The questions people ask most often before we work together, grouped by the kind of work. If yours isn’t here, send the question along and I will answer it straight.
Getting started
What kinds of work do you take on?
Three kinds, and they overlap more than they look. High-end WordPress engineering and technical SEO for media, education, and government teams that need a site to do real work. Training I deliver myself, on WordPress and on the Microsoft Office tools, for teams and individuals across the Niagara region and online across Canada. And local web work for Niagara-region businesses that need to be found and to convert. If your problem sits in one of those, we should talk. If it doesn’t, I will tell you that too.
How does working together start?
A scoping call. You explain what the work actually needs to do and what is not working today, and I ask the questions that surface the real scope. From there I write up the deliverables and a fixed price before any work begins, so you know the number before you commit.
How do you price your work?
Fixed price after the scoping call for a defined engagement, so the budget is known up front and does not drift. For smaller or open-ended work the rate is $275/hr CAD on a time-and-materials basis, with advisory work at a higher rate. Whatever the structure, you will know how it is billed before it starts.
WordPress for publishers and media
How long does a typical publishers engagement take?
It depends on scope. A platform audit with a remediation brief typically takes two to four weeks. A full editorial CMS rebuild or workflow overhaul is usually eight to fourteen weeks. The scope is defined in the scoping call and fixed before the engagement starts; the timeline doesn’t extend unless the scope changes.
Do you work with newsrooms that are already on WordPress?
Yes. Most of this work is on existing WordPress installs: audits of what’s broken, migrations away from page builders or legacy themes, editorial workflow fixes, and accessibility remediations. Starting from scratch is less common than fixing what’s already there.
What does fixed-price mean for this kind of work?
The deliverables and price are agreed before the engagement starts. If something comes up during the work that changes the scope (a third-party integration that’s more complex than expected, a content model that needs to be rebuilt first), that’s a conversation before it changes the bill, not after.
What’s the difference between this and hiring an agency?
Direct access to the senior engineer doing the work. No account manager between you and the person making decisions. No junior team executing on a brief the senior wrote. The work is documented so your team can understand what was built and why, not a black box you’re dependent on to maintain.
Learning platforms and LMS
Does the engagement include instructional design as well as the technical build?
Yes, for most LMS engagements. The platform should match how your instructors want to teach, which means curriculum architecture and platform configuration happen together, not in sequence. The Masters in Learning and Technology is the credential that makes the instructional-design work credible; the engineering is the credential that makes the platform work.
Can you integrate with our SIS or HR system?
Yes. SIS and HRIS integration is a core specialization. The M.L. Campbell engagement involved full integration of the LearnDash platform with their distributor and sales-management systems. The integration approach depends on what your system exposes (REST API, CSV export, webhook, or file-based) and what the platform needs to consume.
Which LMS platforms do you work with?
LearnDash is the primary platform, with depth at the architecture and API layer, not just configuration. Sensei and LifterLMS are also in scope for vendor-selection conversations and migration paths. If you’re evaluating platforms, the scoping call covers what your learners need to do and which platform fits that best.
How does pricing work for LMS builds?
Fixed-price after a scoping call. That first conversation surfaces what exists, what the learner base needs, and what integration requirements look like. From there the engagement is scoped with defined deliverables and a price set before work starts. The hourly rate for time-and-materials work is $275/hr CAD.
National brands and enterprise
What’s included in the technical audit?
Core Web Vitals baseline (field and lab data), technical SEO findings ranked by impact, an accessibility gap assessment, a security configuration review, and (if AI tooling is in scope) an inventory of what’s deployed across the organization and against what governance framework. The audit deliverable stands on its own: you can act on it with an internal team or proceed to an implementation engagement.
What does ‘no agency layer’ mean in practice?
You talk directly to the engineer making the decisions and doing the implementation. There’s no account manager translating requirements, no project manager coordinating between a sales contact and a delivery team, no offshore execution from a document written by someone who isn’t doing the work. When a decision needs to be made mid-engagement, it’s a five-minute call, not a week of escalation.
How do you work alongside our internal team?
Two modes: advisory, where your team executes from a well-scoped brief, or implementation, where I do the work alongside your team. Most national brand engagements start with a diagnostic and then branch; some organizations have the internal capacity to execute from findings, others need the implementation done directly. That conversation surfaces which fits your situation.
Do you work with organizations outside Ontario?
Yes. All engagement work is remote-first. Clients have included organizations in Ontario, British Columbia, Quebec, and the United States. The work doesn’t require on-site presence; discovery calls and working sessions are done via video.
Local Niagara businesses
How much does a local business website cost?
Websites start at $3,500 for a straightforward local business site: a service-area business, a retail location, a professional practice. More complex sites with booking systems, e-commerce, or multi-location structures are scoped individually. The price is fixed before the project starts and doesn’t change as the work progresses.
I already have a website. Can you fix just the SEO?
Yes. Local SEO foundations (Google Business Profile, NAP audit and citation cleanup, on-site local signals, and structured data) are available as a standalone fixed-price engagement without a website rebuild. The starting point is a call to understand what you have and what the actual visibility problem is.
How long does a local business website take?
Four to six weeks for a standard local business site. The timeline is fixed in the project brief, not “as fast as possible” with no end date. You’ll know when the project starts and when it ends.
Do you offer ongoing SEO after the initial work?
The local SEO foundation work is a fixed-price engagement, not a monthly retainer. After the foundation is in place, most local businesses don’t need ongoing paid SEO services. What they need is to keep their Google Business Profile active, generate reviews, and not let the NAP drift. That maintenance is something you can do. If something specific comes up after the handoff, that’s a conversation, not a standing contract.