A U.S. retail store running on an overloaded WooCommerce theme with 8-second load times, bloated plugins, and a checkout flow that was bleeding conversions. I rebuilt the store from the ground up with a custom theme, performance audit, and SEO foundation — cutting load time by 40% and turning the site into a reliable sales channel.
The store was built on a generic multipurpose theme with 30+ active plugins, unoptimized images, and render-blocking scripts. Mobile PageSpeed scored in the 30s, product pages took 8+ seconds to load, and cart abandonment was running at 78% — the site was actively costing the business sales.
I delivered a full e-commerce development rebuild: custom WooCommerce theme from scratch, plugin audit and consolidation, lazy-loaded images with WebP conversion, CloudFlare CDN setup, and a streamlined checkout flow. Every page template was built mobile-first with Core Web Vitals as the baseline.
Load times dropped 40%, mobile PageSpeed climbed into the 90s, and the client saw a measurable lift in completed checkouts within the first month. The store now runs on a lean, maintainable codebase the client can manage without developer dependency.
Every template was custom-built for the WooCommerce store — responsive, SEO-friendly, and optimized for Core Web Vitals from day one.
| # | Deliverable | Template | Description | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Homepage | front-page.php | Hero section, featured products, trust signals, and category navigation — optimized for first-load performance | Complete |
| 2 | Product catalog | archive-product.php | Filterable product grid with AJAX pagination, quick-view modal, and product schema markup for rich search results | Complete |
| 3 | Checkout | checkout.php | Streamlined single-page checkout with guest checkout, address autocomplete, and trust badges to reduce abandonment | Complete |
| 4 | Cart | cart.php | AJAX cart updates, upsell recommendations, and free-shipping progress bar to increase average order value | Complete |
| 5 | Blog | archive.php | SEO-optimized blog with category filtering, related posts, and structured data for article rich results | Complete |
| 6 | Contact | page-contact.php | Contact form with spam protection, store hours, and embedded map — integrated with the client’s CRM | Complete |
High-impact templates (Product catalog, Checkout, Contact) were prioritized for performance testing and Core Web Vitals validation before the full site launch.
Core Web Vitals and PageSpeed scores measured before launch and 30 days post-launch using Google PageSpeed Insights and Search Console.
| # | Metric | Before | After rebuild |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) | 4.8s | 1.9s — well within Google’s 2.5s threshold for good UX. |
| 2 | First Input Delay (FID) | 280ms | 45ms — JavaScript deferral and plugin consolidation eliminated main-thread blocking. |
| 3 | Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS) | 0.18 | 0.04 — reserved image dimensions and font-display: swap fixed layout instability. |
| 4 | Mobile PageSpeed score | 34 | 92 — custom theme, WebP images, and CloudFlare CDN drove the improvement. |
| 5 | SEO score | 61 | 97 — 22 technical SEO fixes including schema markup, meta tags, and sitemap optimization. |
| 6 | Uptime | 96.2% | 99.9% — migrated to managed hosting with CloudFlare CDN and automated backups. |
Mobile-first theme built from scratch with six page templates, WooCommerce hooks, and a modular PHP architecture the client can extend without breaking the layout.
Full site audit identifying 12 bloated plugins, render-blocking scripts, and unoptimized assets — with a prioritized remediation plan executed before launch.
22 technical SEO fixes: product schema markup, XML sitemap, meta titles and descriptions, canonical URLs, and Google Search Console integration.
Single-page checkout with guest option, address autocomplete, and trust badges — reducing cart abandonment and improving the mobile purchase flow.
Migrated to managed WordPress hosting with CloudFlare CDN, object caching, and automated daily backups for 99.9% uptime.
Monthly plugin updates, security monitoring, performance checks, and priority support so the store stays fast and secure long after launch.
Every WooCommerce rebuild follows a structured process — from discovery through launch and ongoing maintenance.
Tell me about your store — I’ll come back with a performance audit and a clear path to launch.