The hidden cost of WP plugins (and which six to delete today)
Every plugin adds latency. Most sites carry 12-18 plugins they don't actually need. Here's how to audit and what to keep.
Vol 06
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Edition 142
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May 2026
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Updated this week
Notes from the studio.
Web design, performance, and conversion — documented. Real lessons from 500+ projects shipped since 2019. New articles weekly. No fluff, no filler, no AI-generated content.
In this edition
142Articles published
6Categories
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All Articles
Every article.
WordPress SEO in 2026: the schema setup nobody talks about
Beyond Yoast and Rank Math. The exact schema configuration we use to get clients ranking for high-intent terms in 60 days.
The 3 elements every high-converting hero section needs
A/B tested heroes on 500+ sites. Three elements consistently move conversion rates by 20-40%. The other "best practices" don't matter.
Why we don't use WordPress themes (and what we build instead)
Premium themes promise speed. They deliver bloat. After 500 projects we stopped using them entirely. Here's what we use now.
WooCommerce checkout: the 8 fields you can safely remove today
Default WooCommerce checkout has too much friction. Cutting 8 fields lifts conversion 15-30% on average. Here are the eight.
How we scope every project in under 24 hours (and never miss)
98% on-time delivery isn't luck — it's the scoping template we've refined over 7 years. The brief becomes the contract.
Core Web Vitals in 2026: the only metrics that still matter
Google's ranking factors changed in late 2025. LCP, INP, CLS — what's still measured, what was quietly dropped.
Local SEO checklist: rank in the map pack in 30 days
GMB optimization, schema markup, citations, reviews. The exact order to do them in and how long each one takes.
Typography-first design: how the right font does 60% of the work
Most sites we redesign just needed better typography. Spacing, scale, hierarchy — get these right and design feels solved.
FROM READING TO BUILDING
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