A very large ecosystem
Thousands of plugins and themes, an active community and widely available skills, which makes the site easier to take over and maintain.
Expertise · WordPress
WordPress Development: Custom Sites That Are Easy to Run
Etixio delivers custom WordPress development for editorial and business websites whose content, user journeys and integrations go beyond simply assembling plugins. Themes, custom plugins, APIs and AI features: we build a site your teams can publish to easily and that we maintain over the long term.
Understanding the technology
WordPress in your project.
WordPress is a content management system that can be extended with content types, fields, themes and plugins. A custom site requires thinking about both the visitor’s journey and the work of the people who will publish the content.
The benefits for your site
Why choose WordPress?
WordPress is the most widely used CMS. It is a good fit when content is at the heart of the project and teams need to publish without going through a developer. When business rules become predominant, a custom application may be more suitable; we compare the two approaches in our article CMS or custom development.
An adaptable structure
Custom content types, taxonomies, fields and REST or GraphQL APIs let you model business content well beyond blog posts.
An accessible admin
The block editor and an interface familiar to editorial teams reduce the need for training and technical support.
Solid SEO foundations
Readable URLs, tag management, sitemaps and dedicated plugins, complemented by work on performance and structured markup.
Controlled costs
Open source software, widely available hosting and lighter maintenance than a fully custom application.
Our scope of work
The work we take on.
Content model
Structure content types, fields and editorial permissions.
Development
Build the components and custom plugins that the user journeys need.
Maintenance
Keep dependencies, updates and site performance under control.
Our WordPress expertise
The WordPress ecosystem we master.
WordPress core
Block editor (Gutenberg) and custom blocks, custom content types and taxonomies, REST API for headless mode or mobile apps.
Themes & templates
Custom themes or child themes, a limited and consistent set of templates, optimized CSS and JavaScript, responsive interfaces for all screens.
Plugins
Plugins built for your needs, WooCommerce for online sales, Yoast SEO or Rank Math, WP Rocket for caching.
Performance & security
Caching, CDN, lazy loading, database optimization and Core Web Vitals monitoring; hardening, HTTPS, monitored updates and backups.
We also handle multisite configurations, migrating an existing site to WordPress and technical SEO (schema markup, load speed). The foundation is still PHP: custom plugins follow the same code review and testing rules as our other applications.
WordPress and AI
Useful AI features on a WordPress site.
Search that understands visitors’ questions, an assistant that answers based on your published content, writing or translation assistance in the admin with human review: these features plug into WordPress through a plugin or the API, with control over the sources used and the cost of model calls. See our AI agents and chatbots.
In the field
From technology to real-world use.
For a site showcasing expertise and case studies, we define a limited set of templates, consistent fields and relationships between content. An editor fills in an offering, a project or an article without rebuilding each layout. Titles, media and related links feed the site’s various views.
The choices that matter
The choices to examine before building.
Choosing plugins must take into account updates, performance and how easily the site can be taken over. We keep content separate from theme details to reduce dependencies. Forms, editorial permissions and external integrations need testing after each change.
From work to deliverables
Delivery your team can take over.
The scope of work specifies the components to build or take over and the acceptance criteria. We provide what is needed to understand the changes, verify them and continue the work.
- Journeys and custom adaptations
- Connections to business tools
- Tests and maintenance documentation
Frequently asked questions
WordPress development: your questions.
What is WordPress and why use it?
WordPress is an open source CMS and the most widely used platform for websites. It is valued for its flexibility, its plugin ecosystem and its ease of use. With custom development, it lets you build a site tailored to specific business needs while keeping administration simple for your teams.
Is WordPress suitable for professional websites?
Yes. With the right architecture — custom-built plugins, WooCommerce, multisite or headless mode — it supports complex sites and high traffic. Quality depends above all on a limited, well-controlled choice of plugins and on maintenance.
What is the difference between WordPress and Drupal?
WordPress is simpler to administer and has a larger ecosystem. Drupal offers finer-grained data modeling and permission management, useful for highly structured portals. The choice depends on the complexity of the content and the teams managing it.
How do you optimize the performance of a WordPress site?
Suitable hosting, caching (WP Rocket, LiteSpeed), a CDN, optimized images, lazy loading, a cleaned-up database, a lightweight theme and a limited number of plugins. Monitoring Core Web Vitals lets you check the effect of changes.
Is WordPress secure?
The WordPress core is regularly maintained and patched; risks come mainly from plugins and themes that are not kept up to date. Monitored updates, HTTPS, automatic backups, role management, a web application firewall and monitoring provide a level suited to production.
Which WordPress plugins are essential?
Generally an SEO plugin (Yoast or Rank Math), caching (WP Rocket or LiteSpeed), a security solution, backups (UpdraftPlus) and forms. The selection is based on the site’s real needs, favoring well-maintained plugins.
How do you switch WordPress to headless mode?
WordPress then serves only as a back office; content is exposed through the REST or GraphQL API and displayed by a separate front-end (React, Next.js, Vue). This architecture gives freedom on the interface side, at the cost of a full-fledged front-end project.
What is the difference between WordPress.com and WordPress.org?
WordPress.com is a hosted service, simple but more limited. WordPress.org is the software you install on your own hosting, with full control over the code and plugins. It is the option used for custom development.
Can an AI assistant be added to a WordPress site?
Yes. An assistant or search based on your content can be integrated through a plugin or the API, with answers limited to published sources, logs and cost tracking. We put it into production and maintain it along with the rest of the site.
What engagement models do you offer?
A fixed-price project for a complete site, from design to launch, a dedicated team to evolve the site over the long term, or a targeted engagement (performance, security, technical SEO, migration).
Let’s talk about your technical context.
Tell us about the application, the issue to address and the known constraints. We will review the dependencies and the initial scope of work with your team.