Web developer specializing in WordPress and founder of Lift Development. Keeping it fresh by making website maintenance less scary for clients and eliminating the "stale" website. Frequent canoe paddler, podcaster, and guitar strummer.
So many of my clients come to me after having a poor experience working with other agencies. I can help you clarify what to look for, what to avoid, questions to ask, and how to future-proof your project. Spend some time planning up front before you spend thousands of dollars on an unsuccessful site launch.
Disclaimer: Yes, I am a web developer but I will spend zero time trying to talk you into working with me. This is about you identifying the best possible fit for your project.
Are you confused about how to edit specific pieces of your WordPress website?
Are there things you should be doing to better protect and backup your site?
Why are you getting so much spam?
Can WordPress do x, y, and z?
I can help answer these questions for you. My company, Lift Development, has specialized in building custom WordPress websites since 2008.
"HOLY CRAP! I JUST QUIT MY STEADY JOB TO DO MY OWN THING AND I JUST KNOW I'M GOING TO FAIL SO HARD!"
No you're not. I've had that same feeling many times along my journey of self-employment and freelancing. Since making the transition from employee to contractor to full-time freelancer in early 2008, I've learned enough to know that there will be rough patches, but what you learn from them today will make tomorrow a better day for you and your business. I'm happy to share some of the tips & tricks that I've learned for finding new customers and making your business more efficient as well as offer some encouragement that yes, you can do this.
In addition to what everyone else has already shared, make sure you sign up to receive daily HARO emails (http://www.helpareporter.com/) which contain requests from press nationwide who are looking for specific stories, experts, etc. You never know, someone might be putting together a major piece that is relevant to the product you are about to launch.
Is the speed "inconsistent" as in sometimes a specific page is fast and sometimes it's slow? Or are the same elements always slow? Perhaps you've already done this, but run the front-end through some tests on Pingdom first: http://tools.pingdom.com/fpt/ That's where I'd start if it was one of my client sites. From there I'd run the P3 plugin to see if there was a specific plugin causing any issues (https://wordpress.org/plugins/p3-profiler/). I have a few other things I check for but these first two are easy enough for a non-tech to at least get started.
If this is purely a proof of concept, I'd go with WordPress. So much of what you'd need in an app platform is already there, plugins for anything & everything are plentiful, and it's incredibly easy to add any necessary custom functionality in via PHP. Depending on what you are building, you might not even need to build from scratch if it works.
Plugins like Advanced Custom Fields Pro, Gravity Forms, Custom Post Type UI, WooCommerce, and MemberPress might come in handy.
By far the biggest thing I've learned when it comes to my own productivity: find a way to block out social media and other distracting websites for set periods of time. There are quite a few good blocking apps out there if you do some searching. My personal favorite is Focus (Mac app) - https://heyfocus.com I have zero affiliation with them, I just use it and it works perfectly. Good way to set aside time to crank out work, then take a five minute break to recharge when the timer is done.
Not only is Dave a wonderful programmer, but he's an even better person. His communication skills are unmatched by anyone I've ever encountered in the programming world. He is professional, honest and great at what he does...I highly recommend!
We hired Dave to completely re-do our website. We had some crazy ideas and not only did he implement them all in our website, but he came up with some additional ideas to make the site even better. He was very patient with all of our questions and even helped with some basic SEO after the site was completed.
I have already recommended Dave to several friends and I plan on using him again in the future. Check out our site at http://www.destinationsinflorida.com to see what an amazing job he did on our site. We highly recommend Dave!
Dave has always been reliable to work with. He always delivered great results even when we changed our mind ten times about what we wanted. I definitely recommend Dave and would hire him again if the opportunity arises.
Dave is easy to work with and communicates well. Not only does he respond promptly to my queries, he takes the initiative to see that I have information I need about content, timelines, and technical questions. He delivered my web site project on budget and ahead of schedule. Dave's expertise as a WordPress developer made it easy for me to fit the site functionality to my business needs. I will certainly call Dave again for my next web-base project.
I had the pleasure of working with Dave on several projects during my employment with GE Money - WMC Mortgage as a Marketing Manager. He is very thorough, consistent and trustworthy when it comes to delivering project initiatives on time and within scope. The work Dave provided was always impeccable and definitely added value to the overall objectives. His attitude is always that of a positive, patient and passionate nature -- He is very passionate about his work and it clearly shines through in his deliverables. Additionally, he was always available to answer any and all questions and was an absoute pleasure to work with!
As someone who is not "tech savvy," Dave puts me right as ease with his demeanor and service when talking web design and functionality. He is highly attentive, wants the best for his clients and "thinks outside the box." Dave is communicative, polished and truly service orientated. And, on top of it, he delivers a great product. Dave will keep his spot on my speed dial for a long time to come. Thanks Dave for the great website. You're a pleasure to work with on SheTaxi business.
Dave made website development easy and painless. Not only is he knowledgeable and timely regarding deadlines, but he is so very personable and patient. He was happy to answer all of my Word Press questions and tweak my site until I was satisfied with the end result. Thanks Dave!
I have worked with Dave on several projects and highly recommend him! I hired Dave to develop my site, www.mpstaff.com, upon opening my recruiting business in 2009 and then again in 2011 to update my site to a WordPress format. Dave is reliable, thorough and delivers on his promises. I found working with Dave to be an easy and informative experience. His expertise is easily translated to the "lay person" and he made working together fun. Dave's work was always delivered on time and without additional change orders. I plan to work with Dave in the future.
Dave Yankowiak is THE man when it comes to Wordpress. Anytime we need help with our Wordpress blogs/sites he's the person we contact. Dave is great to work with and always has a solution that's just what we were looking for. It's truly amazing how much he knows about Wordpress. I can't recommend him highly enough!
Dave is a complete professional and I felt in good hands from the moment we started working together. He is an awesome communicator and takes good care of his clients from start to finish on a project. I was grateful to have him step in and work directly with my designer on my website so that I could focus on other aspects of launching my business. He has a capacity for seeing the big picture and all of the little details along the way, and he delivered on time and on budget!
Dave was hired on as a Vendor for WMC. Dave was very honest, trust- worth and reliable. He was always very honest with deliverables and made ever effort to accommodate on last minute requests. -at WMC, there were a lot! Dave ensured his quality of work was to his clients standards. I wold recommend Dave and his services to anyone!
