blog/wordpress.html

WHAT YOU CAN STEAL FROM 12,000 WORDPRESS SITES

Care plans, agencies, migration, plugins, and the platform itself. Everything I have learned shipping over 12,000 WordPress sites at Seahawk Media since 2018.

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A vintage rotary telephone next to a glowing laptop on an organised desk in soft window light

How to contact WordPress support in 2026: every option, ranked honestly

There is no single WordPress support line. Forums, hosts, plugin developers, paid care plans, headless. Every option ranked from a 12,000-site agency operator.

14 May 2026
Storefront signs in a row with one lit, suggesting WooCommerce and its alternatives

WooCommerce alternatives 2026: eight honest picks from a WordPress agency

Eight WooCommerce alternatives worth considering in 2026, ranked by use case from someone who runs WooCommerce at agency scale and builds the alternatives at agency scale. Shopify, Medusa, BigCommerce, Hydrogen, Saleor, Commerce Layer, Wix, Squarespace. Plus the case for staying.

12 May 2026
A weathered monument with new green growth, suggesting WordPress maturing as newer platforms rise

WordPress market share in 2026: the small dip, the two-decade legacy, and the AI tooling worth your tokens

WordPress dipped from 43.6% to 42.2% in twelve months. The honest read from a 12,000-site agency: small softening, market maturing, two-decade legacy intact. Seahawk WordPress demand is steady. The real 2026 move is investing in the AI coding tools that compound across every stack.

12 May 2026
Hero image for emdash CMS — honest 2026 review of the Cloudflare-built Astro CMS that wants to replace WordPress

emdash CMS -- honest 2026 review of the Cloudflare-built Astro CMS that wants to replace WordPress

Cloudflare shipped emdash CMS in April 2026 as v0.1.0. The architecture is interesting -- sandboxed plugins, per-post-type tables, AI-first via MCP. The editor is TinyMCE. Here is what is right, what is wrong, and whether you should put it on a real project.

10 May 2026
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Beyond Wix and Squarespace: WordPress alternatives for serious sites

If you've been on WordPress for five years and no Wix-style alternative has felt like an upgrade, this is the list for you. Twelve thousand sites of practice, sorted by the brief that's actually yours.

6 May 2026
Architectural blueprints spread across a wooden desk lit by a single amber desk lamp, evoking late-night planning decisions

WordPress Multisite vs Subfolder vs Subdomain: Multi-Brand SEO

Running multiple brands on WordPress? The architecture decision -- Multisite, subfolder, or subdomain -- will quietly shape your SEO for years. Here's what I've learned building 12,000+ sites.

2 May 2026
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Indexation Issues on Large WordPress Sites: A Diagnosis Guide

When a site with 40,000 pages suddenly has 6,000 in Google's index, something has gone badly wrong. Here's exactly how I diagnose indexation problems on large WordPress sites -- and what I've learned building 12,000+ of them.

2 May 2026
Vintage desk with manuscript pages and tape machine in warm golden-hour light

Headless WordPress + Astro: A Working Setup for Content-Heavy Sites

Headless WordPress sounds great on paper. Astro makes it genuinely worth doing. Here's the exact setup I use for content-heavy sites -- routing, data fetching, ISR, and the gotchas nobody warns you about.

2 May 2026
Amber-glowing vintage computer terminal on a wooden desk with handwritten spreadsheets and a steaming cup of tea, London flat, overcast window light

Drupal to WordPress Migration: A 12,000-Site SEO Playbook

After migrating 12,000+ sites at Seahawk Media, I've seen every flavour of Drupal-to-WordPress disaster. Here's the exact SEO playbook I use to make sure Google doesn't even notice you moved.

1 May 2026
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WordPress vs Next.js: When Each Is the Right Call

I've shipped WordPress sites and Next.js apps in the same week, billed to clients in the same industry. Here's the honest, opinionated breakdown of when each is genuinely the right tool -- and when you're just following hype.

30 Apr 2026
Hero image for "WordPress Page Builders Compared in 2026: Bricks, Elementor, Beaver, Divi, and Gutenberg"

WordPress Page Builders Compared in 2026: Bricks, Elementor, Beaver, Divi, and Gutenberg

A working comparison of the major WordPress page builders in 2026 -- Bricks, Elementor, Beaver Builder, Divi, and native Gutenberg with a modern block theme. From 12,000+ sites of practical experience.

30 Apr 2026
Side-by-side desk with a GoDaddy website builder dashboard on one screen and a modern Jamstack code editor on another

Why I Finally Ditched GoDaddy's Website Builder

After building 12,000+ sites I kept hitting the same wall with GoDaddy's builder -- locked layouts, no real extensibility, and a false sense of speed. Here's what I moved to and why it matters for agency owners and freelancers.

29 Apr 2026
Developer working at dual monitors showing WordPress dashboard and remote team communication in a London flat

Outsourcing WordPress Dev: What Agencies Get Wrong

Outsourcing WordPress development sounds straightforward until you've handed a six-figure project to the wrong partner. Here's what I've learned after 12,000+ sites and years of doing this badly, then well.

29 Apr 2026
A modern boardroom with a world map showing pinned global cities for WordPress agency hubs

Top 10 WordPress development companies in 2026

An honest 2026 ranking of the best WordPress development companies in the world, with what each is actually best at and where each falls short.

28 Apr 2026
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How to choose the best WordPress hosting in 2026

Most WordPress hosting reviews are affiliate-driven. This is not. Honest comparison of the top hosts in 2026, plus how to actually evaluate any provider.

28 Apr 2026
A workspace with WordPress on one screen and Next.js code on another, connected by a streak of light

Headless WordPress in 2026: the complete practical guide

The practical headless WordPress guide we wish existed. Real stacks, real numbers, and the pitfalls we see most often at Seahawk Media.

28 Apr 2026
A side-by-side editorial photo comparing a WordPress admin and a Next.js code editor on adjacent desks

WordPress vs Next.js in 2026: my honest comparison

Two of the most-asked questions in our agency: should we use WordPress or Next.js, and which is better for SEO in 2026? Here is the honest comparison.

28 Apr 2026
Two monitors side by side, a complex enterprise CMS on the left and a clean WordPress admin on the right

Sitecore and Typo3 to WordPress: a migration playbook

Why marketing teams are leaving Sitecore and Typo3 for WordPress in 2026 -- and the migration playbook we use at Seahawk Media.

28 Apr 2026
A vintage CRT monitor showing WordPress next to a modern laptop showing EmDash CMS code

My week with EmDash CMS: the WordPress alternative tested

I spent a week stress-testing Cloudflare's EmDash CMS. Here's what impressed me, what didn't, and why WordPress 7 still has me excited.

28 Apr 2026
WordPress Admin Care Plugins and Hosting

WordPress Maintenance Is Mostly About Care

10 Feb 2026
AI Website Developer

I Built This AI Website in 24 Hours, and Learned More Than I Expected

Spoiler: a lot of caffeine was involved. This website didn't come together because I wanted a redesign. It came together because I wanted to test myself -- and test what building an AI website really looks like in practice.

10 Feb 2026