WordPress website questions from Grand Rapids business owners

WordPress is free, open-source software for building and running websites. It started as a blogging tool in 2003 and now powers 40.2% of all websites, according to W3Techs. Because it is open source, no single company controls it. You can host it anywhere, hire any developer to work on it, and move it whenever you like.

Yes, for most small businesses. It’s easy to edit, so you can change hours, menus and photos yourself. It grows with you, from a five-page site to a store or booking system. And you’re never locked into one company. The trade-off is upkeep. Updates and backups must happen every month, which our $29 managed hosting handles.

With us, new builds are quoted at a fixed price after a short call, because the cost depends on page count, features and whether you sell online. Migrations from Wix, Squarespace and similar platforms start at $1,500 and include 30 days of support. Managed hosting is $29 a month. See pricing for everything we publish.

About a week for a typical small business site, once your content is ready. Content, meaning your text, photos and logo, is usually what sets the pace. Online stores and larger sites take longer. Either way, you get a launch date in your written quote before any work starts, so you can plan around it.

You do. The site, the content, the domain and the admin logins are all yours, and the domain is registered in your name. We never hold a site hostage. If you move to another host or developer, we hand over a full backup and every login. That’s one of the main reasons we build on WordPress.

WordPress itself is well maintained and patched quickly. Most hacks come from out-of-date plugins, abandoned themes and weak passwords. The fix is routine care. Our managed hosting applies every core, plugin and theme update, then checks the site still works. We also keep daily backups and use strong, two-factor logins.

We build every page with the basics search engines need. That means clear titles, fast loading, a sitemap, structured data and pages that AI assistants can read. Ranking also depends on your content, reviews and local competition, so we don’t promise positions. A free audit shows where your current site stands.

Yes. We build to WCAG 2.1 AA, the standard most accessibility guidance points to. That covers color contrast, keyboard navigation, image descriptions, form labels and clear headings. Accessible sites work better for everyone, including people on phones in bright sun. Our free audit also tests an existing site against WCAG 2.1 AA.

Yes. We move sites from Wix, Squarespace, GoDaddy, Weebly and Shopify in about 48 hours. We copy your pages, images and blog posts, and set up redirects from every old address to its new one. Redirects are what carry your Google rankings across. Migrations start at $1,500 and include 30 days of support.

We hand the site over cleanly. You get a full backup, the database, every file and all logins. You can host it anywhere and hire anyone, and the domain is already yours. There is no exit fee and no contract that traps you. Most clients stay because the site keeps working, not because leaving is hard.