An owner-run site with shape templates cannot reach — from $3,500.
From $3,500 · 4–8 weeks · The same Owner-Run ladder, with the parts of the site that have to be yours actually built to fit.
For owner-operators who have outgrown the template path but the team is still you. Maybe a custom service-quote flow, a directory of suppliers, a portfolio with structured fields, an industry-specific calculator, or a content type that does not fit pages-and-posts cleanly. Start Here, Custom is the same Owner-Run shape as the entry tier, with hand-built content modelling and light integrations where the work calls for them.
Book a 20-minute discovery call
What gets built
- Everything in Start Here — your own WordPress install, the pages an owner-operator business needs, working contact form, SEO basics, accessible theme.
- One or two custom post types shaped to the content you actually publish — not the Block Editor defaults bent into a shape they were never meant for.
- One light integration with the tool you already use — CRM, email-marketing, scheduling, payment-link, or a simple API call — built into the publish flow rather than bolted on after.
- A handful of editor-friendly content controls so updates to the custom areas of the site stay editor-safe, not “open the code editor” tasks.
- The same domain, DNS, and accessibility work the entry tier covers — tighter on the parts of the site you will look at every day.
The audit included at this tier
The build includes a $500 pre-check audit, credited back against the build price. At this tier the audit also covers an extra layer: a content-model review of what you are trying to model with the custom work, before any of it gets built.
- Everything in the Start Here pre-check — site inventory, DNS health, technical SEO, hosting review, the one-page memo.
- Plus a content-model review. What the custom post types should be, what fields each one should hold, how they relate to your existing pages, and where the editor seams should sit.
- Plus an integration scope check. Whether the tool you want to integrate has a clean API, whether the integration is light enough for this tier, or whether it pushes the work into the next one.
If the content-model review surfaces something bigger than the Custom tier can carry — multi-contributor editing, governance, or a deeper integration — the memo will say so, and the audit cost credits against whichever tier you decide to move forward with.
Training included
You leave the engagement able to maintain both the regular pages and the custom areas of the site without coming back to me for each update.
- One recorded walkthrough of your specific site, covering both the standard pages and the custom content types built for you.
- Two 60-minute live online sessions — one at hand-off, one mid-90-days — with one focused on regular publishing and the other focused on the custom content type and integration workflow.
- A short written reference tailored to your build, including the specific custom-field flow and the integration’s editor-side touchpoints.
- Email Q&A access for the first 90 days post-launch on anything related to the build.
WordPress training classes delivered as part of this package
The training surface above is built around the WordPress training catalogue. The specific classes delivered as part of this engagement:
- WordPress Training 101 — compressed remote session (~3 hours), with an extra walkthrough on the custom content type built for you.
Each course in the WordPress training catalogue has its own public-cohort schedule and pricing if your team wants the catalogue cohort outside an engagement. Within an engagement the delivery is tailored to your specific build — same curriculum, your context, your dashboard.
Starting smaller is never a mistake
Who this is for
- ✅ You are an owner-operator with a content shape that does not fit pages-and-posts cleanly.
- ✅ You have one specific integration with a CRM, scheduling tool, or industry API that has to land properly.
- ✅ You are the only person who will publish on the site, but the publishing itself is more than “write a blog post”.
- ✅ You expect the business to grow and want the custom work designed so it carries forward.
- ❌ Multiple contributors will publish weekly — that is Team-Run Sites.
- ❌ The integration is several systems deep, requires SSO, or has to survive a procurement review — that is Unlimited Growth or higher.
- ❌ You are selling product with a real catalogue — that is E-commerce Sites.
Considering a different Owner-Run tier?
The Start tier without the custom work? Start Here at $2,500. Site that needs to do real revenue work with multiple service lines? Build Your Future at $6,000+. Owner-run business at operational scale where downtime or slow pages cost real money? Unlimited Growth at $17,000+. The whole ladder: services page.
