WordPress that does the job.
New WordPress sites, WooCommerce stores and headless builds, or a serious upgrade of the one you already run.
We audit, build and keep optimising, inside a martech team with digital legal, SEO & GEO and analytics specialists. So your site launches compliant, findable and measured, not just live.
The engine behind a huge share of the web.
WordPress is free, open-source software for building and running websites. You host it where you choose, your team edits pages in a visual block editor, and plugins add almost any feature, from forms to a full online store with WooCommerce.
It runs about 40% of all websites, and close to 6 in 10 of the sites built on a known CMS (W3Techs, 2026). Its share has slipped from its peak as hosted builders grow. So we call it what it is: still the largest open ecosystem, not the default answer to everything.
An open platform you own, for sites where content, reach and control matter.
- What it isOpen-source code, your content and database, on any host. No licence fee for the software.
- When it fitsContent-led and SEO-driven sites, multilingual estates, content with commerce, custom integrations.
- What we doBuild new sites, stores and headless front ends. Audit, repair and speed up the one you have.
Pick the platform that fits. Not the one that pays us. WordPress is our default for many content-led and lead-generation sites, which is why it anchors our Websites service. When another platform fits better, we say so, further down this page.
Build it new. Or make what you have better.
Most WordPress agencies only sell the rebuild. Often the smarter move is to fix the site you already have. We do both, and we will tell you which one pays.
Start clean, built for the job.
A new WordPress property designed around what it must achieve: leads, sales, reach or reputation.
- Corporate and brand websites
- Lead-generation sites and landing pages
- Content hubs and publications
- WooCommerce stores, B2C and B2B
- Multisite networks for brands or countries
- Headless front ends on a WordPress back end
- Interactive and gamified campaign experiences
- Member areas, portals and knowledge bases
Keep what works. Fix what costs you.
Your current WordPress, made faster, safer, more visible and better at converting, often without replatforming.
- Full audit: speed, security, SEO, accessibility, tracking
- Core Web Vitals and speed programme
- Security hardening and plugin clean-up
- SEO and GEO fixes for search and AI answers
- Conversion work on the journeys that pay
- Tracking, consent and dashboards rebuilt properly
- Redesign without replatforming
- WordPress 7 and PHP upgrades, agency takeovers
Worried about a rebuild you do not need? We will tell you when fixing is enough.
Talk to our specialists →
Classic, commerce or headless. One core, three shapes.
How you run WordPress changes the cost, the speed and what your team can do alone.
WordPress, block theme
The modern way to run WordPress: a custom block theme and a design system your editors cannot break.
- Best for
- Corporate, lead-generation, content hubs, multilingual sites.
- What we build
- A custom block theme with a theme.json design system, locked patterns so marketing ships pages on brand, and custom blocks where it matters.
- Trade-off
- It needs disciplined updates and a small, vetted set of plugins. We handle both.
WooCommerce
An online store inside WordPress, so content and commerce share one site, one account and one data set.
- Best for
- Stores where content sells, B2B price lists and quotes, full data ownership, local payments and invoicing.
- What we build
- Block checkout, modern order storage, Multibanco and MB Way through local gateways, certified invoicing, ERP and PIM sync. See our E-commerce shops work.
- Trade-off
- You run what a hosted platform would run for you: hosting, updates and performance. Worth it when control matters.
Headless WordPress
WordPress as the editorial back end, with a separate front end that reads content through an API.
- Best for
- High-traffic brand sites, app-like experiences, and many front ends fed by one content hub.
- What we build
- REST API or WPGraphQL, a Next.js or Astro front end, previews that actually work, on cloud infrastructure we can run for you.
- Trade-off
- Two stacks, higher cost, and many plugins stop helping on the front end. We often recommend a hybrid instead.
Need software people log into, like a portal or product with its own logic? That is often better as a web app, with WordPress kept for the content.
Nine ways WordPress earns its keep.
We sell outcomes, not installs: each pattern names the result it is built to move, measured from day one.
Expertise nobody finds? Build a content hub that ranks and gets cited.
We buildTopic clusters, schema per template, clean block HTML and internal linking.
Many brands or countries? Run one network.
We buildMultisite with one design system and locked patterns, so local teams publish in PT, ES or EN.
Paying for a proprietary CMS? Move to one you own.
We buildContent model, URL mapping, redirects and SEO parity checks before cutover.
Forms landing in an inbox? Wire leads to the CRM.
We buildProgressive forms and consent-aware tracking, with lead source flowing into HubSpot or Salesforce.
Selling in Portugal? A store that just works.
We buildWooCommerce with Multibanco and MB Way, certified invoicing, carriers and ERP sync.
Distributors ordering by email? Give them a portal.
We buildCustomer prices, quotes, quick reorder and ERP and PIM integration on WooCommerce.
Traffic that never reaches the shop? Make content sell.
We buildProduct blocks inside articles and one cart across content and store.
Slow, bloated site? Rescue it.
We buildAudit, plugin diet, a block theme or targeted refactor, caching and an image pipeline.
Campaigns waiting weeks for a page? Build a factory.
We buildBlock patterns with tracking pre-wired, test-ready for our CRO team.
Our builders sit inside a martech team.
Most WordPress specialists are design and development studios. Most big martech players do not build. We sit in the gap: a web team of 20 working every day with our digital legal, SEO & GEO and analytics & consent specialists.
It is the best of a great team, frameworks, technology and proprietary data, aimed at your business results. On WordPress, that looks like this.
The build team
Custom block themes, blocks and plugins, WooCommerce, headless front ends, migrations and care. The people who write the code also sit in the meetings about results.
ExampleA custom block with locked styles, so editors change the content, never the design.
Digital legal
The consent platform wired to the WP Consent API, privacy, cookie and terms pages that match what the site really does, accessibility tests for the EAA, and AI Act duties flagged.
ExampleA forms plugin sending visitor IPs to a third party before consent: blocked until consent, or replaced.
SEO & GEO
Architecture and URLs before the first template, redirect maps for migrations, clean HTML from blocks, llms.txt where useful (still experimental). Then the ongoing SEO and answer engine work that gets you cited.
ExampleArticle, Product, FAQ and Organization schema generated per template from the block content.
Analytics & Consent Mode
GA4 and Google Tag Manager, server-side tagging, Consent Mode v2 wired to the banner, WooCommerce ecommerce events, form and CRM tracking, and CRM data flowing to HubSpot or Klaviyo, with our Analytics & Measurement team.
ExampleServer-side tagging on Google Cloud, with WooCommerce purchase events deduplicated between browser and server.
Audit. Build. Optimise. Then go again.
We are strong at all three, and the value is in the loop: every optimisation feeds the next build.
Audit
Speed, plugin and security risk, SEO and GEO, accessibility, tracking and consent, and the conversion journeys. Output: a fix list ranked by impact and effort.
Build
A new site, a new store or targeted fixes, shipped in short sprints to a staging site you can click from the first weeks.
Optimise
Core Web Vitals, conversion tests, content and GEO, security patches and updates on a schedule. What we learn becomes the next audit.
Process, without the bureaucracy.
We have frameworks for every stage, and we stay agile. We use AI and modern tooling to move faster, with human review on everything that ships.
- Short sprintsOne to two weeks, each with a clear goal.
- Early versionsA working site on staging long before launch.
- Weekly demosWith the people who decide, not just the project lead.
- Decisions in writingOne place, so nothing gets re-argued.
- One visible backlogYou see it, and you can reorder it.
Nine years of WordPress. We know what breaks.
We started in the classic-editor era and have shipped through every major shift since. The number is 9. The value is what it taught us.
- 2017Our startClassic editor, page builders everywhere. We learned their real cost later.
- 2018WordPress 5.0The block editor arrives. Content becomes structured blocks.
- 2020WordPress 5.5Auto-updates for plugins and themes, XML sitemaps and lazy-loaded images in core.
- 2022WordPress 5.9Full site editing and block themes. Design systems move into theme.json.
- 2023WooCommerceOrders move to dedicated tables. Faster stores, careful migrations.
- 2024EcosystemA governance dispute makes host neutrality a buyer question.
- 2025WordPress 6.9The Abilities API lets software and AI agents see what a site can do.
- 2026WordPress 7AI Client and Connectors in core, and a redesigned admin.
Every plugin is a dependency you now own.
It adds features, and also updates, risk and weight. We keep the list short and every entry justified.
Page builders are the new lock-in.
Easy on day one, expensive to leave. Native blocks keep content portable and pages fast.
Speed is decided before the first line of code.
Hosting, theme choice and plugin count set the ceiling. Optimisation only gets you close to it.
If editors hate the admin, the site dies slowly.
So we design the editing experience as carefully as the front end, with patterns and guardrails.
WordPress risk lives in what you add.
WordPress core is rarely the problem. Patchstack's 2026 security report counted 11,334 new vulnerabilities across the WordPress ecosystem in 2025. 91% were in plugins, 9% in themes, and only six in core. The same report warns that many high-impact flaws are attacked within hours of disclosure.
So we run plugins like a supply chain: fewer, vetted, monitored, and virtually patched when no fix exists yet. The radar shows how our audit works.
An illustration of how our audit works, not data from a real site. The proportions follow the pattern in the Patchstack report: the risk sits in the outer ring.
From blocks to abilities.
WordPress is becoming something AI agents can use, not just read. Version 6.9 added the Abilities API, a register of actions a site can perform, described so software can discover and call them. Version 7.0 added a native AI Client and Connectors for the model provider you choose. The MCP Adapter exposes abilities to AI assistants and coding agents.
That makes a new build decision: which abilities to expose, to whom, and with which permissions. We map each one to a WordPress capability, keep publishing and money behind a human, and log what agents do.
get-postreadupdate-alt-textupload_filescreate-draftedit_postspublish-postpublish_postsIllustrative flow. Ability names are examples: which abilities a site exposes, and to which agents, is a decision we make with you in the build.
WooCommerce, agent-ready
WooCommerce has started exposing store abilities through MCP, as a developer preview. Agentic checkout protocols are on the roadmap, so we design for them without betting your checkout on them.
AI that follows your rules
Alt text, summaries and translations drafted by AI, reviewed by people and held to your brand rules. Core is adding AI content guidelines in the 7.x releases; we use what your version supports.
Your model, your contract
Connectors keep WordPress provider-agnostic. Our AI Enablement team helps you choose, govern and train the team.
Agents are data processing. We treat them that way.
Fast WordPress is a set of decisions, not a plugin.
WordPress usually does well on interactivity and loses on loading. It is fixable, and one of the highest-return jobs in any audit.
of WordPress sites pass all three Core Web Vitals, usually failing on loading.
Google's "good" thresholds, at the 75th percentile of real users. We use them as budgets: checked in lab tests before every release and in field data after it.
Pass-rate source: Chrome UX Report data compiled by third parties, 2026. Figures vary by month and method.
WooCommerce at scale
- Modern order storage, migrated safely
- Block checkout, extended the supported way
- Product object caching from WooCommerce 11
- Search off the main database for big catalogues
- Background jobs, so shoppers never wait
The questions your CTO will ask. Answered.
How we build WordPress when it has to pass security reviews, survive traffic peaks and still be maintainable in five years. Three answers matter most.
Security
Supply-chain thinking, ISO 27001 discipline.
- Plugin approval list, Composer lock files, vulnerability monitoring
- Web application firewall and virtual patching
- SSO or 2FA, least-privilege roles, audit logs
- File integrity checks and a written incident plan
AI and agent readiness
Useful to agents, safe by design.
- Abilities API and MCP Adapter, exposed on purpose
- AI Client and Connectors, with the provider you choose
- Agent permissions mapped to WordPress capabilities
- Every agent action logged, humans approve the rest
The exit door
Among the lowest lock-in of the major site builders. We keep it that way.
- GPL code and custom plugins in your repository; content exports plus the database
- No page-builder shortcodes that trap content, no premium plugins nobody else can maintain
- Composer lock files and a private mirror, with the FAIR package manager (Linux Foundation, still emerging) as a hedge against single points of control
- Host-neutral by default, so no single company in the WordPress ecosystem controls your site
Migrations in five steps
- InventoryEvery URL, template, media file and user, with traffic and links.
- MapOld content mapped to the new model, and a full 301 redirect map.
- ImportScripted with WP-CLI, using WordPress Data Liberation and Playground tooling where it fits.
- Parity checkTitles, schema, canonicals and hreflang compared before cutover.
- CutoverA monitored launch, Search Console and logs watched, fixes queued.
Send us your CTO's questions. We answer them in writing.
Specific answers for your stack. Talk to our specialists to see how this applies to your case.
When WordPress is not the right fit.
We are platform-agnostic by default, so we can say this out loud. Here is when we would point you somewhere else.
Pure ecommerce, a small team, a fast launch
Hosted checkout, less to maintain and strong speed out of the box.
Shopify → If you needA design-led marketing site, no developers
Visual control, hosting and security handled, fewer moving parts.
Webflow → If you needAn app, a tool or an MVP, fast
Auth, a real database and row-level security, not a stretched CMS.
Lovable + Supabase → If you needSoftware with its own logic and users
Portals, platforms and products belong in a proper web app stack.
Web apps →Maintain it after launch
WordPress without updates becomes a liability. Choose a hosted platform, or a care plan with us.
Real-time co-editing, today
Still deferred in core after 7.1. A hosted builder or a headless CMS may serve you better.
The site is where growth starts.
Your WordPress plugs straight into the rest of the agency, so the site keeps getting better at its job after launch.
Talk to our specialists before you change anything.
Auditing is one of our specialties. On a new project it is usually the first step: we review what you have before we build or change anything. Talk to our specialists to see how this applies to your site.
WordPress, answered.
Is WordPress still worth it in 2026?
How much does a WordPress website cost, and how long does it take?
Can you take over and improve our existing WordPress site?
Do we own our WordPress site, and can we leave?
Should we choose WordPress or Shopify for an online store?
Should we choose WordPress or Webflow?
Is WordPress secure enough for a business website?
How do we make WordPress fast and pass Core Web Vitals?
Do we need WordPress VIP?
Is WooCommerce a good choice for an online store in Portugal?
Can AI agents use our WordPress site?
Does WordPress support llms.txt and AI search (GEO)?
Is WordPress compliant with GDPR and Google Consent Mode v2?
Does WordPress meet the European Accessibility Act?
Do disputes in the WordPress ecosystem affect our website?
Third-party figures on this page are cited with their source. Any figures we share in a project are estimates and benchmarks, not guaranteed results.
Build it new, or make it better.
Tell us what the site has to do. We will come back with the platform call, the plan, and what we would build or fix first.
- 1You send the URL or a short brief.
- 2We come back with questions.
- 3You get a scoped proposal. On an existing site, the first step is usually an audit of what you have.
WordPress, WooCommerce and the other product names and logos on this page are trademarks of their respective owners, used here to describe the platforms we work with. Wise Pirates is an independent agency.