Anthony McGrathWhat does WordPress theme development involve?
WordPress theme development covers block theme, custom blocks, design to code, performance, theme conversions and handover. Premium multipurpose themes and page builders ship hundreds of options, scripts and styles on every page. Anthony McGrath does the work himself, with 22 years in digital marketing, for businesses in the UK, the US, Dubai and Australia.
Why a custom theme pays for itself
Premium multipurpose themes and page builders ship hundreds of options, scripts and styles on every page. The result is a slow site, a confusing editor and a design that looks like thousands of others.
A custom block theme only includes what your site needs. It loads faster, ranks better and gives your team a simple set of on-brand blocks, so nobody can accidentally break the layout when adding a page.
- Best for
- Businesses, publishers and service firms running, or moving to, WordPress
- What you get
- Block theme, Custom blocks, Design to code, Performance, Theme conversions, Handover
- First step
- Talk it through: a short call about your site, who it is for and what it needs to do better.
- Where
- The UK, the US, Dubai and Australia, working remotely across time zones
- Who does the work
- Anthony McGrath, hands-on, with 22 years in digital marketing
What's included
A complete, modern WordPress theme, built for your brand and your team.
Block theme
theme.json design tokens; Full site editing templates; Header, footer and navigation parts; Light and dark style variations.
Custom blocks
Bespoke Gutenberg blocks in React; ACF blocks for simpler builds; Reusable patterns and sections; Locked layouts where needed.
Design to code
Figma designs built pixel-accurate; Responsive at every screen size; Accessible to WCAG 2.2 AA; Consistent spacing and type.
Performance
No jQuery or bloated frameworks; Only the CSS and JavaScript each page needs; Optimised fonts and images; Core Web Vitals passed.
Theme conversions
Page builder sites moved to blocks; Classic themes rebuilt as block themes; Child themes for premium themes; Content preserved throughout.
Handover
Documented blocks and patterns; Editor training for your team; Version control and deployment; Ongoing updates and support.
Before and after
An example of moving a page builder site to a custom block theme.
An example of the kind of change this work aims for, based on typical starting points. It is not a promise or a specific client result: every business starts somewhere different.
How it works
- Talk it throughA short call about your site, who it is for and what it needs to do better.
- Plan and priceA written plan: pages, features, plugins, timings and a fixed price for each stage.
- Build and testBuilt on a staging copy, tested on real phones and browsers, checked for speed and accessibility.
- Launch and look afterLaunched with redirects, tracking and backups in place, then kept updated and secure.
Questions
What is a block theme?
A block theme is the modern way to build WordPress themes. Every part of the site, including headers and footers, is built from blocks, so it is faster and easier to edit than older themes.
Can you convert my Elementor or Divi site?
Yes. I rebuild page builder sites as custom block themes and move the content across, usually with a big improvement in speed.
Can you build from our designer's Figma files?
Yes. I build accurately from Figma, including responsive behaviour, animations and accessibility details.
Will updates break my custom theme?
No. A custom theme has no third-party code that can change under you, and it is built to WordPress standards so core updates stay safe.
Platforms and tools
About Anthony McGrath
Tip of the day
Avoid tiny split audiences. Combine similar ad sets so Meta gets enough conversion data to exit learning phase.
A UK-based freelance digital marketer with 22 years across Shopify, WordPress, WooCommerce, Magento, conversion rate optimisation, funnels, Google, Meta and TikTok ads, SEO and tracking. He works directly with businesses in the UK, the US, Dubai and Australia, so the person who plans the work is the person who does it. More about Anthony or connect with him on LinkedIn.
Want a theme that is truly yours?
Send your designs or your current site and tell me what you want to change. You get a plan and a fixed price for a custom theme.
Talk about a custom theme