WordPress Sites Your Marketing Team Loves

Hi, my name is Chris 👋🏻 I’ve built Classic City as a collective of trusted specialists who’ve built lots of websites.

I believe in transparency. You should know: the people working on your site, the average pricing before filling out a form, the entire process (not a simplified one), and examples of how we train your team to use the site for years.

Let’s knock out pricing. We don’t build full sites for $5K, but, our minimums aren’t enterprise either.

Custom WordPress Sites

Everyone wants to know what the pricing is. Let's get the ballpark estimates out of the way.

Schedule a time to Chat

This is what you get:

Custom building-blocks

You get 10-15 branded website components that snap together like Lego pieces. These enable your marketers to create new pages, campaigns, and ideas quickly and independently.

Drag-n-drop editing

Your marketing team builds pages by simply dragging sections into place and adding content. Change anything — instantly. No more playing telephone with developers or worrying about mistakes.

Built-in training videos

Every website includes step-by-step video tutorials embedded in your admin panel so your team can solve challenges without waiting for support.

5-year durability

Your website stays fast, secure, and easy to use for years without expensive rebuilds. We build with core WordPress technology that grows with your business instead of becoming outdated.

This is what it'll cost:
WordPress website, education, bi-weekly meetings, and weekly status reports included across all.

$15,000

5 hand-crafted pages, up to 25 as-is pages, blog (6 weeks)

$25,000

6-10 hand-crafted pages, up to 60 as-is pages, blog, custom content, more QA (2 months)

$35,000

11+ hand-crafted pages, up to 90 as-is pages, blog, custom content, custom dev, messaging (3 months)

Yea, but your website may not fall into these simple buckets. Take a deeper dive.

Are we the right fit?

For teams ready to take ownership — not just hire an agency.

Typically not.

Your first website.

Typically speaking, your first website doesn’t need to be custom. You are typically well-served in a Squarespace, Wix, Webflow, (or light-weight WordPress) site that doesn’t require as steep as an investment. PS. We have friends that can help here.

You won’t update your site in 3+ months

If your site is going to sit for a while, there is a good chance you don’t need something custom-built.

You’re looking only for hosting and maintenance

These are both great things, and are assuredly needed. However, when we partner long-term with our clients, we’re looking to proactively grow their sites in conjunction with a marketing plan. If plugin updates and security is all you need, we can intro you to some dope companies who you’ll love.

Heck yes.

Exhausted of your current site

You’ve had your current site for a while. Your marketing manager is tired of pages looking different and hates editing the site.

CMOs with a marketing plan

You have a full strategy across ads, organic, email, (and other things), and your website is holding your team back.

Agencies with projects

You run a web agency, typically selling sites north of $100K, and need a pinch hitter on development. And, we play real nicely with agencies that don’t want to deal with web at all.

Recent rebranding

You are finishing up a rebranding process with an amazing agency, and now it’s time to take your message and aesthetic live.

Side note: Are you a part of an agency and “web stuff” is always a blocker?

We can help

The overly-detailed process

Watch where I overview every deliverable

You’ll find this exact process outlined in every proposal we send for a new website build. Other agencies often package it up as “three simple steps,” but that’s where surprises sneak in. Because a website build is not simple. We give you a clear roadmap and ensure every step is transparent, so you feel in control from start to finish.

One thing we settle before you even sign: what kind of page each page is. When we map your sitemap, every page gets one of three labels. That label decides where the honest-to-goodness time goes.

Where the time goes

Hand-crafted pages

The pages we design and build with intention. Custom layouts, real thought about the content, and rounds of QA attached to every single one.

Same bones, new look

As-is pages

We keep the page structure you already have and rebuild it in your new blocks and styles. QA only happens if something didn’t come over correctly.

Straight on in

Migrated content

Blog posts and the like get auto-migrated into the new site. Same deal: we only step in if something didn’t land right.

Discovery is where we gather every ingredient the build needs: design inspiration, color palettes, fonts, your messaging architecture, photography style, iconography. The whole nine yards. By the end, we know exactly what your site should look like, sound like, and say. Nothing that comes later is a guess.

Orientation

You’ll join us for a focused 30-minute call where we walk through our entire process, establish communication rhythms, and schedule your recurring check-ins.

Design inspiration

From example sites you love, we’ll pull the specific elements (colors, layouts, typography) that will inform your design. Photography style and iconography get decided here too.

Messaging architecture

We map out the words before anybody writes them: your key phrases, how you talk about what you do, and what each page needs to say.

Sitemap

A bird’s-eye view of the entire customer journey. Every page got its label (hand-crafted, as-is, or migrated) before you ever signed. Now we map how they all connect and flow together.

Everything we lock in here feeds straight into your homepage in the next phase

As soon as Discovery wraps, we go straight into designing and developing your homepage. Not a static mockup. A fully functioning homepage you can click around, built with your real content, imagery, and palette (that’s why Discovery gathers it all first). We’ll run QA on it together and lock in the design direction for your entire site.

Homepage build

Your brand, translated into a working homepage. Colors, typography, imagery, and messaging all show up together for the first time.

Your edit set

You’ll click through and tell us what’s off. We fold in your edits, run QA, and lock the aesthetic that the rest of the site will follow.

You're not approving a picture of a website. You're clicking around a real, working homepage

This is the wild part. The next time you see your website, everything is in it. The hand-crafted pages are built, the as-is pages are brought over, the blog posts are migrated. You go from seeing 20% of your site to 80% in a single reveal. And because the homepage already locked in the aesthetic, the rest of the pages fall right into line. No designing every little thing in a mockup first.

Block Library

The homepage gets broken down into your reusable building blocks, and we design out the rest of the set. With the aesthetic locked, this moves fast.

Hand-crafted pages

The pages we agreed to spend honest-to-goodness time on get designed, built, and QA’d. Every one of them.

As-is pages

Your existing pages come over with the same structure they have today, rebuilt in your new blocks and styles.

Migrated content

Blog posts and the rest of your content flow straight in. No hand-holding required.

One day it's a homepage. The next, 80% of your site is standing

The finish line. You and your team click through the whole site and flag anything that needs attention, right on the page. We knock out the fixes, run a couple rounds of that, and then we launch. Your team leaves with everything they need to run the site without us.

See something off? Click it and leave a note pinned to the exact spot on the page. Get your team together, click through the site, and flag whatever you’d like. We’ll handle the rest.

Launch

We’ll schedule an evening (Mon-Thu) to take your website live. We’ll highly recommend getting a WP Engine account to host your site.

Support

You’ll have direct access to our team for one full week after launch to address any functionality concerns that surface. This safety net ensures you can confidently share your new site, knowing we’re standing by to resolve anything that needs attention.

Education

You’ll receive personalized video tutorials walking through every feature your team needs: updating content, adding pages, managing forms, and more. These recordings become your ongoing reference library, so your team can make updates independently whenever you need.

Leave a note on whatever page you'd like. We'll knock the fixes out before launch

The people

You should know the people working on your site

One of the things I hear most when talking to clients about their previous experience working with agencies is that they got sold by one person and then the “B Team” was brought in to do all the work.

The “B Team” drives me nuts.

Since I began my career in web back in 2004, I’ve been a huge proponent of trying to get the smartest people I know together to create some awesome websites. Classic City has taken many forms over the years, but the one element that has stood the test of time is that we put our entire team front-and-center.

There isn’t any “B Team” or the ability to hide behind a project manager. If you’re in the collective, you are talking to clients and an active part of the collaboration.

Chris LaFay

Andrew Booth

Dawn Audano

Claude Ball

Samson O'Shaughnessy

We’ve built a lot of websites

Here is a sampling of the design work our crew has done from corporate to creative. If you wanted to take a look at some live sites:

Velociteach, Onspring, Magic Spoon, and Tonic

And, some case studies

See how teams moved from frustrated with their old website to confidently running impactful campaigns on their own.

Migrating a 4,000 page website

ATS's 4,000+ page website was too complex for their team to manage and too confusing for visitors to navigate. We restructured their content and built branded drag-and-drop blocks that simplified updates. Now ATS launches campaigns easily while maintaining SEO best practices.

Rebrand without a rebuild

Evangel University needed to launch their complete rebrand but faced rebuilding 400+ pages built in outdated WP Bakery. We created a block-by-block migration strategy that transformed their entire site in 12 months.

Best-selling bundle subscription

Magic Spoon’s cereal and granola-based treats provide healthy nourishment inside fun, nostalgic packaging. They have successfully carved a niche with a site that skillfully conveys this, but both website technology and project management were slowing the journey.

Not just logos

Companies we’ve worked with

A simple “list of logos” drives me nuts – what did you actually do? While I don’t have full-blown case studies for every client, I at least wanted to give you a snippet of what each logo entails.

Built their original blog in WordPress that drove 1M+ hits per month

Go-to web partner for the CRO and SEO side of the house.

Developed multiple touchscreen experiences for trade shows.

Led web design and development direction for all web projects.

Custom website design and custom Woo integrations to their LMS.

Created a WP Multisite environment for the marketing team to run with.

Deep sitemapping for a complex, multi-industry marketing website.

Designed and developed their WP blog to drive SEO efforts.

WooCommerce connected to their ERP via an API.

Custom WordPress design, sitemapping, and content strategy.

We asked our clients why they enjoy working with us.

Turns out, when you build long-lasting websites with education to back it up, life is a lot easier for marketers.

Classic City Consulting crafted a dynamic, upgraded website for our historical society, responding quickly to our evolving needs.

Cathy Hix

President, Arlington Historical Society

Classic City Consulting responds quickly and provides excellent work. I highly recommend their services for any web development needs.

Angelique Weaver

Director of Marketing, Burrow and Associates

Every request we’ve made of Classic City was met quickly and pleasantly. Their creative and innovative ideas are invaluable.

Ann White

Founder, Courage For Life

Chris and his team ask the right questions and deliver solutions tailored to our business needs.

Serena Ploessl

Product Manager, Velociteach

They combine structured workflows with exceptional communication, ensuring a great experience every time.

Bill Yates

EVP, Velociteach

Classic City is professional, prompt, and dependable, always exceeding expectations.

Ben Howerton

Co-Founder, Dev Methods

Chris and his team enhanced our marketing outreach with great ideas and attention to detail.

Bryan Fike

Chris and his team understand WordPress thoroughly and provide fast, high-quality solutions.

Bryan Wish

Founder, Arcbound

Classic City rebuilt our church website with exceptional training and professional guidance.

Allison Per-Lee

Pastor, Westminster Presbyterian Church

After partnering with them on multiple projects, I can say they go the extra mile in digital strategy and account management.

Chris Bradley

Owner, BRADLEYWEST

Classic City gave our website a fresh look, generating more calls for our business. They are friendly and professional to work with.

Donna Rayfield

Owner, Rayfield Tree Care

Classic City is down-to-earth and easy to work with, delivering incredible results for my projects.

Chase Hawkins

Founder, SportChirp

Their team is friendly, reliable, and delivers fantastic work. I finally found a development firm I can trust.

Dan Simmons

Marketing, A4

Classic City solves complex coding issues with ease, helping with tasks big and small alike.

David White

Founder, civilogistix

Chris and his team bring years of experience and professionalism to every project, providing the right solutions for businesses.

Kevin Slocum

Director Of Technical Operations, Resicap

Classic City developed a polished website and brochure for my business, earning countless compliments from my clients.

Celine Saulnier

Owner, Neurodevelopmental Assessment & Consulting Service

Classic City Consulting exceeded expectations in redesigning our website. They listen and deliver solutions tailored to our needs.

Deidre Crawford

General Manager, Slab Dream Lab

Chris and his team are extremely communicative and responsive, offering step-by-step instructions and creative solutions for our web projects.

Erin Hedlun

Chief Marketing & Communications Officer, Evangel University

They gave me brutally honest feedback on my ideas. They weren’t yes machines, but they found a way to take my wants and figure out ways to say a realistic yes.

Nathan Stuck

CEO, Profitable Purpose Consulting

They bring sharp, creative, and strategic solutions to every project, making them top-notch partners.

Ryan Klee

Owner, Rootstock

The training

We make your team the experts, not bystanders.

Websites are a bit of a black box. You don’t really know what you’re getting until the final product is delivered and you’re able to login to the backend for the first time.

I liken it to getting contract work done on your home: you can read all the reviews about a kitchen remodeling company… but until they are done, you don’t really know what’s going to happen.

Since the website process is historically riddled with surprises, let’s remove one of them. You can take a look at some sample videos that walkthrough the backend of some websites that we’ve built.

I believe you should know what you’re getting into before you sign a contract.

Breaking down our pricing

Simple

$15,000

Bi-weekly meetings
< 5 hand-crafted pages
12 core blocks
Blog
Script management
Custom tutorials created
1 round of QA
25 or less as-is pages
0 custom content types
eComm not available
No custom API work
No custom artwork
No homepage messaging

Mid

$25,000

Weekly meetings
6-10 hand-crafted pages
12-15 core & custom blocks
Blog
Script management
Custom tutorials created
2 rounds of QA
60 or less as-is pages
1 custom content types
eCommerce available
No custom API work
No custom artwork
No homepage messaging

Complex

$35,000+

Weekly meetings
11+ hand-crafted pages
15+ core & custom blocks
Blog
Script management
Custom tutorials created
2 rounds of QA
90 or less as-is pages
2 custom content types
eCommerce available
Custom API work
Custom artwork
Homepage messaging

Chat with Chris

The questions I get asked

I see your pricing, but what is the average clients pay?

I typically see 10+ page websites with a couple of pieces of special functionality land between $20-30K. The folks who land closer to $15K are ones who need a 5-page website up fairly quickly. Also, if you need help with an existing website, smaller price points would come into play.

How do you handle hosting?

Bring your own if you already have solid managed hosting — we recommend WP Engine. If you don’t, hosting is available as a $85/mo per-site add-on bundled with any of our care plans.

What happens after we launch the website?

The site is fully yours. You’ll have admin access plus training to make updates to content, headers, footers, and menus. If you want us staying involved post-launch, two options: our care plans ($250-$900/mo) cover the recurring technical work and small tweaks (classiccity.com/care-plans), or our growth-partnership retainer ($2K+/mo) ships new features and pages alongside your marketing team.

What’s the difference between the wide range price points I’m getting back from agencies for my new website rebuild?

This question needs a full blog post, but let me get the basics down here: If it’s less than $5K, you’ll be working with a freelancer. Between $5-15K, you’re typically working with a one- or two-person team. $15-30K is when you start getting into either (a) small, niched agencies, or (b) larger, generalist agencies that don’t specialize in web. North of $30K is most likely a larger agency with a sizeable full-time team.

Will I meet the full team before signing the contract?

In most cases, yes. I can’t guarantee everyone’s schedule lining up perfectly, but that is our goal.

Can I see examples of your work?

Absolutely you can. Just head over here.

Do you all do any marketing services outside of web?

No. We tried that for a while and realized it was not our sweet spot. We have a lot of amazing partners we’d love to put you in touch with.

What page builder(s) do you all use for WordPress?

When we’re building a website ourselves, we use WordPress’s native block functionality (formerly called Gutenberg, now called the WP Block Editor). We also mix in a handful of custom blocks built with ACF as well.

If we’re editing an existing website, we have reps with almost all of the page builders out there.

Will you write content for my new website?

Yes, we can provide an initial draft of content for any pages that we earmark. For myself, I know that it’s a lot easier to edit content than it is to create words while staring at a blank page.

Let’s build a plan for your next site.

Pick a 30-minute slot. We’ll figure out whether a rebuild, a Shopify build, or a long-term partnership makes sense, and you’ll leave with a concrete next step either way.

Hand-crafted pages

As-is pages

Migrated content

Discovery

Homepage

The Big Build

QA & Launch