Notes on WordPress, Payload CMS, and automation

2026-05-04

Choosing between freelance WordPress developers and agencies in Perth usually comes down to speed, scope, and cost control. If your site drives leads, delays and unclear ownership can be expensive. Here's how pricing, timelines, and the freelance-vs-agency decision actually break down.

2026-04-13

If your WordPress site keeps breaking, hiring help should reduce risk, not add more of it. For Perth businesses, the practical decision is often between a general WordPress specialist and a freelance WordPress developer who can step in quickly.

2026-04-02

Payload CMS shipped v3.81.0 on 1 April 2026. If you run Payload with Next.js in production, there are a few changes worth understanding before you upgrade.

2026-03-26

This guide covers the practical checks to run before you hire a WordPress developer in Perth — from asking for real examples of fixes to backup and rollback process, response times for urgent issues, and clear pricing before work starts.

2026-03-18

You’ve got a contact form on your WordPress site. Someone fills it in, clicks submit, and gets a “message sent” confirmation. But the email never arrives in your inbox.

2026-03-18

Every article about WordPress speed says the same thing: optimise your images, use a caching plugin, pick a good theme. That advice isn’t wrong, but it barely scratches the surface. I’ve sped up hundreds of WordPress sites. The real problems are usually deeper than an uncompressed JPEG.

2026-03-18

Your WordPress site was working fine ten minutes ago. You clicked “Update All,” and now you’re staring at a white screen or an error message. This happens more often than you’d think, and it’s almost always fixable. Here’s what typically goes wrong: Plugin conflicts.

2026-03-03

Every week, designers and agencies reach out to developers asking the same question: “Can you build this Figma design into a website?” The answer is almost always WordPress. Install a theme, configure some plugins, squeeze the design into a template, and call it done. I used to do the same thing.

2026-03-03

After 17 years of building websites on WordPress, I've started reaching for a different tool. Not because WordPress is bad — but for custom web applications, complex data models, and modern development workflows, Payload CMS has become my go-to platform.

2026-01-27

Woke up to a massive traffic spike from China in your GA4 starting in October 2025? Don’t celebrate. It’s not real. If you’re seeing a sudden surge of Chinese visitors with zero engagement, sky-high bounce rates, and no conversions, you’ve been hit by spam bots. And they’re coming from Tencent’s network.

2026-01-18

As a founder and CTO, I’ve launched multiple startups and ecommerce platforms. I’ve learned one crucial truth: the best solution isn’t the most complex. It’s the one that ships first and evolves fastest. But here’s the irony: while building companies and managing teams, I found myself completely overwhelmed by my own todo list.

2025-10-14

You know that sinking feeling when you check your Google Analytics and the numbers look… off? Not catastrophically wrong. Just quietly, concerningly lower than they should be. Welcome to 2025, where browser extensions and privacy features are eating your data for breakfast. DuckDuckGo blocks your tracking. Safari’s ITP limits your cookies.

2025-02-25

Ever see that Facebook notification saying “Improve your event coverage” with a claim that you could get “a median of 100% additional conversions reported”? That’s not a bug. It’s Facebook telling you your pixel tracking is leaving money on the table. But implementing the fix wrong could actually make your data worse, not better.

2025-02-17

Ever had one of those moments where you spot a problem that needs solving, but the thought of the development time makes you shelve it? Here’s how I turned a BBQ conversation into a working security awareness tool in less time than it takes to watch a TikTok compilation.

2025-01-08

Let me be direct – most Australian retailers will make a critical error by waiting until TikTok Shop launches to start preparing. Here’s why that’s a significant mistake.

2025-01-07

Look, I’ve launched more websites than I can count, and here’s the truth – most website launch checklists out there are missing crucial steps that can make or break your launch day.

2024-11-28

When Uptime Robot announced they’re killing their free plan, I found a better solution. Here’s the deal: I run monitoring for dozens of client websites. The new Uptime Robot pricing would have cost $280/year (their free plan is no longer available for commercial use). Instead, I built something better. For free.

2024-11-21

Building and deploying a production app in 15 minutes for $0: Sipsmart, built with v0.dev and deployed on Vercel with CI/CD included. No Jenkins, no YAML, no deployment scripts.

2024-11-05

Ever had that sinking feeling when reviewing a GTM container from your agency? You know, the one where you’re staring at 47 tags wondering if any of them will blow up your analytics? Yeah, me too. So I built something about it.

2024-11-05

Ever tried migrating a website without losing your precious SEO juice? It’s about as fun as trying to herd cats while blindfolded.

2024-11-01

Look, I get it. You’ve tried everything to speed up your website. You’ve optimised images, leveraged caching, and maybe even switched to a faster hosting provider. But what if I told you there’s a ridiculously simple hack that could make your site feel instant and potentially boost your conversion rate by 1%?

2024-06-01

Look, I’m going to let you in on something: I’ve spent countless hours fixing broken TikTok implementations for Australian ecommerce stores. And let me tell you, it ain’t pretty.

2024-05-21

Google’s latest announcements at I/O have left me wondering… is SEO as we know it coming to an end? At its annual developer conference (Google I/O 2024), Google unveiled plans to incorporate generative AI directly into Google Search, expanding its AI-powered search experience.

2024-05-07

TL;DR: Your website tracking is likely illegal in the EU, UK, and California. Australia’s joining the party in 2024. Here’s how to not get sued. 👇 Listen, I had a client nearly shit themselves last week. Why? They just realised they’ve been illegally tracking thousands of European visitors for years. Oops.

2022-07-10

Google treats subdomains as separate websites, splitting your SEO authority. Here's how I used a Cloudflare Worker to serve my Strap Finder tool from a subdirectory instead — keeping the value on the main domain.

2022-04-12

Webflow has no bulk 301 redirect import — you're stuck adding them one by one. This browser-console script imports your whole redirect list in one go.

2018-05-21

How to fix Google PageSpeed's render-blocking warning: inline the critical above-the-fold CSS with the node.js tool Critical. Re-posted from a now-dead Akeel.co.uk guide for reference.