WordPress, but built properly.
Most of the websites I take over run on WordPress. And almost every time I find the same thing: a page builder that loads half a megabyte so a heading can sit in the centre. Plus twenty plugins, four of which do the same job. It can be done differently, and without you giving up any comfort.
What you can count on
Lean instead of bloated
I work with GeneratePress and GenerateBlocks, close to what WordPress can do anyway. The difference shows later: whoever wants to change a heading in five years finds a heading. Not a construction of six nested containers that falls apart when touched.
Accessible under the BFSG
I have developed websites together with blind and visually impaired people. That taught me that most problems are not about contrast but about order. If the keyboard gets stuck in a sidebar, the prettiest design is useless. Since 2025 it has been mandatory for many companies anyway.
You can do it yourself
You change text and images in the normal editor. I show you how in a good hour. After that you call me because you want to, not because you have to.
How I set up WordPress
A GeneratePress child theme as the base, GenerateBlocks for the content, and otherwise as little as possible. What WordPress can do itself, WordPress does.
That sounds unspectacular, and it is. The catch with the big page builders is not that they are bad. It is that your site depends on them. If such a tool is discontinued or suddenly gets more expensive, your website becomes hard to edit. With blocks from the WordPress core that does not happen.
How useful that is becomes clear on the day something jams. On a practice project the host did not allow plugins to be uploaded, for security reasons. What we needed, we had to build with on-board tools. On another site the SEO data was not attached to the content but to the page itself. When the content was swapped, it stayed put and suddenly matched nothing. You only find things like that if you look again afterwards. I look.
And then there are the things that like to get left behind before launch: backups that actually run. An imprint that is correct. Forms that someone with a screen reader can fill in.
What I take on
New website with WordPress
Structure, design, technology and, if you like, the copy too. At the end there is a site you can work with without asking me.
Relaunch of a WordPress site
Your site is already running, it just does not look like you any more. Then the design is renewed and the accumulated ballast goes. The rankings stay where they are.
Moving from another system
From Jimdo, Wix, Typo3 or a hand-built site. What matters is that the old addresses redirect. Otherwise Google sends your visitors into the void, and you only notice weeks later.
Retrofitting accessibility
Check first, then rebuild. Usually less is needed than feared, and the site almost never has to become ugly for it.
Tidying up and securing
Twenty-six plugins, nine of them without an update for years, and the backup has not run since March. That is what many sites I take over look like. I put that in order before someone else exploits it.
Support afterwards
Updates, security, new content and the small ideas in between. Some of my clients have been with me for more than ten years. I prefer that to one big project a year with changing faces.
When WordPress – and when better not
If something happens on your site regularly, WordPress is the right choice. A recruitment consultant I built for publishes job ads several times a month. She does not need me for that, and that is exactly how it should be.
If, on the other hand, your site consists of five subpages that change twice a year, WordPress would be a sledgehammer to crack a nut. Then I would rather build by hand. That loads faster, needs no updates and cannot be hacked. The page you are on right now is one of those.
And for really large sites, with many languages and many editors, Joomla! is often the better home. For that I work with Benjamin, who helps build the Joomla! core.
I tell you beforehand what suits you. Even when the answer is that you need less than you thought.
More about Joomla! · More about web design · More about accessibility
Frequently asked questions about WordPress
Why do you build WordPress without Elementor or Divi?
Because otherwise your site depends on a tool that does not belong to you. If it is discontinued or gets more expensive, your own content becomes harder to reach. I use GeneratePress and GenerateBlocks, which work close to the WordPress core. As a side effect, far less technology loads with it.
Can I maintain the site myself afterwards?
Yes, that is the whole point. You change text, images and new posts in the normal editor. I show you how in a good hour and remain reachable afterwards if something does jam.
What does WordPress cost on an ongoing basis?
WordPress itself is free. On top come hosting and, depending on the project, a few licences, such as GeneratePress Premium. These amounts are listed in full in the quote. I find it outrageous when such items only turn up after launch.
Is WordPress secure enough?
If it is maintained, yes. It becomes dangerous through outdated installations and too many plugins from unclear sources. I keep the number small, update regularly and check whether the backup actually runs. More often than you would think, it does not.
Can a WordPress site be accessible?
Yes. That does not depend on the system but on how it is built: heading hierarchy, contrast, keyboard operation, alternative text. I develop websites together with blind and visually impaired people. That changes what you pay attention to.
You also do Joomla!. What is the difference?
WordPress suits most company websites. Joomla! is stronger when things get really big: many languages, many roles, structures grown over time. For that I work with Benjamin from the Joomla! core team.
Can an existing site be moved to WordPress?
From almost any system, yes. The redirects are decisive: every old address has to point to the matching new one. If that is forgotten, visibility drops, and you only notice weeks later.
What if I chose a content management system but then do not want to maintain it myself after all?
Then we take it over, gladly. You write to me what should change, the rest runs: content, updates, backups. With WordPress I do that myself, with Joomla! Benjamin looks after the technology and I after content and design. Many of my clients start out intending to do everything themselves and end up exactly here after six months. That is not failure, that is division of labour. You can decide that at any time, long after launch too.
Which system suits you?
WordPress
If you want to maintain it yourself.
- Change posts, job ads and dates yourself
- Lean with GeneratePress, no page builder
- Updates needed, but plenty of room
Joomla!
When it gets big.
- Multilingual out of the box
- Many editors, fine-grained permissions
- Development with Benjamin from the core team
HTML, hand-built
If it should stay simple.
- No system, no login, no updates
- Usually no cookie banner needed
- Very fast, hardly attackable
Accessibility is not an extra you book with me. Each of the three paths is built to WCAG and the BFSG – which is why it is not an option in the table below, but a given.
| WordPress | Joomla! | HTML | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Size of the site | small to large | large | small to medium |
| Maintain yourself | yes | yes | no |
| Multilingual | with plugin | built in | possible |
| Many editors | good | very good | no |
| Updates needed | yes | yes | no |
| Cookie banner | usually | usually | no |
| Attack surface | medium | medium | very small |
| Design freedom | large | large | complete |
| Future-proof | with updates | with updates | yes |
| Load time | good | good | very fast |
| Extendable (shop, booking) | yes, via plugin | yes | limited |
| Time to launch | weeks | weeks to months | days to weeks |
| Running costs | hosting, licences, updates | hosting, updates | hosting only |
| Accessible under the BFSG | yes | yes | yes |
In short: if you want to maintain it yourself, take WordPress. If it gets large and multilingual, Joomla!. If it should be simple, fast and maintenance-free, we build it by hand. Which path suits you, we clarify in the first conversation – and I will tell you too if you need less than you thought.
Tell me about your project.
Preferably quite simply in a video call. There we can look calmly at whether WordPress is the right thing for you.