Same WordPress, same rankings — an editing layer your own team can finally use
Right now, a simple edit means going through your near-shore dev partner because the Elementor build underneath is too fragile to touch. We'll swap that layer for Advanced Custom Fields on the ~20 pages currently in your nav, in the layout style you pointed to on the call, without moving your 125 blog posts or touching anything that's already ranking.
What we heard on our call
- You want full ownership. 'The keys are kind of held by our current agency partner' just to make simple changes — that's the first thing you want fixed.
- Your new marketer needs to be able to edit it. AI-savvy, hired to move fast — testing a different hero or service layout shouldn't require anyone outside your team.
- SEO matters, a lot. You've never had a dedicated digital marketer before, and growing organic traffic through your ~125 existing blog posts is a real goal — the moment 'Lovable' and 'SEO risk' came up together, that gave you pause.
- It's not a rebrand. Branding stays; the ask is 'a fairly significant redesign' on specific service pages — bigger hero sections, two-column value props, confidence-builder sections, in the style of your Employee Management System page rather than the current grid-of-boxes layout.
- Budget is 'somewhere in between' $250 and $10,000 — you're not chasing the cheapest option, you want it 'done well and right.'
- No hard deadline, but a real target. First phase done by end of November, with the rest — training sign-up, the ~125 blog posts — phased in later.
Three ways to get there
Here's what we weighed, and why we're recommending the one that costs you nothing in rankings.
Keep everything exactly where it already ranks
- Same WordPress, same URLs, same 125 blog posts, same Yoast setup
- Full ownership from day one — no near-shore gatekeeping
- Limited to the template library we build — which matches your ~20-page Phase 1 scope
What your dev partner already uses for landing pages
- Fastest to 'look different,' most flexible for one-off layouts
- Not SEO-friendly out of the box — real risk to the 125-post domain authority you're building
- Needs a bolt-on CMS (e.g. Sanity) for your content team — a second login and a new monthly tool cost
Visual editor, 200+ prebuilt components
- Non-developer-friendly, better SEO story than Lovable
- Still a full migration off WordPress — new URLs/redirects, the blog has to move too
- Worth it only if full visual flexibility matters more than minimizing migration risk
What's included in Phase 1
- A full ranking / domain-authority baseline on your live pages before we touch anything, so we know exactly what's worth protecting.
- A reusable ACF template library: hero, two-column value prop, confidence-builder/logo section, service card grid, CTA block.
- The ~20 pages currently in your nav rebuilt on that library — including the priority pages from the call: Home, HR & Safety + Admin, Employee Management System, Talent Acquisition.
- New layout treatment on those priority pages — bigger hero, two-column value props, confidence-builder section — in the style of your Employee Management System page, replacing the grid-of-boxes layout on pages like HR & Safety + Admin.
- Same URLs, same meta titles/descriptions, same plugin ecosystem (Yoast, etc.) — nothing that currently ranks gets touched.
- A Loom walkthrough + live training session so your new marketer can edit pages directly, going forward, with no developer involved.
- Blog (~125 posts) and the trainings/webinar signup stay exactly as they are for now — zero migration risk, revisited in Phase 2 if you want them redesigned too.
A first look
A concept for the new homepage direction: the hero gets real structure, your two service lines get a clear path in, and it's all built on components your own marketer will be able to swap and reuse. Concept only — final design happens in Milestone 2, with your copy and real client list.
A dedicated HR & Safety partner for your business — on a website your own team can finally edit.
A dedicated partner for your business, on a site your team can edit.
Concept only — not the final design. Built from your real nav structure, services and contact info; final copy, colors and photography come from you in Milestone 2.
What we checked before quoting
Blog & SEO
Staying on WordPress means your ~125 posts and their existing rankings aren't touched. No migration, no indexing reset.
Layout reuse
The look you want already exists on your Employee Management System page — we're turning it into a reusable template, not inventing it from scratch.
Elementor teardown
Your current dev partner says the existing Elementor setup is hard to extend. We'll review the live markup page-by-page before swapping to ACF, so pages we're not touching yet keep working.
Ranking baseline
We haven't pulled your actual Google rankings yet — that's Milestone 1. If a Phase-1 page is ranking especially well, we may redesign around its content rather than rewrite it.
Trainings / booking flow
The Zoom + events-plugin signup for your sessions is out of Phase 1 scope. Left exactly as-is for now — not because it's hard, but because it wasn't the priority you called out.
Full ownership
Once this ships, your marketer edits pages directly in WordPress — no near-shore partner or developer gatekeeping required.
Milestones and pricing
Discovery & SEO baseline
- Google ranking / domain-authority audit of all live pages
- ACF component architecture plan
- Final Phase-1 page list, signed off together
Template library + priority pages
- Reusable ACF templates: hero, two-column value prop, confidence-builder, card grid, CTA
- Home, HR & Safety + Admin, Employee Management System, Talent Acquisition rebuilt with the new layout treatment
Remaining Phase-1 pages + QA
- The rest of the ~20 nav pages rebuilt on the new templates
- Content pass, cross-browser and mobile QA
Training, launch & handoff
- Loom walkthrough + live training for your marketer
- Launch on your existing domain, handoff docs
Phase 2 (the remaining ~101 pages — testimonials collapsed into reusable blocks, careers, events, legal pages — plus the trainings/booking flow if you want it redesigned) is scoped and priced separately once Phase 1 is underway, as discussed on the call.
After launch
This is also where we'd replace the monthly retainer you're currently paying your near-shore partner — with one that actually includes editing support, not just 'don't touch it.'
| Plan | What it covers | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Essential | Updates, backups, security monitoring | $99 / month |
| Standard Recommended | Essential, plus up to 2 hrs/month of content edits, new requests or layout tweaks beyond ACF | $199 / month |
| Priority | Standard, plus 24–48h turnaround, a monthly report, and credited hours toward Phase 2 | $349 / month |
When is it done?
What we need from you
- WordPress admin + hosting access — we'll help coordinate the handover from your current dev partner.
- Sign-off on the final Phase-1 page list, once we've reviewed the SEO baseline together.
- Content/copy decisions on the priority service pages we're redesigning, or approval for us to draft it.
- Any existing brand guidelines or color/style preferences, if you have them.
- A short kickoff call with your director of e-commerce.
- A weekly 20–30 minute check-in for approvals, so we hit end of November.
Relevant work
How we work
- One point of contact. Jesse scoped this with you; I lead delivery and stay on every call.
- In-house team. Our designers and WordPress/ACF developers are in-house, based in Pakistan — not outsourced to another partner.
- Full visibility. An Asana board with every task, so your director of e-commerce can see progress any day.
- Pay as it's delivered. Fixed-price milestones on Upwork, released only once you've reviewed and approved each one.
Next steps
- We run the Google ranking / domain-authority baseline on your live pages.
- Quick internal review with your director of e-commerce on the WordPress + ACF recommendation.
- Kick off Milestone 1 on Upwork.