# WordPress Grand Rapids

WordPress Grand Rapids is the Grand Rapids, Michigan WordPress studio of 45Squared LLC, a web development studio founded in 2015. It builds WordPress and WooCommerce websites for small businesses, migrates sites from Wix, Squarespace, GoDaddy and Weebly to WordPress, provides managed WordPress hosting, and runs free SEO and WCAG 2.1 AA accessibility audits. Clients own what 45Squared builds.

## 11 reasons to use WordPress for your business website
URL: https://wordpressgrandrapids.com/11-reasons-why-you-should-use-wordpress-to-run-your-business-website/

WordPress suits most small business websites because you own it, it costs nothing to license, it’s easy to edit, and it can grow from a five-page site into a store or booking system. It runs 40.2% of all websites, so help is easy to find.

What is WordPress, in one sentence?
WordPress is free, open-source software for building and running websites. It is maintained by a global community of developers. According to W3Techs, it powers 40.2% of all websites. That is more than any other platform by a wide margin. For a business owner, that size matters. It means the software keeps improving, the tools keep coming, and help is never hard to find. The eleven reasons below explain what that means in practice.
Why does WordPress save money over time?
The first three reasons are about cost and control.
1. You own it. Your WordPress site is yours. You can move it to any host, hire any developer, or run it yourself. No company can lock you in or delete your site.
2. The software is free. WordPress is released under the GPL license, so it costs nothing to use. You pay for hosting and any help you choose. There is no platform fee that rises every year.
3. It’s easy to edit. The block editor lets you change text, images and pages without code. Most owners update their own hours, menus and news. That saves a call to a developer for every small change.
How does WordPress help you grow?
The next four reasons are about what the site can do later.
4. It grows with you. Start with five pages. Add a blog, bookings, a member area or an online store later. You don’t need to switch platforms as you grow.
5. It’s built for search. WordPress produces clean pages that search engines can read. Add good titles, fast hosting and useful content, and you have what Google and AI assistants look for.
6. You can sell online. A free plugin called WooCommerce turns WordPress into a full online store. See our WooCommerce development page.
7. There’s a plugin for almost everything. Forms, calendars and reviews are already built. Choose plugins with care, since each one adds upkeep.
Why is WordPress a safe long-term choice?
The last four reasons are about risk. They matter most five years after launch.
8. Help is everywhere. So many sites run on WordPress that developers, guides and answers are easy to find. You’re never stuck with one vendor.
9. It works on every screen. Modern WordPress themes are responsive. Your site adapts to phones, tablets and desktops without a separate mobile version.
10. It can be accessible. WordPress core supports accessible markup. With a careful theme and build, a site can meet WCAG 2.1 AA.
11. It’s actively maintained. WordPress ships regular updates and security fixes. The official stats show how fast sites adopt new versions. Keeping yours updated is the best thing you can do for security.
When is WordPress the wrong choice?
WordPress isn’t for everyone. If you want to launch today and never think about updates, a hosted builder like Squarespace may suit you better at first. You trade ownership for convenience. The platform handles upkeep, but you can’t take the site with you if you leave. Managed hosting closes most of that gap. A good host applies every update, takes daily backups and checks the site still works. At 45Squared that costs $29 a month, and you still own everything.

Q: Is WordPress.com the same as WordPress?
A: No. WordPress.org is the free, open-source software you install on hosting you choose. WordPress.com is a hosted service built on that software by one company, with its own plans, prices and limits. Everything in this post is about the free software, which you can move to any host or developer at any time.

Q: Is WordPress still worth it in 2026?
A: Yes, for most small businesses. WordPress still runs 40.2% of all websites according to W3Techs, it ships regular updates, and nothing else offers the same mix of ownership, flexibility and low cost. The main thing to budget for is upkeep. Updates and backups have to happen every month, whether you do them or a host does.

## About WordPress Grand Rapids and 45Squared
URL: https://wordpressgrandrapids.com/about/

WordPress Grand Rapids is part of 45Squared LLC, a web development studio founded by Aaron VanSledright. 45Squared has built WordPress and WooCommerce sites for small businesses since 2015 and hosts more than 30 sites today.

Who is behind WordPress Grand Rapids?
WordPress Grand Rapids is run by 45Squared, a web development studio. Aaron VanSledright founded 45Squared and writes the guides on this site. The studio has built websites for small businesses since 2015 and hosts more than 30 sites today.
We launched this site in 2019 to answer the questions West Michigan owners ask before hiring a web developer. Some of our longest-running clients found us here.
What do we believe about websites?
Three rules shape every project:

You own what we build. No platform you can’t leave. The site, domain, content and logins are in your name.
No rebuild you didn’t ask for. If something needs fixing, we fix it. We don’t sell a redesign to solve a small problem.
The work continues after launch. Updates, backups and fixes are part of the job, not an extra.

These rules match how WordPress itself is built. It is open-source software that anyone can use, study and move.
Who do we work with?
Most of our clients are small businesses with fewer than 50 people. They include shops, restaurants, clubs and service companies. They want a site that brings in customers and doesn’t need a full-time developer to run. We work across West Michigan and remotely with businesses anywhere in the US.
What else does 45Squared do?
45Squared is also a venture studio. We build our own software products and partner with founders who need a technical team. Those are long-term partnerships, not one-off projects. That work keeps our skills sharp. We run our own products on the same tools, updates and monitoring we use for client sites. It’s why a five-page site for a Grand Rapids shop gets the same care as software we depend on ourselves.

## Areas we serve around Grand Rapids
URL: https://wordpressgrandrapids.com/areas-we-serve/

WordPress Grand Rapids serves businesses in Grand Rapids and its suburbs, including Kentwood, Wyoming, Grandville, Jenison, Rockford, Byron Center, Hudsonville, Ada, Cascade and East Grand Rapids. Prices and services are the same in every community. We also work remotely with businesses anywhere in the US.

Which communities do you serve?



Community
County
From downtown GR
Main business areas




Kentwood
Kent
About 8 miles
28th Street, 44th Street, Broadmoor Avenue


Wyoming
Kent
About 6 miles
28th Street and 28 West, Division Avenue


Grandville and Jenison
Kent and Ottawa
About 9 to 11 miles
RiverTown Crossings, Chicago Drive, Baldwin Street


Rockford
Kent
About 15 miles
Downtown on the Rogue River


Byron Center
Kent
About 15 miles
84th Street, the US-131 and M-6 interchanges


Hudsonville
Ottawa
About 15 miles
Downtown on Chicago Drive


Ada and Cascade
Kent
About 10 to 12 miles
Ada Village, 28th Street and Cascade Road


East Grand Rapids
Kent
About 4 miles
Gaslight Village



Distances are approximate driving distances from downtown Grand Rapids.
Why does each community get its own page?
Because the business landscape really is different from one to the next. A shop near Woodland Mall competes with national chains on 28th Street. A Rockford restaurant lives on summer visitors from the White Pine Trail. A Byron Center contractor is chasing new subdivisions, and an East Grand Rapids consultant may have no storefront at all. Each page covers what matters there, the kinds of customers you’re likely to meet, and what your website should do about it.
Is anything different about working with you by location?
No. Every project follows the same simple path: a short phone or video call, a written fixed quote with a launch date, a build on a private preview link, and a launch once you approve every page. Services and published prices are identical in every community. You own the site, the domain and the logins wherever you’re based. See pricing and our services for the details.

Q: Do you charge more outside the city of Grand Rapids?
A: No. Our prices are the same in every community we serve, and the same for remote clients. Managed WordPress hosting is $29 a month, and moving a site to WordPress starts at $1,500 with 30 days of support. New builds get one fixed quote after a short call. Where your business is located doesn’t change the price.

Q: My town isn't listed. Can you still help?
A: Yes. The pages here cover the communities we hear from most, but we’re glad to hear from businesses in Walker, Caledonia, Lowell, Allendale and the rest of West Michigan, and we work remotely with businesses anywhere in the US. Projects run on a call, a written quote and a private preview link, so the distance makes no difference to how the work goes.

## The WordPress Grand Rapids blog
URL: https://wordpressgrandrapids.com/blog/

This blog covers the website questions small business owners ask most. What a website costs in Grand Rapids, why WordPress suits a business website, how the block editor compares to page builders, and which myths about WordPress are out of date. Every post was last reviewed in September 2026.

Who writes these posts?
Every post is written by Aaron VanSledright, founder of 45Squared, a studio that has built WordPress sites since 2015. We write from what we see on the 30+ sites we host and maintain, not from press releases. When a post cites a number, it links to the source, such as W3Techs for usage figures or the official WordPress News for release details.
How often are they updated?
We review each post at least once a year and whenever WordPress changes in a way that affects the advice. The date at the top of each post shows when it was last reviewed. The three WordPress posts were first published in December 2020 and fully rewritten in September 2026. The Grand Rapids pricing guide and the guide to stopping contact form junk were added in September 2026.
What topics do you cover?
We stick to what helps owners make decisions:

Choosing a platform. When WordPress fits and when it doesn’t.
Building and editing. The block editor, themes and page builders.
Looking after a site. Updates, security, speed, backups and contact forms that deliver.
Being found. SEO, accessibility and showing up in AI answers.

We don’t cover developer tutorials or plugin coding. If a post needs a technical step, we explain what it does and why, so you can decide whether to do it yourself or hand it to someone.
Have a topic you’d like covered? Ask in the form below.
Where should a new reader start?
Start with 11 reasons to use WordPress if you’re still choosing a platform. Read page builders vs the block editor if you already run WordPress and wonder whether your builder is slowing you down. And read six common myths if someone has told you WordPress is insecure or only for blogs.

## Six common myths about WordPress, checked again for 2026
URL: https://wordpressgrandrapids.com/common-myths-about-wordpress/

The most common WordPress myths, that it’s only for blogs, insecure, slow, hard to use, not for serious businesses, or free to run with no upkeep, are mostly outdated or half true. WordPress runs 40.2% of all websites; how well a site runs depends on how it’s built and looked after.

Is WordPress just for blogs, and is it secure?
These two myths come up first, and both are rooted in how WordPress used to work.
Myth 1: “WordPress is just for blogs.” Verdict: outdated. WordPress started as a blogging tool in 2003. Today it runs business sites, online stores, membership sites and news sites. According to W3Techs, it powers 40.2% of all websites. Blogs are only a small share of that.
Myth 2: “WordPress isn’t secure.” Verdict: half true. WordPress core is well maintained and patched quickly. Most hacks come from outdated plugins, abandoned themes and weak passwords. The official hardening guide covers the fixes. In short, update everything, use few plugins, and use strong logins with two-factor.
Is WordPress slow or hard to use?
These myths are about day-to-day experience, for visitors and for you.
Myth 3: “WordPress is slow.” Verdict: depends on the build. A lean theme on good hosting is fast. A site with a heavy page builder, 40 plugins and cheap shared hosting is slow. Google measures speed with Core Web Vitals, and a well-built WordPress site can pass them. The platform isn’t the problem. The choices on top of it are.
Myth 4: “WordPress is hard to use.” Verdict: outdated. The block editor made editing much more visual. Most owners learn to update text, images and pages in under an hour of training.
Is WordPress right for a serious business, and is it free?
The last two myths are about money and credibility.
Myth 5: “WordPress isn’t for serious businesses.” Verdict: false. Large publishers, universities and global brands run WordPress. The WordPress Showcase lists many of them. For a small business, it offers the same core software they use.
Myth 6: “WordPress is free, so it costs nothing to run.” Verdict: half true. The software is free. Hosting, a domain, any paid plugins and ongoing updates are not. Budget for upkeep, or use managed hosting that includes it. Ours is $29 a month.
So what’s the real risk?
The real risk isn’t WordPress. It’s a WordPress site that nobody looks after. A site that’s updated, backed up and monitored is a solid business tool that can run for years. A neglected one is where every myth above comes true. Plugins go stale, security holes stay open, and pages get slower as the years pass. The fix is a routine, not a rebuild. Apply updates every month, keep daily backups off the server, and check the site after each change. Do it yourself, or hand it to a host who does it for you.

Q: Do big organizations use WordPress?
A: Yes. Many large publishers, universities and companies run their public websites on WordPress. The official WordPress.org Showcase lists hundreds of examples, and W3Techs tracks its use at 40.2% of all websites. A small business site uses the same core software these organizations do, just with a simpler build and fewer moving parts.

Q: What's the one thing that keeps a WordPress site safe?
A: Keeping everything updated. WordPress core, plugins and themes all get regular security fixes, and most hacked sites were running old versions when they were broken into. After that, use as few plugins as you can, remove the ones you don’t use, turn on two-factor logins, and keep daily backups stored away from the server.

## WordPress website questions from Grand Rapids business owners
URL: https://wordpressgrandrapids.com/faq/

The short version is this. WordPress is free, open-source software you own. A small business site takes about a week to build with us. Hosting is $29 a month. Migrations start at $1,500. And if you ever leave, you take everything with you.

Didn’t find your question?
Ask it in the form below. You’ll get an answer from a person at 45Squared, usually within one business day, with no obligation. You don’t need to know the right words. Describe what your site does today and what you want it to do. We’ll tell you what that takes and what it costs. You can also read about how we work or see our published prices.

Q: What is WordPress?
A: 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.

Q: Is WordPress good for a small business website?
A: 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.

Q: How much does a WordPress website cost?
A: 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.

Q: How long does it take to build?
A: 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.

Q: Who owns the website when it's done?
A: 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.

Q: Is WordPress secure?
A: 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.

Q: Will my site show up on Google?
A: 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.

Q: Do you make sites accessible?
A: 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.

Q: Can I move my existing site to WordPress?
A: 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.

Q: What happens if I stop working with you?
A: 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.

## How much does a website cost in Grand Rapids in 2026?
URL: https://wordpressgrandrapids.com/how-much-does-a-website-cost-grand-rapids/

In 2026, a small business website costs about $17 to $160 a month on a DIY builder plan, and most professionally built sites cost under $10,000. Agency-built custom sites typically run $5,000 to $20,000. With 45Squared, managed hosting is $29 a month, migrations start at $1,500, and new builds get a fixed quote.

What does a website cost in 2026?
Here are the typical ranges for a small business website in 2026, by who builds it. Prices were checked on September 26, 2026.



Option
Typical cost
Where the number comes from




DIY website builder
About $17 to $160 a month, billed yearly
Wix ($17.77 to $159.77) and Squarespace ($19 to $99) plan pages


Website-builder specialist
$25 to $49 an hour
Clutch pricing guide


US web design firm, hourly
$100 to $149 an hour
Clutch pricing guide


Professionally built site, total
Most projects under $10,000
Clutch, from verified client reviews


Agency custom site or redesign
$5,000 to $20,000
DesignRush, from 400+ projects



These are national figures. No public survey breaks website prices out for Grand Rapids alone, so treat them as a yardstick when you compare local quotes.
What does 45Squared charge?
We publish every price we can. These are the same numbers on our pricing page, and they’re the same in every community we serve.



Service
45Squared price
What’s included




Managed WordPress hosting
$29 a month
CDN, SSL, daily backups, uptime monitoring, updates applied and checked


Move a site to WordPress
From $1,500
Content moved, redirects mapped, no planned downtime, 30 days of support


New WordPress website
Fixed quote after a short call
Design, build, launch and training


WooCommerce online store
Fixed quote after a short call
Products, checkout, payments, shipping, test orders


SEO and accessibility audit
Free
Plain-English findings by email



Why do website quotes vary so much?
Two quotes for “a website” can describe very different jobs. These are the things that move the price most:

Number of pages and how much content you already have. Writing and organizing content is often more work than the design.
Selling online. A store needs products, payments, shipping, tax settings and testing.
Bookings, member areas and integrations with other software.
Custom design versus adapting a well-built theme.
What happens after launch. Some quotes include hosting, updates and support; others stop on launch day.

When comparing quotes, check that they describe the same scope before comparing the totals.
Why do hourly rates differ between freelancers and agencies?
An agency rate covers more than one person’s time. It usually includes project management, design, development and testing, plus the firm’s overheads. For context, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics puts the median pay of employed web developers and digital designers at $47.85 an hour (May 2025). That is an employee’s pay before a firm’s overheads, not what a client is billed. A lower hourly rate isn’t always cheaper overall. What matters is the total for the finished scope, which is why we quote a fixed price instead of billing hours.
What are the ongoing costs after launch?
A website has running costs, whoever builds it:

Domain name: renews every year, usually in your own registrar account.
Hosting: from a few dollars a month on shared hosting to $29 a month for our managed WordPress hosting, which includes updates and backups.
Paid plugins or apps: some features, like advanced forms or bookings, carry a yearly licence.
Builder subscriptions: on a DIY builder, the plan itself is the ongoing cost, and it rises with features.

Ask any provider to list these in writing before you sign.
How should you compare website quotes?
Use the same short checklist for every quote you get:

Is the price fixed, or an estimate that can grow with hours?
Who owns the site, the domain and the logins when the project ends?
What is included after launch, and what does it cost each month?
Is accessibility checked against WCAG 2.1 AA?
Can you edit the site yourself, and is training included?

Clear answers to these tell you more than the headline price. If you’d like ours, request a free quote or start with a free audit of your current site.

Q: How much does a small business website cost in Grand Rapids?
A: Most small business websites built by a professional cost under $10,000, and agency-built custom sites typically run $5,000 to $20,000. A DIY builder plan costs about $17 to $160 a month plus your own time. No public survey breaks prices out for Grand Rapids alone, so national figures from Clutch and DesignRush are the best published guide.

Q: Why doesn't 45Squared publish a price for a new website?
A: Because a five-page brochure site and a 60-product online store are different jobs, and one listed number would mislead one of them. We publish what we can, which is $29 a month hosting and migrations from $1,500. For new builds we have a short call and then send one fixed price in writing, with the scope and a launch date.

Q: Is a DIY website builder cheaper than a WordPress site?
A: In year one, usually yes. Over several years, often not. Builder plans renew every year, cost more as you add selling or booking features, and you can’t take the site with you if you leave. A WordPress site has no software fee. You pay for hosting and any upkeep you choose, and you own the site outright.

## WordPress websites for Grand Rapids businesses, built to be yours
URL: https://wordpressgrandrapids.com/

WordPress Grand Rapids is 45Squared’s WordPress studio for West Michigan. We build WordPress and WooCommerce sites in about a week, move sites from Wix or Squarespace in about 48 hours, and host them for $29 a month. You own everything we build.

What is WordPress Grand Rapids?
WordPress Grand Rapids is the West Michigan home of 45Squared, a web development studio. We build websites on WordPress, the software behind 40.2% of all websites according to W3Techs. We’ve done this since 2015 and host more than 30 sites today.
We keep the list of services short on purpose. We build sites, move sites, host sites and audit sites. That’s it.
Why do Grand Rapids businesses choose WordPress?
WordPress is an open-source content management system. That means no company can raise the price of the software or shut it down. Your site isn’t stuck on one company’s platform.
It also means:

You can edit it yourself. Update hours, menus and photos without a developer.
It grows with you. Add an online store, bookings or a blog later.
Help is easy to find. Thousands of developers know WordPress, so you’re never stuck with one vendor.

What makes 45Squared different?
We’re a small studio, and you deal with the people who build your site. Three things matter to us:

You own what we build. The site, the domain, the content and the logins are yours.
We don’t rebuild what works. If your site needs a fix, we fix it. We don’t sell a redesign you didn’t ask for.
We look after it after launch. Updates, backups and fixes are part of our hosting, not an upsell.

What does a project with us look like?
Most projects follow the same simple path. We have a short call about your business and goals. We send a fixed quote. We build the site on a private link so you can review it. Then we launch, point your domain, and train you on edits. A typical small business site takes about a week once we have your content. Read more on how we work.
Who have we built for?
We’ve built an online store with custom product photography for Wilde Thyme Foods, a family-owned food brand that sells direct to its customers. We built a site for Boulder Creek Golf Club that shows more than the course, and that the club’s team keeps current themselves. Both case studies are on the 45Squared site. Across all our clients, we host more than 30 sites today.

Q: How much does a WordPress website cost in Grand Rapids?
A: It depends on the number of pages, the features you need and whether you sell online. We quote new builds at a fixed price after a short call, so you know the total before work starts. Migrations start at $1,500 with 30 days of support, and managed hosting is $29 a month. See pricing.

Q: How long does it take to build a WordPress site?
A: A typical small business site takes about a week once we have your content. Content means your text, photos and logo, and it usually sets the pace. Larger sites and online stores take longer. We’ll give you a launch date in writing before we start, and we build on a private link so you can watch progress.

Q: Do I own my website?
A: Yes. The site, the content, the domain and the admin login are yours, and the domain is registered in your name. WordPress is open-source software, so no platform can hold your site. If you ever leave, we hand everything over cleanly with a full backup. There is no exit fee.

Q: Do you only work with Grand Rapids businesses?
A: No. Most of our clients are in West Michigan, from Grand Rapids and Wyoming to Holland and Kentwood. We also work remotely with businesses anywhere in the US. Calls happen by phone or video, and you review the site on a private preview link, so being in the same city isn’t required.

## What a WordPress website costs with 45Squared
URL: https://wordpressgrandrapids.com/pricing/

Managed WordPress hosting from 45Squared costs $29 a month. Moving a site to WordPress starts at $1,500 with 30 days of support. New websites, redesigns and WooCommerce stores are quoted at a fixed price after a short call, because scope varies too much to list one number.

What are your published prices?



Service
Price
What’s included




Managed WordPress hosting
$29 / month
Own server, global CDN, SSL, daily backups, uptime monitoring, updates applied and checked


Migration to WordPress
From $1,500
Content moved, redirects mapped, no planned downtime, 30 days of support


SEO and accessibility audit
Free
Plain-English findings by email


New WordPress website
Fixed quote after a call
Design, build, launch and training


WooCommerce store
Fixed quote after a call
Products, checkout, payments, shipping, test orders



How does a fixed quote work?
A fixed quote is one price for a clearly described scope. Before any work starts, you get a written list of pages and features, the total price and a launch date. If the scope stays the same, the price stays the same. That protects you from hourly bills that grow while a project drags on. It also makes both sides agree on exactly what “done” means before the first page is built.
What changes the price of a new site?
These are the things that move a quote up or down:

Number of pages. More pages means more design and content work.
Online sales. A store needs payments, shipping and testing.
Custom features. Bookings, member areas or integrations add time.
Content readiness. Having your text and photos ready saves money.

Is it cheaper to use a DIY builder?
At first, yes. Over a few years, often not. Builder plans renew every year, and the price tends to rise as you add features. A WordPress site you own has no platform fee. You pay only for hosting and any upkeep you choose.

Q: Why don't you list a price for a new website?
A: Because a five-page brochure site and a 60-product store are different jobs. Page count, online sales, bookings and how ready your content is all change the work. A short call lets us give you one fixed number instead of a vague range. You get that number in writing, with the scope and a launch date, before anything starts.

Q: Do you charge by the hour?
A: No, not for projects. We quote a fixed price before we start, so the total can’t creep up while we work. If you ask for something new partway through, like an extra page or a booking system, we quote that addition first. Nothing new is built until you approve its price in writing.

Q: Are there any ongoing fees besides hosting?
A: Your domain name renews each year with your registrar, usually in your own account. Some sites use paid plugins with their own yearly licences, such as a premium form or booking plugin. We list any of these in your quote, with their current prices. The WordPress software itself has no fee.

## Privacy policy
URL: https://wordpressgrandrapids.com/privacy/

Who runs this site, and when does this policy change?
This website is operated by 45Squared LLC (“we”, “us”). Questions about this policy can be sent through the form on this site with “Privacy” in the message.
If we change this policy, we’ll update the date on this page. This policy covers this website only. It doesn’t cover other websites we link to, which have their own policies.
What do we collect?
When you send the form, we collect what you type into it: your name, email, website address, the service you need, your budget and your message. We also record the page you sent it from, the time, and the website that referred you, if any.
When you view pages, we count the visit without cookies. We record the page, the referring website and a daily visitor count. To count unique visitors, we create a one-way code from your IP address and browser that changes every day and is deleted within 48 hours. We don’t store your IP address.
How do we use your information, and how long do we keep it?
We use your request to reply to you about your project and to keep a record of the conversation in our customer system. We don’t sell or share your information with anyone else, and we don’t add you to a mailing list. We don’t use advertising cookies or third-party trackers.
We keep project requests for up to 3 years, or longer if you become a client, so we can pick up the conversation where we left off. Page counts are kept as totals and don’t identify you.
What are your choices?
Form submissions are stored in an access-controlled database in the United States and are only visible to the 45Squared team. The site is served over HTTPS, so what you type is encrypted on its way to us.
You can ask us to delete your information at any time. Send a request through the form with “Delete my data” in the message, and include the email you used.

## Free SEO and WCAG accessibility audit for your website
URL: https://wordpressgrandrapids.com/seo-accessibility-audit/

The free 45Squared audit crawls your website for search visibility and WCAG 2.1 AA accessibility, then sends you the findings in plain English. It takes about a minute to request, with no call and no obligation.

What does the audit check?
The audit looks at your site the way search engines, AI assistants and assistive technology do. It covers:

Technical SEO. Titles, descriptions, headings, speed, mobile layout and indexing.
Site structure. Internal links, sitemaps and structured data.
Accessibility. Color contrast, image descriptions, form labels and keyboard use, measured against WCAG 2.1 AA.
AI readability. Whether assistants like ChatGPT can read and quote your content.

Why does accessibility matter for a small business?
Many of your customers browse with a screen reader, a keyboard instead of a mouse, or zoomed-in text. If they can’t use your site, they buy somewhere else.
There’s a legal side too. The Department of Justice says the ADA covers the websites of businesses open to the public. Its guidance on web accessibility explains what that means. Failing WCAG is a legal risk now, not just a design flaw.
What do I get back?
You get a plain-English list of what’s wrong, ranked by how much it matters. Each item says what to fix and why. There’s no jargon and no sales pitch hidden in the findings. Most small business sites share the same handful of problems. Common ones are missing page descriptions, images with no text alternative, low-contrast text and forms without labels. The list tells you which of these apply to your site.
How do I request one?
Use the form below and pick “SEO and accessibility audit”. Include your website address and the email where you’d like the results. We’ll run the audit and email you the findings. You don’t need to book a call or share any logins. We only look at the public pages anyone can visit, the same way Google and your customers see them.

Q: What is WCAG 2.1 AA?
A: WCAG 2.1 AA is the accessibility standard most organizations aim for. It’s published by the W3C, the group that sets web standards. It covers color contrast, keyboard use, image descriptions, form labels, clear headings and more. Level AA is the middle of three levels, and it’s the one most legal guidance and procurement rules point to.

Q: Is website accessibility a legal requirement?
A: The US Department of Justice has said the ADA applies to websites of businesses open to the public. See its web accessibility guidance. Businesses have faced demand letters and lawsuits over inaccessible sites. We’re not lawyers, so talk to yours about your situation. Fixing the common failures is still good practice either way.

Q: Do I have to hire you after the audit?
A: No. The findings are yours to use however you like. Many owners fix the simple items themselves, like missing image descriptions or page titles. Others hand the list to their current developer. If you want us to fix things, we’ll quote that separately. The audit itself stays free either way, with no follow-up sales calls.

## WordPress services for West Michigan small businesses
URL: https://wordpressgrandrapids.com/services/

45Squared offers five WordPress services in Grand Rapids. We build new WordPress sites, move sites from other platforms, build WooCommerce stores, host and maintain WordPress sites for $29 a month, and run free SEO and accessibility audits.

Which service do I need?
Start with where your website is today. This table covers the most common starting points.



Where you are today
What usually fits
Typical timeline




No website yet
New WordPress website
About a week


Old site that’s hard to update
Redesign on WordPress
1 to 3 weeks


On Wix, Squarespace, GoDaddy or Weebly
Migration to WordPress
About 48 hours


Want to sell online
WooCommerce store
Quoted after a call


Site works, but nobody looks after it
Managed hosting and maintenance
Same week


Not sure what’s wrong
Free SEO and accessibility audit
About a minute



Can you do more than one?
Yes. Most clients use two or three services together. A common combination is a migration to WordPress, followed by managed hosting. Another is a free audit that turns up problems, then a redesign to fix them. We price each part separately so you can see what you’re paying for.
What do all our services have in common?
Every project follows the same rules. You own the result. You get a fixed quote before we start. You deal with the people doing the work. And we test every site on phones, tablets and desktops before it launches.
We also build every site to meet WCAG 2.1 AA accessibility guidelines. That’s good for your customers, and it lowers legal risk.
How do I get started?
Send the form below with your website address and what you need. We’ll reply with a few questions or book a short call. If you’re not sure where to begin, pick the free audit. It shows what’s working and what isn’t, and it’s a useful starting point whoever you hire.

## Why your contact form fills up with junk (and how to stop it)
URL: https://wordpressgrandrapids.com/stop-contact-form-spam/

Contact forms fill up with junk because list vendors, marketers and bots can reach them as easily as customers can. The fix is layered. Check phone, ZIP and email formats. Add a hidden honeypot field and a time check. Score suspicious entries and flag them instead of deleting them. Use an invisible check like Cloudflare Turnstile. Then test that real messages reach your inbox.

What does form junk actually look like?
This month, a “lead” came through one of the local forms we look after. It had a name, a phone number, a ZIP code and a polite message. But the phone number had nine digits. The ZIP code was “4884 Ma”. The message was a pitch to sell business contact lists, sent from the list vendor’s own email address. And it was never typed into the page at all. A script sent the form data straight to the server.
That’s typical. Most form junk falls into three groups:

Sales pitches from list vendors, SEO agencies and “partnership” offers.
Fake details such as short phone numbers, ZIP codes with letters, and throwaway email addresses.
Bots that post to the form without loading the page, often with links in the message.

Why does junk get through a basic form?
A basic form checks almost nothing. As long as the required boxes aren’t empty, it accepts the entry and emails it to you. It doesn’t know that a phone number needs 10 digits, or that a Michigan ZIP code is five numbers.
Many forms rely on one trick, such as a single hidden field or a word blocklist. Spammers learn those tricks quickly. The pitch we saw above passed a hidden field, used no blocked words and had only one link, so each single check waved it through. What catches it is several small checks added together. No one sign proves an entry is junk, but four or five signs together usually mean it is.
1. Check the details people type
Start with the fields themselves. The OWASP input validation guide recommends checking data in the browser and again on the server.



Field
What to check




Phone
10 digits for a US number, and the area code can’t start with 0 or 1


ZIP code
5 digits, or 5 plus 4, with no letters


Email
A real format, and a domain that can receive mail


Name
Letters, not a web address



If you only serve West Michigan, a ZIP code far outside the area is worth a flag, not a block. Grand Rapids ZIP codes start with 495, and you can check any code with the USPS lookup. When a field is wrong, show a clear message next to it. A real person with a typo will fix it and send again.
2. Add a honeypot and a time check
A honeypot is a form field that people never see, because it’s hidden from view and from screen readers. Bots fill in every field they find, so an entry with the honeypot filled in is almost certainly a bot.
A time check is just as simple. A person takes at least 10 seconds to fill in a contact form, and usually a minute or more. An entry sent two seconds after the page loaded wasn’t typed by a person.
Some bots skip your page entirely and send the form data straight to the server. A small piece of code on the page can mark entries sent from a real browser, so an entry without that mark counts as a warning sign. Keep the form working for people who have scripts turned off, though. That’s why the next step scores entries instead of blocking them.
3. Score junk and flag it, don’t delete it
Here is the step most forms skip. Instead of one pass-or-fail rule, give each warning sign a few points:

The phone number or ZIP code is invalid.
The honeypot is filled in, or the form was sent in seconds.
The entry didn’t come from a browser.
The message has links, or uses sales-pitch phrases.
The email comes from a known list vendor or a throwaway service.

Above a set score, the entry goes to a flagged folder instead of your inbox. It is kept, not deleted. Filters make mistakes, and a real customer who typed one wrong digit shouldn’t vanish. Skim the flagged folder once a week, and move any real entry back with one click. The junk from our example scored far above the line. A genuine test entry with an obviously fake phone number scored low and still came through.
4. Use an invisible check, not a puzzle
Picture puzzles (“click every traffic light”) stop some bots, but they also stop people. Visitors give up halfway, and the W3C’s note on CAPTCHA explains how visual puzzles shut out many people with disabilities. For a small business, a lost customer costs more than a spam email.
An invisible check is a better trade. Cloudflare Turnstile runs in the background while the visitor fills in the form. It’s free, and most visitors never see anything. When it’s unsure, it shows a simple checkbox, not a puzzle. Your site then checks the result on the server before it accepts the entry. Treat it as one more layer in your score, not as the only guard.
5. Make sure real messages reach your inbox
The worst form problem isn’t junk. It’s a real enquiry that never arrives. Many forms send their notification “from” the visitor’s email address. Gmail and Outlook see a message claiming to be from someone else’s address, and they may put it in spam or reject it. Google’s sender guidelines spell out what mail providers expect.
Three habits fix most of this:

Send notifications from an address on your own domain, with the visitor’s address as the reply-to.
Set up your domain’s email records (SPF, DKIM and DMARC) so providers can trust that mail.
Keep a copy of every entry on the website, so a missing email never means a missing lead.

Then test it. Send yourself an entry from your phone every month and check it lands in your inbox.
Want us to set this up for you?
Most small business owners don’t want to tune a spam filter. If you’d rather hand it off, we’ll set up your existing form with field checks, a honeypot and time check, scoring that flags instead of deletes, an invisible check and a delivery test. It works with most WordPress form plugins, and we’ll explain what each piece does.
We use the same layered approach in software we run ourselves. Our fantasy football data service confirms each email address before it issues an access key. You can read how we built it in the GridIron Data case study on 45squared.com.
Tell us about your site in the form below. Aaron or someone from the team will reply, usually within one business day.

Q: Should I just delete anything that looks like spam?
A: No. Filters make mistakes, and a real customer with a typo in their phone number looks a lot like a bot. If the form deletes suspicious entries, you never find out what you lost. Send them to a separate flagged folder instead, and skim it once a week. It takes a minute, and it’s the only way to catch a false alarm.

Q: Will a captcha stop people from contacting me?
A: A picture puzzle can. People abandon forms when they have to click on traffic lights, and the W3C notes that visual puzzles block many people with disabilities. An invisible check such as Cloudflare Turnstile works in the background and only shows a simple checkbox when it’s unsure. Most real visitors never notice it.

Q: How do I know my form emails are actually arriving?
A: Test it. Fill in your own form from a phone every month and time how long the email takes. Check your spam folder too. Also make sure your website keeps a copy of every entry, so an email that goes missing doesn’t mean a lost lead. If tests land in spam, the site’s email setup usually needs fixing.

## WordPress page builders vs the block editor in 2026
URL: https://wordpressgrandrapids.com/understanding-wordpress-page-builders/

A page builder is a plugin, like Elementor, Divi or Beaver Builder, that adds drag-and-drop design to WordPress. The block editor, also called Gutenberg, is WordPress’s built-in editor. For most small business sites in 2026, the block editor is faster, cheaper and carries less lock-in.

What is a page builder?
A page builder is a WordPress plugin that adds its own drag-and-drop design tool. Popular ones include Elementor, Divi and Beaver Builder. They became popular because the old WordPress editor was a plain text box with few layout options. A builder let owners and designers create columns, sliders and styled sections without writing code. Each builder stores the page layout in its own format, which matters later if you ever switch.
What is the block editor?
The block editor is WordPress’s built-in editor. Every piece of a page, such as a heading, image, button or column, is a block you can move and style. With full-site editing, blocks now also build headers, footers and templates. It ships with WordPress, so there’s nothing extra to buy.
How do they compare?




Block editor
Page builder




Cost
Free, built in
Often a yearly licence for pro features


Page speed
Lean output
Usually heavier code


Lock-in
Low; content stays readable
High; content is tied to the plugin


Design freedom
Good, and growing
Very high


Learning curve
Moderate
Moderate


Updates
Part of WordPress
Another plugin to keep current



What is page builder lock-in?
Lock-in means your content only displays correctly while the builder is active. If you switch builders or remove the plugin, pages can turn into a mess of shortcodes, the bracketed tags the builder used to store layout. That makes a future redesign slower and more expensive, because each page must be rebuilt by hand. Block editor content is stored as plain HTML with small comments, so it stays readable without any plugin.
Which should a small business use?
For most small business sites, we recommend the block editor with a well-built theme. It keeps pages fast, avoids another licence, and makes the site easier to hand to another developer later.
A page builder can still make sense if your team already knows one well and redesigns pages often. Just budget for its licence and its weight.
What do we use?
We build new sites on the block editor with a lean theme. That keeps pages fast and leaves no builder licence to renew. When we move sites to WordPress or take over existing ones, we work with whatever builder is already there. We only suggest a change when it would clearly save you money or make the site faster. Many of the sites we host still run a page builder, and they run fine when kept up to date.

Q: What is Gutenberg?
A: Gutenberg is the project name for the WordPress block editor. It has been the default editor since WordPress 5.0, released in December 2018. It now also powers full-site editing, so the same blocks build headers, footers and page templates. If your WordPress dashboard shows content as movable blocks, you are already using Gutenberg.

Q: Should I remove my page builder?
A: Not in a hurry. If your site works, loads quickly and your team is happy editing it, keep the builder. Removing it means rebuilding every page it touched, which costs real time. The best moment to move to the block editor is your next redesign, when you would be rebuilding the pages anyway. Until then, keep the builder and its licence up to date.

## WordPress websites for Ada and Cascade businesses
URL: https://wordpressgrandrapids.com/web-design-ada-cascade-mi/

45Squared builds and hosts WordPress websites for businesses in Ada and Cascade townships. A typical small business site takes about a week once content is ready and is quoted at a fixed price. Managed hosting is $29 a month, moving an existing site starts at $1,500, and you own the site outright.

What are Ada and Cascade like for business?
The two townships sit next to each other east and southeast of Grand Rapids.




Ada Township
Cascade Township




People (2020 census)
14,388
19,667


Main business areas
Ada Village on Fulton Street (M-21)
Cascade village at 28th Street and Cascade Road, and the airport area


From downtown GR
About 12 miles, roughly 20 minutes
About 10 miles, roughly 15 minutes


Landmarks
The 1867 Ada Covered Bridge over the Thornapple River
Gerald R. Ford International Airport



Drive times are approximate, by car outside rush hour.
What drives business in Ada?
Ada is the corporate home of Amway and its parent Alticor, one of the region’s largest employers, which in 2024 announced a $127.6 million expansion of its Ada site. Ada Village, an unincorporated community on Fulton Street where the Thornapple meets the Grand River, has been redeveloped into a walkable district of shops, restaurants and offices. Businesses in the village often serve a local, established clientele that expects quality and notices details, online and off. For them, a website is a shop window: it has to look as considered as the storefront does.
What drives business in Cascade?
Cascade Township is home to Gerald R. Ford International Airport, which takes up much of its southwest corner, and to a long stretch of the 28th Street corridor. Interstate 96 runs through its center. That mix creates two kinds of customers. Travelers, who search on a phone for hotels, food and services near the airport. And residents in Cascade and Forest Hills, who look for professional services, healthcare and home services close to home. A good site speaks clearly to whichever group you serve.
What do we build for Ada and Cascade businesses?
Every WordPress website we build includes a mobile-first design, one clear page per service, real bios and photos, working forms, schema markup and training so you can edit it yourself. We check each one against WCAG 2.1 AA accessibility guidelines before launch. Managed hosting is $29 a month with updates, daily backups and monitoring. Moving a site to WordPress starts at $1,500, and new sites get a fixed quote after a short call. Not sure where your site stands? Start with a free SEO and accessibility audit.
How does a project work?
We start with a short call, then send a written fixed quote with the scope and a launch date. You review the site on a private preview link and approve every page before launch. Businesses closer to the city can see our East Grand Rapids and Kentwood pages, or the full list of areas we serve.

Q: I run a professional practice in Ada or Cascade. What should my website focus on?
A: Trust and clarity. Clients choosing an adviser, attorney, clinic or contractor read carefully. Your site should explain what you do, who you help, and how an engagement works, with real bios and photos of the people they will meet. A fast, accessible site with no broken pages says a lot about how you run the rest of your business.

Q: Should my site say Ada, Cascade or Forest Hills?
A: Use the names your customers use. Ada and Cascade are the township and village names, and many families also identify with the Forest Hills area and its schools. We name the communities you genuinely serve in your service pages and schema markup, so you match those searches without cluttering the page. Nearby cities like East Grand Rapids can be included too.

Q: Is website accessibility a legal issue for my business?
A: It can be. The U.S. Department of Justice says the ADA applies to the websites of businesses open to the public. Accessibility complaints and lawsuits do reach small businesses, and an accessible site also works better for customers with low vision or limited mobility. We check every site against WCAG 2.1 AA before launch, and our audit is free.

## WordPress web design for Byron Center businesses
URL: https://wordpressgrandrapids.com/web-design-byron-center-mi/

45Squared builds and hosts WordPress websites for businesses in Byron Center and Byron Township. A typical small business site takes about a week once content is ready, at a fixed price agreed after a short call. Managed hosting is $29 a month, moving a site starts at $1,500, and you own everything.

What is Byron Center’s business landscape like?
Byron Center is the unincorporated community at the heart of Byron Township, just southwest of Grand Rapids. It is about 15 miles from downtown, or roughly 20 minutes down US-131 outside rush hour.



Fact
Byron Township




People (2020 census)
26,927


People (2010 census)
20,317


Main highways
US-131 and M-6, which meet at the township’s northeast corner


Main business areas
84th Street, the historic center at 84th Street and Byron Center Avenue, and the US-131 interchanges



The township is home to the headquarters of SpartanNash, the grocery distributor, and to Tanger Outlets on 84th Street.
How is Byron Center changing?
Byron Center still has its roots in farming, but the farmland around 76th and 92nd Streets is steadily turning into subdivisions, parks and new businesses. The old business district at 84th Street and Byron Center Avenue still has small shops and the post office, while newer retail clusters near M-6 and the US-131 interchanges.
That growth changes how customers find you. Long-time residents know every business in town by name. New arrivals don’t. They search, compare two or three websites, and call the one that looks trustworthy and answers their question first.
What should a Byron Center website do?
It should make a new customer’s decision easy. For most local businesses, that means:

Service pages that name Byron Center and the neighboring communities you serve.
Proof you are local and real: photos of your team and your work, reviews and a clear service area.
A quote or booking form that works on a phone and lands in your inbox.
Fast load times, because a slow site loses people who are standing in their new kitchen.

We build every WordPress website around these points, and check each one against WCAG 2.1 AA accessibility guidelines.
What does a website cost?
We publish our prices. Managed WordPress hosting is $29 a month, with updates, daily backups and monitoring included. Moving a site to WordPress starts at $1,500 with 30 days of support. New sites and WooCommerce stores are quoted at a fixed price after a short call. If you’re not sure where your current site stands, start with a free SEO and accessibility audit. For market comparisons, see our guide to website costs in Grand Rapids.
How do we work together?
We start with a short phone or video call, then send a written fixed quote with the scope and a launch date. We build on a private preview link, so you can review it between jobs, and we launch only when you approve. Nearby businesses can see our Hudsonville and Wyoming pages, or the full list of areas we serve.

Q: Should my website say Byron Center or Byron Township?
A: Use Byron Center in your headings and text, because that’s the name on local mailing addresses and the name people type into a search. Mention Byron Township where it’s accurate, such as for permits or service boundaries. We also list the nearby communities you actually serve, like Wyoming, Dorr or Hudsonville, so you match those searches honestly.

Q: I run a home service business in the new Byron Center subdivisions. What matters most on my site?
A: Three things. A page for each service you offer, so a search for “lawn care Byron Center” lands on the right page. A clear list of the areas you cover. And a quote form or call button that works on a phone, because that’s where homeowners search. Reviews and photos of real local jobs help a new customer trust you.

Q: How fast will my new Byron Center website be?
A: Very fast, if it’s built with care. We keep plugins to a minimum, compress every image and serve pages through a global CDN. Speed matters here because many searches happen on a phone signal, not office Wi-Fi. We test every page on a phone before launch and fix anything slow, so the site loads quickly for your customers.

## WordPress web design for East Grand Rapids businesses
URL: https://wordpressgrandrapids.com/web-design-east-grand-rapids-mi/

45Squared builds and hosts WordPress websites for East Grand Rapids businesses, from Gaslight Village storefronts to one-person practices. A typical site takes about a week once content is ready, at a fixed price. Managed hosting is $29 a month, moving a site starts at $1,500, and you own everything.

What is East Grand Rapids like for business?
East Grand Rapids is a compact city of 11,371 people (2020 census) covering about 3.4 square miles just east of Grand Rapids. Downtown Grand Rapids is about 4 miles away, roughly 10 minutes by car. Reeds Lake and Fisk Lake make up most of its water area, and the city has drawn visitors to Reeds Lake since the 1870s, including the Ramona Park amusement park, which ran from 1897 to 1955.
Its commercial heart is Gaslight Village, at the east end of Wealthy Street. The district is walkable and a short walk from Reeds Lake, John Collins Park and East Grand Rapids High School, with shops, restaurants, salons and studios. Outside the village, the city is almost entirely residential. That makes home-based practices, such as consultants, tutors and therapists, a real part of its business life, and their websites have to work without a storefront.
What do customers expect from an East Grand Rapids business online?
People here tend to walk, bike and plan. Before a dinner in Gaslight Village or an appointment with a local practitioner, they check the website. They expect it to load quickly, look polished and answer the obvious questions: when you’re open, what you offer, what it costs or how to book, and where to park. A site that looks neglected sends them back to the search results. Because the city is so close to Grand Rapids, you are also competing with businesses a few minutes away in Eastown and downtown.
What do we build for East Grand Rapids businesses?
For a Gaslight Village storefront, we focus on hours, menus or products, events and directions, all easy to update from a phone. For a home-based practice, we focus on your expertise, your process and how to book, with no street address on the site. Every build includes:

A mobile-first design that matches your brand.
Schema markup that describes your business and service area.
Accessibility checks against WCAG 2.1 AA guidelines.
Training so you can edit pages yourself.

What does it cost?
Our prices are published and the same everywhere we work. Managed WordPress hosting is $29 a month, with updates, daily backups and monitoring included. Moving a site to WordPress from Wix, Squarespace, GoDaddy or Weebly starts at $1,500 with 30 days of support. New sites and WooCommerce stores get a fixed quote after a short call. See our pricing page, or read what a website costs in Grand Rapids for a comparison with market rates.
How do we work together?
Projects start with a short phone or video call, then a written fixed quote with the scope and a launch date. We build on a private preview link, and nothing goes live until you approve it. Businesses further east can see our Ada and Cascade page, or the full list of areas we serve.

Q: I work from home in East Grand Rapids. Do I have to publish my address?
A: No. If you work from home or visit clients, you don’t need a public address. Your site can describe you as a service-area business, naming the communities you serve without showing a street address. We set up the schema markup the same way, so search engines understand where you work while your home address stays private.

Q: What should a Gaslight Village shop or restaurant put on its website?
A: The things people check before they walk over. Current hours, a menu or product highlights, parking and walking directions from Reeds Lake, and upcoming events or specials. Keep it quick to update, because a lakeside summer weekend and a January Tuesday are very different days. We build sites you can update from your phone in a few minutes.

Q: We already have a website. Can you improve it rather than replace it?
A: Often, yes. We don’t sell a redesign you didn’t ask for. A free SEO and accessibility audit shows what’s working and what’s holding the site back, in plain English. If it’s already on WordPress, we can usually fix speed, accessibility and search problems in place. If it’s on a builder you’ve outgrown, we can move it to WordPress.

## WordPress web design for Grandville and Jenison businesses
URL: https://wordpressgrandrapids.com/web-design-grandville-jenison-mi/

45Squared builds and hosts WordPress websites for businesses in Grandville and Jenison. A typical small business site takes about a week once content is ready and is quoted at a fixed price. Managed hosting is $29 a month, moving an existing site starts at $1,500, and you own everything we build.

What are Grandville and Jenison like for business?
The two communities meet along Chicago Drive (M-121), southwest of Grand Rapids.




Grandville
Jenison




What it is
A city in Kent County
An unincorporated community in Georgetown Charter Township, Ottawa County


People (2020 census)
16,083
16,640


Main business areas
RiverTown Crossings, 44th Street, downtown on Chicago Drive
Baldwin Street, Chicago Drive


From downtown GR
About 9 miles, roughly 15 minutes
About 11 miles, roughly 20 minutes



Drive times are approximate and assume I-196 outside rush hour.
Where do people shop and do business here?
Grandville has one of the area’s biggest retail draws. RiverTown Crossings, a two-story mall with more than 100 stores, opened in 1999 off RiverTown Parkway, and the 44th Street area around it is full of big-box and chain retail. Downtown Grandville, at Chicago Drive and Wilson Avenue, is smaller and more local, with independent shops and restaurants.
Jenison grew up as a bedroom community, and much of its business is neighborhood service and retail along Baldwin Street and Chicago Drive: the trades, health and personal services, and family restaurants. Those businesses win work through trust and word of mouth, and the website is where a referral goes to check you out.
What should a website here do?
For a business near RiverTown, the site has to beat the chain next door on the details: real hours, real photos and a clear reason to choose you. For a Jenison service business, it has to back up the referral a neighbor just gave you. In both cases that means:

Fast pages on a phone, since most local searches start there.
Plain service pages that name the communities you serve.
Reviews and real photos instead of stock images.
A contact form that reaches you, tested before launch.

We build these into every WordPress website at a fixed price.
What does it cost?
Our prices are the same across West Michigan. Managed WordPress hosting is $29 a month, with updates, daily backups and monitoring included. Moving an existing site from Wix, Squarespace, GoDaddy or Weebly starts at $1,500 with 30 days of support. New sites and WooCommerce stores get a fixed quote after a short call, so you know the total before work starts. See pricing, or read our guide to what a website costs in Grand Rapids.
How do we work together?
Projects run on a short call, a written quote and a private preview link, so you review every page from your own desk before launch. Businesses further west can see our Hudsonville page, and those closer to 28th Street can see Wyoming. The full list is on areas we serve.

Q: Should my website say Grandville or Jenison?
A: Both, if you serve both. People search with the name of the place they live, and Jenison residents rarely type “Grandville”. We name every community you serve in your page text, your service descriptions and your schema markup. If one community matters most, it leads the headings. That way you are a sensible match for either search without stuffing names into the page.

Q: My shop is near RiverTown Crossings. Is a website still worth it when the mall brings foot traffic?
A: Yes. Shoppers check hours, stock and reviews on their phone before they drive out, and many decide in the car. A fast site with accurate hours, parking notes and your best products or services turns that quick search into a visit. It also keeps working for customers who have moved away and now order online or by phone.

Q: Does it matter that Jenison is in Ottawa County and Grandville is in Kent County?
A: For your website, only a little. Search engines care about the community names people use, not county lines. It matters more for listings. Local directories, chambers and some business registrations are organized by county or township, so we make sure your business name, service area and contact details read the same everywhere they appear.

## WordPress web design for Hudsonville businesses
URL: https://wordpressgrandrapids.com/web-design-hudsonville-mi/

45Squared builds and hosts WordPress websites for Hudsonville businesses, from downtown shops to farms and family-owned trades. A typical site takes about a week once content is ready and is quoted at a fixed price. Managed hosting is $29 a month, moving a site starts at $1,500, and you own it all.

What is Hudsonville’s business landscape like?
Hudsonville is a city in Ottawa County, part of the Grand Rapids metro area. It had about 7,600 residents in the 2020 census and sits about 15 miles southwest of downtown Grand Rapids, roughly 20 to 25 minutes by car on I-196 outside rush hour.
The town was platted in 1873, after the railway reached it, and its nickname is “Michigan’s Salad Bowl”, a nod to the vegetable farming around it. Today its business life is a mix of:

Downtown on Chicago Drive, where Terra Square hosts events, shared workspace and the farmers market.
Farms and agriculture businesses in the surrounding townships.
Family-owned trades, services and manufacturers serving Hudsonville, Jenison and the lakeshore.

What do Hudsonville customers look for online?
Hudsonville is a town where people know each other, and many businesses have served the same families for decades. Customers still search, though. Newer residents search for services by name and town, such as “HVAC Hudsonville” or “bakery near me”. Long-time customers check hours, holiday closures and seasonal stock. A good site answers both groups in a few seconds, on a phone, without making them call to ask.
What should a Hudsonville website include?
The details depend on the business, but most need:

A clear home page that says what you do and where, in plain words.
One page per service or product line, naming Hudsonville and the communities you serve.
Seasonal hours and updates you can change yourself in a few minutes.
Online ordering where it helps, like pre-orders with local pickup on WooCommerce.
Accessibility: every site we build is checked against WCAG 2.1 AA guidelines.

What does it cost?
We publish the same prices everywhere we work. Managed WordPress hosting is $29 a month and includes updates, daily backups and uptime monitoring. Moving an existing site from Wix, Squarespace, GoDaddy or Weebly starts at $1,500, with 30 days of support. New websites and online stores are quoted at a fixed price after a short call, so the total is agreed before work starts. See pricing for what each price includes.
How do we work together?
It starts with a short call about your business. You get a written fixed quote and a launch date. We build on a private preview link, you review and approve every page, and then we launch and show you how to make edits. Neighbors to the east can see our Grandville and Jenison and Byron Center pages, or every area we serve.

Q: I run a farm or farm stand near Hudsonville. Do I need more than a Facebook page?
A: A Facebook page is useful, but you don’t own it and many customers don’t use it. A simple WordPress site gives you a permanent home for what’s in season, your hours, where to find you and how to order. You can add online pre-orders with local pickup through WooCommerce, so regulars can reserve produce before they drive out.

Q: Most of our work comes from word of mouth. Why would a website matter?
A: Because word of mouth now ends in a search. When a neighbor recommends you, the next step is usually to look you up on a phone. If they find a clear, current site with your services, photos of your work and a way to reach you, the referral turns into a call. If they find nothing, or a site from 2012, many move on.

Q: Do you work with Hudsonville businesses in person?
A: We run projects by phone or video call, a written fixed quote and a private preview link. That makes it easy to fit the work around a busy season, because you review pages when it suits you instead of booking meetings. You approve every page before launch, and we train you to update the site yourself afterwards.

## WordPress web design for Kentwood businesses
URL: https://wordpressgrandrapids.com/web-design-kentwood-mi/

45Squared builds, moves and hosts WordPress websites for Kentwood businesses. A typical small business site takes about a week once your content is ready, managed hosting is $29 a month, and moving an existing site starts at $1,500. You own the site, the domain and the logins.

What is Kentwood’s business landscape like?
Kentwood borders Grand Rapids to the southeast and had 54,304 residents in the 2020 census, which makes it the third most-populated municipality in the metro area. Its business life runs along a few big corridors:

28th Street (M-11), one of West Michigan’s largest shopping strips, anchored by Woodland Mall.
44th Street, a long mix of restaurants, auto services and neighborhood retail.
East Beltline and Broadmoor Avenue (M-37), with offices, light industry and distribution.

Gerald R. Ford International Airport sits just over the city’s eastern edge, in Cascade Township. Downtown Grand Rapids is about 8 miles away, roughly 15 minutes by car outside rush hour.
What does a Kentwood business need from its website?
On 28th Street, a local shop is listed next to national chains with large marketing teams. A small business can still win the searches that matter, such as “bakery near Woodland Mall” or “auto repair 44th Street”, by being specific. That means:

One clear page per service, with the city named in the heading and text.
Accurate hours, parking notes and directions, because shoppers check before they drive.
Schema markup that tells search engines and AI assistants your service area.
A complete Google Business Profile that matches the site, since Google ranks local results on relevance, distance and prominence.

We build all of this into a standard WordPress build rather than selling it as an extra.
Which services do we offer in Kentwood?
The same five services we offer across Grand Rapids, at the same published prices:



Service
Price
Timeline




New WordPress website
Fixed quote after a short call
About a week once content is ready


Move a site to WordPress
From $1,500, with 30 days of support
About 48 hours


WooCommerce online store
Fixed quote after a short call
Depends on products and shipping


Managed WordPress hosting
$29 / month
Set up at launch


SEO and accessibility audit
Free
Findings by email



See the full pricing page for what each price includes.
Why does a diverse customer base change the build?
Kentwood’s population is notably varied. In the 2020 census, 19.4% of residents identified as Black, 11.3% as Asian and 7.6% as multiracial. For a business, that often means customers who read in more than one language, and customers who use screen readers or larger text. We check every site against WCAG 2.1 AA accessibility guidelines before launch. We can also build multilingual pages, so a family-run restaurant or clinic can speak to its customers in their own language. Both help people find you, and both help search engines understand you.
How do we work with Kentwood businesses?
Every project starts with a short call about the business and what the site needs to do. You then get a written fixed quote with the scope and a launch date. We build on a private preview link, you review it, and we launch, point your domain and train you to make edits. If your business is closer to Wyoming or Cascade, see our Wyoming and Ada and Cascade pages, or every area we serve.

Q: Do you build websites for businesses on 28th Street in Kentwood?
A: Yes. Retailers, restaurants and service businesses along 28th Street are a good fit, because that corridor is crowded with national brands and search results reflect it. We build a WordPress site with clear location pages, opening hours and schema markup, so Google and AI assistants can tell exactly where you are and what you offer.

Q: Can my Kentwood website have pages in more than one language?
A: Yes. In the 2020 census, about 44% of Kentwood residents identified as something other than white alone, and many local businesses serve customers who prefer to read in a language other than English. WordPress handles multilingual sites well. We set up each language as its own set of pages with the right language tags, so search engines show visitors the version they can read.

Q: Do we need to meet in person to start a project?
A: No. Most projects run on a short video or phone call, a written fixed quote, and a private preview link where you watch the site take shape. That keeps the process quick for owners who are busy running a shop or a crew. You review and approve every page before anything goes live on your domain.

## WordPress websites for Rockford businesses
URL: https://wordpressgrandrapids.com/web-design-rockford-mi/

45Squared builds and hosts WordPress websites for businesses in Rockford, Michigan. A typical small business site takes about a week once content is ready and is quoted at a fixed price after a short call. Managed hosting is $29 a month, and moving an existing site starts at $1,500. You own the finished site.

What is Rockford’s business landscape like?
Rockford is a city of 6,142 people (2020 census) on the Rogue River in northern Kent County. Downtown Rockford is about 15 miles north of downtown Grand Rapids, or roughly 20 minutes up US-131 outside rush hour.

Downtown and Main Street are walkable, with independent boutiques, restaurants and a Saturday farmers market in summer.
The Rogue River and Rockford Dam sit right beside downtown and draw paddlers and anglers.
The Fred Meijer White Pine Trail, a state park trail that runs 92 miles from Grand Rapids to Cadillac, passes straight through town.
Wolverine World Wide, the footwear company, has been based in Rockford for more than a century and is its largest employer.

Who are a Rockford business’s customers?
There are two groups, and a good website serves both. The first is local: people from Rockford and the surrounding townships who shop, eat and use services in town every week. The second is visitors who come for the river, the trail or a day downtown, often from Grand Rapids and its suburbs. Visitors search on a phone, often while they are already in town, for things like “lunch near the White Pine Trail” or “gift shop downtown Rockford”. They want hours, a menu or product list, and directions, fast.
What should a Rockford website include?
For a downtown business, we focus on the things visitors check before they walk in:

Opening hours that are easy to update, including seasonal and holiday changes.
Events and specials with dates, marked up so search engines can list them.
Real photos of the shop and the setting, not stock images.
A map link and parking notes, since visitors don’t know the town.
An optional online store built on WooCommerce, for gift cards, shipping or local pickup.

Every site is checked against WCAG 2.1 AA accessibility guidelines and tested on phones before launch.
What does it cost?
Our prices are published and the same everywhere we work. Managed WordPress hosting is $29 a month and covers updates, daily backups and uptime monitoring. Moving a site from a builder such as Wix or Squarespace starts at $1,500 with 30 days of support. New sites and WooCommerce stores get a fixed quote after a short call, so you know the total before anything is built. See pricing for what each price includes.
How do we work with Rockford businesses?
Projects start with a short call and a written fixed quote. We build on a private preview link, so you can review pages between customers, and we launch only when you approve. You get the admin login, the files and a short training session. Businesses east of the Grand River can also see our Ada and Cascade page, or the full list of areas we serve.

Q: My Rockford shop gets most of its traffic in summer. How should the website handle that?
A: Plan for the seasons. We set the site up so you can change hours, add a seasonal banner, and post events in a few minutes from your phone, without calling us. Events can carry schema markup so search engines understand the date and place. In the quiet months, an online store or gift card page keeps selling to visitors who remember you.

Q: Can I sell online from a small downtown Rockford shop?
A: Yes. A WooCommerce store on WordPress lets you sell a curated set of products, gift cards or local pickup orders alongside your storefront. You don’t need to list your whole inventory. Many small shops start with twenty or thirty best sellers. There’s no platform fee on top of payment processing, and you own the store and its customer list.

Q: Is Rockford too far out for you to work with?
A: No. We run projects by phone or video call, a written fixed quote and a private preview link, so distance doesn’t change anything. You review every page on your own schedule, which suits owners who are behind the counter all day. When the site is ready, we launch it, point your domain and walk you through editing it.

## WordPress websites for Wyoming, Michigan businesses
URL: https://wordpressgrandrapids.com/web-design-wyoming-mi/

45Squared builds and hosts WordPress websites for businesses in Wyoming, Michigan. New sites get a fixed quote after a short call and usually take about a week once content is ready. Moving an existing site starts at $1,500, and managed hosting is $29 a month. You own everything we build.

What is Wyoming’s business landscape like?
Wyoming had 76,501 residents in the 2020 census, making it West Michigan’s second most-populous city after Grand Rapids. It sits just southwest of Grand Rapids, about 6 miles from downtown, or roughly 12 minutes by car outside rush hour. Its main business areas are:

28th Street (M-11), the city’s commercial spine, home to Rogers Plaza and the 28 West district.
Division Avenue, an older corridor of local shops, restaurants and services.
The US-131 and M-6 corridors, with manufacturing, distribution and large employers such as Gordon Food Service and University of Michigan Health-West, formerly Metro Health.

How is Wyoming changing, and why does it matter online?
In 2021 the city adopted its Wyoming [re]Imagined master plan. Two of its focus points are turning the 28th Street and Division Avenue areas into walkable centers with shopping, dining, entertainment and housing. The former Wyoming Village Mall has already been redeveloped as 28 West Place, and the city’s Downtown Development Authority supports businesses along 28th Street.
More people living and walking in these districts means more “near me” searches from phones. A business that shows up with accurate hours, a clear menu or service list, and a working map link gets the visit. A slow or out-of-date site loses it to the next listing.
What do we build for Wyoming businesses?
Every WordPress site we build includes:

A mobile-first design, because most local searches happen on a phone.
A page for each service you sell, written so search engines can match it to real questions.
Contact and quote forms that actually reach your inbox.
Accessibility checks against WCAG 2.1 AA, so customers using screen readers can use the site.
Training, so you can update prices, hours and photos yourself.

New builds are quoted at a fixed price after a short call. Managed hosting is $29 a month and covers updates, backups and monitoring. See pricing for the details.
What if we already have a website?
Many Wyoming businesses already have a site. It is often on a builder plan, or built years ago by someone who has since moved on. You usually don’t need to start over. A free SEO and accessibility audit shows what is worth keeping. If the platform is the problem, a migration to WordPress keeps your content and your search rankings while giving you a site you own outright. We don’t sell a redesign you didn’t ask for.
How does a project work?
We start with a short phone or video call about the business. You get a written fixed quote with the scope and a launch date. We build on a private preview link, you review every page, and then we launch and show you how to edit it. Businesses near the Grandville or Kentwood lines can also see our Grandville and Jenison and Kentwood pages, or the full list of areas we serve.

Q: Is my business in the 28 West district a good fit for a new website?
A: Yes. The city’s plan is to turn 28th Street and Division Avenue into walkable centers with shops, dining and housing. New residents and visitors in those areas will look you up on a phone before they walk in. A fast WordPress site with your hours, menu or services and a map link answers the question they’re asking at that moment.

Q: My Wyoming business already has a site on Wix or GoDaddy. Can you move it?
A: Yes. We move sites from Wix, Squarespace, GoDaddy and Weebly to WordPress, usually in about 48 hours, starting at $1,500 with 30 days of support. We copy your content, map every old page address to its new one with redirects, and plan the switch so there is no downtime. Your search rankings carry over.

Q: Do you work with manufacturers and trades in Wyoming, not just shops?
A: Yes. Wyoming has a large industrial base along US-131 and M-6, and the needs there are different from retail. A manufacturer or trade contractor usually needs clear capability pages, photos of real work, a quote request form that reaches the right person, and a careers page. We build those on WordPress so your own team can keep them current.

## Move your site from Wix, Squarespace, GoDaddy or Weebly to WordPress
URL: https://wordpressgrandrapids.com/website-migration/

A website migration moves your pages, images, content and search rankings from a hosted builder like Wix or Squarespace onto WordPress. 45Squared migrations take about 48 hours, start at $1,500, and include 30 days of support after launch.

Why move off Wix or Squarespace?
Hosted builders are easy to start with. The trouble comes later. You rent the platform, so the price and the features are set by someone else. Exporting your site is hard or impossible. And as the business grows, the limits start to cost you.
WordPress fixes that because you own it. You can host it anywhere, add any feature, and hire any developer.
Which platforms do you migrate from?



From
What moves
Notes




Wix
Pages, images, blog posts
Full redirect mapping


Squarespace
Pages, images, blog posts
Rankings kept


GoDaddy builder
Pages and content
No downtime


Weebly
Pages and content
Content intact


Shopify
Products and orders
Moves to WooCommerce



Every migration includes redirect mapping, whatever the source. If your platform isn’t listed, ask. Most sites can be moved.
What does a migration cost?
Migrations start at $1,500 and include 30 days of support after launch. Larger sites, stores and sites with custom features cost more. We give you a fixed quote after looking at your current site, so there are no surprises. After the move, you stop paying the old builder’s plan. Many owners find that managed WordPress hosting at $29 a month costs less than the builder plan they left.
What do I need to do?
Very little. We need access to your current site and your domain registrar, the company where your domain is registered. We need about 30 minutes of your time to review the preview before launch. We handle the rest: rebuilding pages, moving images, mapping redirects, switching DNS and testing every form. You keep running your business while we work.

Q: Will I lose my Google rankings if I switch to WordPress?
A: Not if the redirects are done right. We map every old URL to its new page with a permanent (301) redirect, which tells Google where the content went. Google’s own site-move guidance recommends exactly this. Expect small ranking wobbles for a few weeks while Google recrawls. Pages that keep their content and get a redirect usually settle back where they were.

Q: Can you move a Shopify store to WooCommerce?
A: Yes. We move products and orders across, then rebuild the checkout, shipping and tax rules on WooCommerce. Store migrations take longer than brochure sites because every product, variation and payment path needs testing. We quote them after a look at your catalogue. Most stores also need their payment processor reconnected.

Q: What about my domain and email?
A: Your domain stays yours, and we keep it registered in your name. If your email runs through your old builder, we plan the email move too so nothing gets lost. We change your DNS records carefully, one at a time, so your website and inbox keep working throughout the switch.

## WooCommerce online stores for West Michigan businesses
URL: https://wordpressgrandrapids.com/woocommerce-development/

WooCommerce is a free, open-source ecommerce plugin for WordPress. It adds products, a cart, checkout, payments and shipping to your site. 45Squared builds WooCommerce stores for West Michigan businesses and quotes each store after a short call.

What is WooCommerce?
WooCommerce is the most widely used way to sell on WordPress. It’s a free plugin, which means it runs inside your existing WordPress site. Products, orders and customer data live on your own site instead of a rented platform. You choose the payment processor, the hosting and the extensions. If you ever want a different developer or host, the whole store moves with you.
What can a WooCommerce store do?
A WooCommerce store can handle almost any small business sales setup:

Product catalogues with photos, variations and stock levels.
Checkout and payments through processors like Stripe or PayPal.
Shipping rules by weight, zone or flat rate, plus local pickup.
Taxes calculated at checkout.
Subscriptions and bookings with the right extensions.

Who is WooCommerce right for?



Good fit
Maybe not




You already have a WordPress site
You need to be selling tomorrow with no help


You want to own your store and data
You want zero technical upkeep ever


You sell a focused catalogue
You sell tens of thousands of SKUs


You want content and store in one place




How is a store different from a regular site?
A store has more moving parts. Payments, taxes, shipping and order emails all need testing. We build every store on a private preview and run real test orders before launch, including refunds. After launch, our managed hosting keeps WooCommerce and its extensions updated. Stores need that care most, because a broken checkout costs sales every hour it stays broken.
What did we build for Wilde Thyme Foods?
For Wilde Thyme Foods, a family-owned food brand selling direct to its customers, we built an online store and shot custom product photography. The goal was a store the family could run themselves, with photos that make the food look as good as it tastes. You can read the full case study on the 45Squared site.

Q: Is WooCommerce free?
A: The WooCommerce plugin itself is free and open source. You still pay for hosting, your payment processor’s per-transaction fees, and any paid extensions your store needs, such as subscriptions or advanced shipping. We list every one of those costs in your quote. There is no monthly platform fee on top of your sales.

Q: WooCommerce or Shopify?
A: Shopify is simpler to start and charges a monthly plan, with prices published on its site. WooCommerce gives you more control and ownership of your store and customer data. If you already have a WordPress site, WooCommerce is usually the natural fit, because your content and store live in one place and one login.

Q: Can you photograph my products?
A: Yes, we’ve done custom product photography for clients, including Wilde Thyme Foods. Good photos matter more than almost anything else on a product page. Ask about photography when you request a quote, and tell us how many products you have. We’ll include it as a separate line so you can decide.

## Managed WordPress hosting and maintenance for $29 a month
URL: https://wordpressgrandrapids.com/wordpress-hosting-maintenance/

45Squared’s managed WordPress hosting costs $29 a month. Your site gets its own server, not a shared box, plus a global CDN, SSL, daily backups and uptime monitoring. We apply every core, plugin and theme update, then check that the site still works.

What’s included for $29 a month?



Included
What it means for you




Your own server
Your site doesn’t share resources with hundreds of others


Global CDN
Pages load fast for visitors wherever they are


SSL certificate
The padlock in the browser, renewed automatically


Daily backups
Yesterday’s site can be restored if something breaks


Uptime monitoring
We hear about outages before your customers do


Core, plugin and theme updates
Applied for you, then the site is checked



Why do WordPress updates matter?
Out-of-date plugins are the most common way WordPress sites get hacked. The official WordPress hardening guide puts keeping software updated near the top of its list. The catch is that updates sometimes break things. That’s why we check the site after every update instead of just clicking “update all”.
Why your own server?
Cheap shared hosting puts hundreds of sites on one machine. When a neighbor gets busy or hacked, your site slows down or goes with it. With us, your site runs on its own server. That makes it faster and keeps other people’s problems away from your business.
What isn’t included?
Hosting covers keeping the site running, secure and current. New pages, redesigns and new features are separate work. So is writing new content or building a new plugin feature. We quote those before we start, so you’re never billed for something you didn’t approve. Small fixes caused by an update we applied are part of hosting. If an update breaks something, putting it right is our job.

Q: What does managed WordPress hosting mean?
A: Managed WordPress hosting means the host handles the technical upkeep for you, not just the server. That includes core, plugin and theme updates, daily backups, security and uptime monitoring. With plain hosting, those jobs are yours. With ours, you only think about your content, and we check the site still works after every update.

Q: Can I leave if I want to?
A: Yes. It’s your site, and there’s no long contract. If you’d rather host it yourself or somewhere else, we hand it over cleanly with a full backup of the files and database. We can also help your new host get it running. Your domain stays registered in your name the whole time.

Q: Do you host sites you didn't build?
A: Yes. We can move an existing WordPress site onto our hosting and take over its care. We check its health first, including outdated plugins, broken forms and backup status, so there are no surprises. If anything needs fixing before the move, we tell you and quote it before doing any work.

## WordPress website design and development in Grand Rapids
URL: https://wordpressgrandrapids.com/wordpress-website-design/

A new WordPress website from 45Squared takes about a week once your content is ready. It is built for speed, accessibility and search, tested on every screen size, and handed over with full admin access. New builds are quoted at a fixed price after a short call.

What is included in a WordPress website build?
A WordPress website build is the design, setup and launch of a new site on WordPress. Every build from us includes:

A mobile-first design that fits your brand.
Pages structured for search, with titles, descriptions and schema markup.
Contact forms that actually deliver to your inbox.
Accessibility checks against WCAG 2.1 AA.
Speed work, like compressed images and minimal plugins.
Training so you can edit the site yourself.

How long does it take?
A typical small business site takes about a week once we have your content. The biggest delay is almost always content, not code. Having your logo, photos and service list ready speeds things up a lot.



Stage
What happens
Who’s involved




Call
We learn the business and goals
You and us


Quote
Fixed price and a launch date
Us


Build
Site built on a private preview link
Us


Review
You check it and request changes
You


Launch
Domain pointed, forms tested
Us



Redesign or start fresh?
A redesign keeps what works and fixes what doesn’t. If your content is good but the site is slow or dated, a redesign on WordPress is usually the right call. We keep your page addresses where we can, and redirect the rest, so search rankings carry over. If the site is on a platform you’ve outgrown, see website migration. Not sure which you need? A free audit shows what’s worth keeping.
What happens after launch?
You own the site from day one, so you can host it anywhere you like. We hand over the admin login, the files and the database. If you’d rather not think about it, our managed hosting keeps it updated, backed up and monitored for $29 a month. Either way, a WordPress site needs updates every month to stay secure.

Q: Do you use a theme or build from scratch?
A: We start from a lean, well-supported theme and the WordPress block editor, then design around your brand. That keeps the site fast and easy for you to edit, without paying for work that adds nothing. Building every piece from scratch costs more and makes future updates harder. A good theme gives you a tested base that stays current.

Q: Will I be able to update the site myself?
A: Yes. We train you on editing pages, posts and images before launch, usually in a short video call. Most clients update their own hours, menus and news without calling us. The block editor shows content as simple blocks you can type into and move. If you get stuck later, we’re a message away.

Q: Do you write the content?
A: You know your business best, so we ask you for the facts. That means what you do, who you serve and what makes you different. We then shape them into clear page copy and headings that work for search and for AI assistants. You review every word before launch, and nothing goes live without your approval.