A team that can self-serve
Content changes happen the same day rather than next sprint.
CMS Development
The Right Platform for the Way Your Team Actually Works
Most platform decisions are made on what an agency prefers to build. The better question is who will maintain this site in two years, what they will need to change, and how often.
- Recommendation in writing, with reasoning
- Migration without losing rankings
- Built to be handed over
How we chooseDecision inputs
- Who maintains itMost important
- What changes oftenTemplates vs content
- Commerce needsCatalogue & checkout
- BudgetBuild and running
- Exit costCan you leave?
Best for
- Professional services
- B2B companies
- Publishers
- Non-profits
- Multi-location businesses
Platforms
- WordPress
- Shopify
- Webflow
- Wix
- Squarespace
- Drupal
- Joomla
- Adobe Commerce
The Problem
How Platform Decisions Go Wrong
Four expensive mistakes, all made at the very start of a project.
Chosen on the developer's preference
A beautifully engineered custom build that nobody in your team can edit, so every text change becomes a support ticket and a delay.
Outgrown within eighteen months
A platform picked for the current site rather than the plan — then a rebuild when multi-language, commerce or a content team arrives.
Locked in with no exit
Proprietary platforms where the content, templates and URLs cannot easily leave. The cost of changing later is rarely calculated at the start.
Migrated without protecting search visibility
The new site launches, the old URLs 404, and months of accumulated rankings disappear in a week. Entirely avoidable and depressingly common.
Our Approach
Fit First, Then Build for Handover
We start with how your team works: who edits content, how often, what they need to change without a developer, and what the site has to do in two years rather than only today. That determines the platform far more usefully than a feature comparison table.
Then we build for handover from day one — documented, using mainstream patterns, with content structured so it could be exported. You should be able to take the site to another agency without a rebuild, and we would rather you stayed because the work is good.
- Written platform recommendationThe trade-offs spelled out, including the ones against us
- Content modellingStructured content types rather than pages full of hard-coded blocks
- Editor experienceClear fields and reusable blocks your team can actually use
- Migration with redirectsEvery old URL mapped so rankings survive the move
- Documented handoverWhat was built, why, and how to maintain it
Search: content management system dashboard laptop
What You Get
What CMS Development Covers
- Platform assessmentWritten recommendation with trade-offs, before any build decision
- Content modellingContent types, taxonomies and relationships designed for how you publish
- Template developmentReusable page and archive templates rather than one-off pages
- Editor experienceClearly labelled fields, reusable blocks and guardrails against breakage
- Custom functionalityIntegrations, calculators, directories and workflows where needed
- Multi-language setupWhere you serve more than one market
- MigrationContent, media and users moved between platforms
- URL & redirect mappingOne-to-one redirects so search visibility survives
- SEO architectureURL structure, metadata control, schema and sitemap configuration
- Performance configurationCaching, image handling and asset delivery for the chosen platform
- Security & backupsHardening, update policy and tested restores
- Documentation & trainingWritten docs plus a recorded handover session
Business Impact
What Choosing Well Delivers
Lower total cost of ownership
The right fit avoids the rebuild eighteen months later.
Room to grow
Content modelling that copes with new sections and markets.
Rankings that survive migration
Redirect mapping protects the visibility you already have.
No lock-in you did not choose
Structured content and documentation keep your options open.
Faster future builds
Templates mean new pages take hours rather than days.
How It Works
How Platform Projects Run
01
Requirements & team
What the site must do, and who will maintain it once we are gone.
02
Platform recommendation
Written, with reasoning and honest trade-offs, before any build.
03
Content modelling
Types, fields and relationships designed around how you actually publish.
04
Build
Templates, functionality and editor experience developed on the chosen platform.
05
Migration & redirects
Content moved, URLs mapped, redirects tested before launch.
06
Handover
Documentation, training and the credentials — all of them.
Platform Fit
What Each Platform Is Genuinely Good At
An honest view, including where we would recommend against a platform we can build on.
| Platform | Best fit | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|
| WordPress + Elementor | Content-led business sites, blogs, service businesses | Plugin bloat and maintenance if neglected |
| WooCommerce | Stores wanting no platform fees and full data control | You own performance and security |
| Shopify | Stores wanting infrastructure handled for them | Transaction fees and fixed URL structures |
| Webflow | Design-led marketing sites with a small team | Costs scale with CMS items; developer-adjacent |
| Wix / Squarespace | Very small sites with minimal requirements | Limited SEO control and hard to migrate away from |
| Drupal | Complex permissions, multi-site, public sector | Higher build cost and a smaller talent pool |
| Joomla | Existing Joomla estates being maintained | We would rarely recommend it for a new build |
| Adobe Commerce | Large complex catalogues with enterprise needs | Significant licensing and hosting cost |
Pricing
CMS Development Pricing
Every engagement is scoped individually. These ranges give you a realistic idea of investment before you speak to us.
Platform Selection
Decide before you commit
$650one-off1–2 weeks
- Requirements workshop
- Platform comparison for your case
- Written recommendation & reasoning
- Content model outline
- Migration risk assessment
- Presentation call
CMS Build
Full platform build
$3,800from6–10 weeks
- Everything in Platform Selection
- Content modelling & template development
- Editor experience & reusable blocks
- SEO architecture
- Performance & security configuration
- Documentation & training
- 90 days support
Migration
Move platforms without losing rankings
$4,500fromScoped individually
- Everything in CMS Build
- Full content & media migration
- URL inventory & redirect mapping
- Ranking baseline & post-launch monitoring
- E-commerce catalogue transfer
- Extended monitoring period
Prices are in USD and indicative starting points for scoping — final quotes depend on scope, competition and current site condition. [Confirm or edit these figures before launch.]
Our Work
Recent Projects
Project slots are ready for real client work — screenshots, brand names and outcomes drop straight into these cards.
[Add Site Screenshot]Replace with a real project screenshot
[Client Name] — Platform Build
Replace with the platform chosen and why.
[Add Site Screenshot]Replace with a real project screenshot
[Client Name] — Platform Migration
Replace with platforms involved and how rankings held.
[Add Site Screenshot]Replace with a real project screenshot
[Client Name] — Content Modelling
Replace with the structure built and how the team uses it.
FAQ
Questions Before You Start
WordPress for content-led business sites, Shopify or WooCommerce for stores. That is not dogma — it reflects that both have deep talent pools, so you are never dependent on one agency. We recommend against a platform when the fit is poor, including ones we build on.
We build and optimise on them, and we will tell you honestly where their limitations bite — particularly SEO control on Wix and Squarespace, and how hard it is to migrate away later.
We maintain and optimise existing Drupal and Joomla sites. For new builds, Drupal makes sense for complex permissions or public-sector requirements; we would rarely recommend Joomla for a new project, and we would say so rather than take the work.
The content moves reliably. The risk is search visibility, and it comes down entirely to the URL redirect map. Migrations that skip that step routinely lose most of their organic traffic — which is why we treat it as the non-negotiable part of the project.
Not in any way we control. We use mainstream platforms with structured content and document everything, so another agency can take over. Some platforms lock you in by design — we will tell you which and what leaving would cost.
Then we build it. We will flag any concerns once, in writing, and then get on with the work you asked for.
Let's Talk
Choosing a Platform, or Stuck on the Wrong One?
Tell us who maintains your site and what you need it to do in two years. We will recommend a platform in writing — including when the answer is to stay where you are.
No obligation. If we are not the right fit for your goals, we will say so.