Wordpress
WordPress Web Design Agency
We're a WordPress web design agency that codes every theme itself. We've built on WordPress since 2016, and here's why that matters.
WordPress runs a huge share of the web, and a huge share of the complaints about slow, insecure, breaking websites come from WordPress sites too. The software is rarely the problem. How the site was built almost always is.
No hard sell.
or call 0800 699 0037
Custom theme or page builder?
A page builder lets anyone drag a site together, and it loads a lot of code to make that possible. A custom theme contains only what your site needs. The result is a site that loads faster, passes Google's speed checks more easily, has fewer plugins to go wrong and is harder to break. It costs more to build and less to live with.
What our WordPress agency builds
Still yours to edit
Coding the theme doesn't mean locking you out. You edit pages, posts, images and prices in the normal WordPress editor. We just build the structure so you can't accidentally break the design.
WooCommerce, headless and custom
For shops we build on WooCommerce (Mobiquip, Happy Hay, Lotus Grill). For sites that need to be very fast with heavy imagery we build headless WordPress, which keeps the familiar editor and serves a lighter front end (Tuerner & Co, Solo Atelier). And when WordPress isn't the right tool, we'll say so; we also build on Shopify and fully custom platforms.
Looking after it
WordPress needs updating. Our managed hosting and maintenance packages keep it patched, backed up twice a day and monitored, by the people who built it.
What a WordPress web design agency should actually do
Anyone can install WordPress, buy a theme and swap the photos. That's a setup job, not web design. What you're paying an agency for is everything around the software: working out what the site needs to do for your business, planning the pages around how your customers search, designing it, coding a theme that does exactly that and nothing else, and making sure it still works properly in three years' time.
For us that also means the parts most WordPress sites skip. Page titles, descriptions and structured data set up before launch, not bolted on after. Enquiry forms that are tracked, so you can see which pages bring in work. Images sized for phones. And a short list of plugins we know and trust, rather than thirty installed to fill gaps in a theme that was never built for you.
Agency, freelancer or do it yourself?
Honestly, all three can be the right answer. If you have a small budget and the time to learn, WordPress.com or a good off-the-shelf theme will get you online. A capable freelancer can build a very good site, and often for less than an agency.
Where a WordPress agency earns its fee is when the site has to bring in business and keep doing it. You get design, development, SEO and Google Ads under one roof, so the people building the site know what the marketing needs from it. You're not relying on one person being available when something breaks. And you still talk directly to the people doing the work, because we don't have a layer of account managers between you and them.
If you're weighing it up, our guide to agencies and freelancers goes through it in more detail.
How a WordPress project runs with us
First, a conversation. What the site has to do, who it's for, what's working on your current one and what isn't. Then you get a fixed, itemised quote with timescales, so you know the cost before anything starts. Our guide to what a website costs explains what moves the price.
Then the plan. The pages, what goes on each and how they link together. This is where most of the SEO work on a new site actually happens, because a page Google can't make sense of won't rank however well it's designed.
Design, then build. You see and approve the design before we code the theme. Then we build it on a private staging site you can click around, and we load your content into the real editor so you can see how you'll update it.
Launch and after. Old pages are redirected to their new addresses, the site goes into Search Console and Analytics, and we keep watching it for the weeks after go-live. A small business site is usually live about two weeks after sign-off, and almost every site we build is finished within two months. The thing that slows a project down is waiting for words and photos.
Already on WordPress and not happy with it?
A lot of the WordPress work we take on is fixing what's already there. Sites built on Elementor, Divi or WPBakery that have become slow and fragile. Themes that can't be updated without something breaking. Plugins nobody remembers installing. Hosting that's cheap until the site goes down.
Sometimes the answer is a full redesign onto a custom theme, keeping your URLs and the rankings you've earned. Sometimes it's just better hosting and a tidy-up. We'll look at the site first and tell you which, because a rebuild you don't need is money we'd rather you kept.
Why businesses choose us as their WordPress agency
We've built more than 500 websites, most of them on WordPress, for local trades, independent shops and regional and national brands. We keep the client list small on purpose, so the people who designed and coded your site are the same people who answer when you ring.
And because we host and maintain the sites we build, we have every reason to build them properly in the first place.
People We've
Worked With
From local trades to national names, we've designed, built and marketed websites for businesses of every shape and size across Lincolnshire and beyond.
FAQs
01 What does a WordPress web design agency do?
A WordPress web design agency plans, designs and builds websites on WordPress, then usually hosts and maintains them. A good one codes the theme around your business rather than adjusting a template, sets the site up for Google before launch, and gives you an editor you can use yourself.
02 How much does a WordPress website cost in the UK?
Small brochure WordPress websites start from £1,500 plus VAT. From there the price depends on the number of pages, who writes the content, and features such as booking, quote forms or a shop, because a WooCommerce shop with hundreds of products is a very different job. We give a fixed, itemised quote after a first conversation, and managed hosting starts from £79.99 a month plus VAT if you'd like us to look after it.
03 How long does it take to build a WordPress website?
A small business WordPress site usually takes around two weeks from sign-off to launch, and almost every site we build is finished within two months. Larger sites and shops take longer. Waiting for text and images is the most common cause of delay.
04 Is WordPress good for business websites?
For most businesses, yes. It's flexible, it's easy to edit, it works well with Google, and you're not tied to one company to run it. It needs updating and looking after, though, and a poorly built WordPress site can be slow and insecure. How it's built matters more than the platform.
05 Is a custom WordPress theme better than a page builder?
For speed and reliability, usually. A page builder such as Elementor or Divi loads code for every feature it offers, whether your site uses it or not. A custom theme only contains what your site needs, so it tends to load faster and has fewer things to break. A page builder is cheaper to start with, and a custom theme is usually cheaper to live with.
06 Can I update my WordPress website myself?
Yes. You edit pages, posts, images and prices in the standard WordPress editor. We build the layouts so you can change the content without breaking the design, and we'll show you how before launch.
07 Do I own my WordPress website?
Yes. Once the project is paid for, the website, the design and the content are yours, and your domain is registered in your own name from the start. It's worth asking any agency this before you sign anything.
08 Can you take over an existing WordPress site?
Yes. We'll audit it first: the theme, the plugins, the hosting and how it's performing in Google. Then we'll tell you whether it needs looking after, fixing or rebuilding.
Talk to us
Ring 0800 699 0037 or email hello@codesky.co.uk. Tell us what the site needs to do and we'll tell you how we'd build it.
