. We do not promise a ranking, a speed score or a sales figure.
- A fault. Finding the cause of something broken is the free diagnosis, not consulting.
Before you buy: check first, or answer it yourself
A question that one of these answers is a question you do not need to pay for. All of them are free.
- Site health check. Give a site's address and see what one page shows a visitor: whether it answers, how it is secured, what search engines are told, and which WordPress, theme and plugins it shows.
- Platform and theme detector. For a site you have taken over. It shows the platform, and for a WordPress site the theme's folder, the page builder and the plugins that show.
- How to take over a WordPress site. The domain, the hosting account and the administrator account, recovered in that order.
- How to audit a WordPress site for security weaknesses. A written inventory you can make yourself: what is installed, who can log in, and whether a backup restores.
- How to speed up a slow WordPress site. The fixes in the order that pays off. Read it before you pay anyone to sort a long list from a speed test.
- How to choose a WordPress plugin. How to read a plugin's listing and try it on a staging copy before it goes near the live site.
- How to switch from Elementor to the block editor. What that rebuild involves, if a page builder is the choice you are weighing.
- WooCommerce vs Shopify: when to switch, and when to stay. For a store owner deciding whether to move.
- WordPress launch checklist. What to check before a new or rebuilt site goes live.
The topic pages list everything we have on a subject: maintenance, speed, security and moving a site.
What it costs
Developer time
$49
Start with a free diagnosis
Common questions
How is this different from the free diagnosis?
The diagnosis is for a fault. You tell us what is wrong, and you get a written cause and a fixed quote. Consulting is for a question with no fault behind it, such as which way to build something or what to fix first. It takes a developer's time, so it is paid.
How much does it cost?
The hourly price is on this page. How many hours your question needs depends on the site and the question, and you get that as a quote first. Everything else we sell is on the pricing page.
Can you carry out what you recommend?
Yes, as separate work. Depending on what it is, that is more developer time, a one-time service such as speed optimization, or a care plan. You can also hand the advice to your own developer.
What should I send?
The site's address, the question in one or two sentences, and anything you have already tried or been told. If the question is about speed or search, say which pages matter most to you.
Do I need consulting before a build or a redesign?
No. A build is quoted from your description, and you have the quote before any work starts. Consulting is for when you cannot yet describe the job, or want the choices checked before you commit to one.
Will your advice get me a better ranking or a faster score?
We do not promise either. We tell you what we find and what we would do. No ranking, speed score or sales figure comes with it.
Could a free guide answer my question?
Possibly, and it is worth checking first. The list under "Before you buy" links guides and free tools on taking over a site, speed, security, plugins, page builders and changing platform. If your question is answered in one of them, you do not need to pay for the answer.