Why custom WordPress instead of a theme or page builder?

A pre-built theme is designed for the average customer of a theme company. A custom WordPress theme is designed for one business, with one set of content, one audience, and one set of goals. The practical differences show up in three places: speed (no unused code loading on every page), flexibility (the site can do exactly what the business needs, not what the template allows), and longevity (the theme is maintained by the developer who built it, not by a stranger who may stop updating).

What custom WordPress development includes

Custom theme development — built from scratch, no parent theme, no framework bloat
Advanced Custom Fields (ACF) — structured content editing that gives you control without code
Custom post types and taxonomies — team directories, product catalogs, project portfolios, event calendars, and any other content structure the business needs
Performance optimization — image compression, lazy loading, minimal CSS/JS, and a target of 90+ on Google PageSpeed
Accessibility — semantic HTML, keyboard navigation, ARIA attributes, and WCAG compliance
Content management training — documentation and a walkthrough so the client can manage their own site

How much does a custom WordPress site cost?

A custom WordPress website from this studio typically costs between $5,000 and $25,000. A straightforward five-page service site sits at the lower end. A site with custom post types, a product catalog, membership features, or complex filtering sits toward the upper end. Every project is scoped to the specific business — no templates, no generic packages. The deliverable is a theme built for you, with documentation, and a developer who answers the phone after launch.

If your business has outgrown its current WordPress site — or if you are starting fresh and want to build on a platform that will grow with you — get in touch. Patrick Iverson has been building custom WordPress sites for businesses across New Mexico and the rest of the country for over twenty years, and the studio is happy to talk through what the work would look like for your specific project.

Selected WordPress projects

Patrick Iverson has been building custom WordPress websites from Santa Fe, New Mexico since 2003 — over twenty years of bespoke themes, custom post types, and content architectures built for the way real businesses actually work. Below is a selection of recent WordPress projects.