SimpleWebflow

A WordPress website, with the assembly already done

WordPress runs a very large share of the web and it is an excellent thing to own. Getting one built is the problem: a host, a theme, a page builder, eight plugins and a weekend, or three thousand dollars and a month.

A real theme you own No page builder Hosted and kept updated
Build my website Free to see it finished. No card until you go live.

What "getting a WordPress site" normally involves

The usual path has about seven steps and each one is a decision you are not equipped to make on your first attempt. Choose a host. Install WordPress. Choose a theme from thousands, most of which look nothing like their demo once your own content is in them. Install a page builder because the theme cannot be changed without one. Install a form plugin, a cache plugin, a security plugin, an SEO plugin. Then lay out every page by dragging boxes.

The result works. It is also slow, because the builder ships a lot of markup to do a little; it is fragile, because eight plugins update on eight schedules; and it is difficult to leave, because the pages only exist inside the builder that drew them.

None of that is WordPress's fault. It is the cost of general-purpose software being asked to do one specific job by somebody who does this once.

What we hand over instead

We build the theme. Describe the business in a sentence or two and you get back a finished, written, designed page, and what sits underneath it is an ordinary WordPress theme: style.css with a proper theme header, index.php carrying the markup, and functions.php. No builder, no plugin stack, nothing in the database that has to be set up after activation.

It installs the way any theme installs: Appearance, Themes, Add New, Upload Theme. We do that part for you on hosting we run, at $15 a month, so in practice you never touch it. But the file exists and it is yours, which is the part that matters if you ever want to move.

style.css
The theme header WordPress reads, and the whole design, derived from your colours.
index.php
Your page, as markup. Not a builder document, not shortcodes, not a page ID in a database.
functions.php
Theme setup. Nothing to configure after activating it.

What this means in practice

It loads fast
There is no builder runtime and no plugin queue. The page is markup and one stylesheet.
There is less to break
Fewer moving parts means fewer update mornings where something has gone wrong overnight.
You are not locked in
Any WordPress developer can open the theme and work on it. That is not true of a builder export.
You still edit it in plain language
Click a line of text on your own site and type over it. You do not need to learn the WordPress admin to change a phone number.

What it does not do

It is worth being specific about the limits before you spend anything. This is a one page site, built well. It does not run a shop, take card payments, hold a booking calendar, or give you an email address at your new domain. If you need any of those, link to the tool you already use, or hire someone for the parts we do not do.

It is also not a blog out of the box. WordPress can do that and the theme can be extended by a developer later, but nothing here sets up a blog for you.

What you actually end up owning

Most ways of getting a website end with you renting one. Cancel a builder subscription and the pages stop existing; there is nothing to take with you because there was never a file. That is the trade you make for the monthly price, and plenty of people make it knowingly.

This is not that. What gets built for you is a WordPress theme: a real folder of files, with its own style.css, index.php and functions.php, that installs through Appearance, Themes, Add New, Upload Theme on any WordPress host in the world. We host it for you at $15 a month so you never have to think about it, and the web address is registered in your name, not ours.

If you ever want to leave, ask for a copy and it is yours: the theme file, the address, the content. You can hand it to any developer and they will recognise exactly what they are looking at, because it is an ordinary WordPress theme and not a proprietary export nobody else can open.

What one of these looks like finished

The same output, rendered live. What a customer receives is this page as a WordPress theme. Nothing here is a mock-up: the frame below is a live page, rendered by the same code that builds a customer's site.

Riverbend PlumbingPlumber, Calgary. A fictional business, built to show the output. Open full size

What it costs

Free to look at the finished site. You pay when you want it live.

Website set-up One time. Designed, written, built. $199
Hosting Online, secured, backed up. $15/mo
Your web address Registered in your name, renewed yearly. from $35/yr
Today then $15/mo, or $150/yr to save two months $199
Free to see it finished No card to look Cancel whenever

Addresses cost different amounts by ending: a .com is cheaper than a .io. We charge what the registrar charges us plus a small margin, and show the exact figure before you pay.

Questions

Is this really WordPress, or something that looks like it?

It is really WordPress. The deliverable is a theme zip with style.css, index.php and functions.php, installed through the standard theme uploader. You can log into the WordPress admin of your own site.

Do I have to manage WordPress updates?

No, that is what the hosting fee covers while you are with us. If you take the theme elsewhere, updates become yours or your new host's to manage, as they would be for any WordPress site.

Can a developer change the theme later?

Yes. It is standard PHP and CSS with no framework to learn. That is most of the reason for building it this way.

Can I use my own WordPress host?

You can take the theme and install it anywhere WordPress runs. We host it as part of the monthly price because most small businesses would rather never think about it.

What does it cost in total?

$199 once to build it, $15 a month for hosting, and the web address from $35 a year, registered to you. $150 a year pays for hosting with two months off.

Keep reading

Describe your business.
See what we make of it.

Free to look, and nothing to cancel if you decide against it.

Build my website