WORKING LIBRARY
Short, focused guides on the things I have learned shipping 12,000+ sites and running an agency. Pillar guides go deep on a topic. Supporting guides answer one specific question. Filter by topic below.
Choosing an SEO agency in 2026: a working framework
How to choose an SEO agency in 2026. Four-question framework, four agency tiers, real pricing, the signals that distinguish a serious one from theatre.
Choosing a web development agency in 2026: a working framework
How to choose a web development agency in 2026. The four-question framework, the four agency tiers, and the signals that distinguish a serious one.
The Claude spec-driven workflow for shipping software
My exact workflow for building software with Claude. Brainstorm to spec to implementation, with the gates that catch failures early.
The directory site data model that scales to 100K rows
How to design the data model for a directory site that scales to 100K listings without breaking. Entities, attributes, slugs, indexes.
The agency hiring loop that worked at Seahawk
How I run hiring at Seahawk Media in 2026. Sourcing, screening, paid trials, decision criteria. The loop that consistently produces senior hires.
Design tokens that survive a redesign
How to build a design token system that outlives the next visual refresh. Semantic naming, three-layer structure, and what to avoid.
Fractional CTO and CMO in 2026: a working operator's guide
When a fractional CTO or CMO is the right call, when it is not, what they cost, and the engagement model that actually works. From an agency operator.
CSP for static sites: the directives nobody documents
The CSP directives that actually matter for static sites in 2026. The FAL + Supabase + Pagefind playbook from real production incidents.
The image pipeline that hits Lighthouse 100 by default
The FAL plus Sharp image pipeline I run on every Seahawk site to hit Lighthouse 100 by default. With concrete code and file-size numbers.
What WordPress care plans actually cover (and what they do not)
What a WordPress care plan should actually deliver in 2026. Structure, pricing tiers, and the operational cadence that keeps sites alive.
AEO and GEO in 2026: a working playbook
How to win citations on AI Overviews, ChatGPT search, Perplexity, and Bing Copilot in 2026. Structural moves, not tactical ones.
Static site hosting in 2026: Vercel vs Netlify vs Cloudflare Pages
Vercel vs Netlify vs Cloudflare Pages compared. Pricing, DX, performance, integration. From shipping all three across Seahawk and personal projects.
Next.js ISR pricing reality at scale on Vercel
What Vercel ISR actually costs at scale. Real billing numbers from 91K pages, the cost driver, and the merge-budget rule we run.
Headless CMS comparison 2026: Sanity, Contentful, Supabase, Strapi, Payload
Sanity, Contentful, Supabase, Strapi, Payload, the five headless CMS options I evaluate on every project, ranked by where each wins.
Astro vs Next.js: how I decide in 2026
How I decide between Astro and Next.js in 2026. Content vs product, performance ceilings, team fit, ecosystem realities.
Five apps on my dock in 2026
The five apps on my dock in May 2026, ranked by how much I would pay to keep them. Updated quarterly.
Soho on a friend-visit weekend: the loop I run
The Soho loop I run when friends visit London. Bars, restaurants, rooftops, the order to do them in for the best evening.
The London coffee bars worth visiting in 2026
The London coffee bars I actually go to in 2026: Hermanos, Workshop, Origin, Climpson. Personal list, no affiliate links.
Agency pricing that does not race to the bottom
How I price agency engagements in 2026 to maintain margin and avoid the race to the bottom. Hourly versus project, retainers, scope discipline.
The Core Web Vitals checklist I actually run
The 12-item Core Web Vitals checklist I run before declaring any site launch-ready. Concrete, short, built for use.
Programmatic SEO without the index-bloat trap
How to ship programmatic SEO at scale without triggering the Helpful Content Update. The pattern from HostList.io at 28K pages.
How to run a technical SEO audit in 2026
The technical SEO audit methodology I actually run on Seahawk client sites in 2026, with named tools, prioritised remediation, and output format.
When headless WordPress is the right call (and when it is not)
When headless WordPress pays in 2026 and when classic WordPress is still the right call. Cost reality and the decision tree.
The WordPress plugin diet I run on every Seahawk site
The default plugin set on every fresh Seahawk WordPress install, plus the plugins I retire on day one of any audit.
How I evaluate WordPress hosting in 2026
How I evaluate WordPress hosting in 2026 across managed, value-tier, and shared options. The methodology I run on every Seahawk engagement.
Off-screen: London life, fitness, reading, family
Coffee, fitness, books, parenting, weekend London. The half of life that does not happen at the laptop. Personal pillar from a London-based operator.
Freelance to agency, the actual path: a working guide
The structural decisions that compound across a career, from solo freelancer to agency operator. Pricing, hiring, specialism, geography, the path I actually walked.
The tools I actually use in 2026: a working dock
The 12 to 15 tools that earn permanent slots on my dock: editor, AI assistants, project management, terminal, hosting, design. Updated quarterly.
Building a directory site at scale: the operator guide
Data model, templated rendering, indexability gates, and programmatic internal linking. From shipping HostList.io at 28,000 pages and NAS at 137,000.
Brand for software companies in 2026: a working guide
Naming, visual identity, voice, trademark, and the brand-product feedback loop. Brand as ongoing operational discipline, not a one-time agency engagement.
Building custom software with Claude in 2026: a working guide
How I ship custom software with Claude as the primary engineering collaborator in 2026. The workflow, the toolchain, and the decisions AI cannot make.
Running a web agency in 2026: the operator guide
Pricing, hiring, AI cost curves, client onboarding, and the metrics that actually run the business. From co-founding Seahawk Media and shipping 12,000+ sites.
Core Web Vitals and performance in 2026: a working guide
Performance as a structural posture in 2026. The four metrics that rank, the image pipeline that fixes most issues, and the CWV checklist I actually run.
SEO for operators in 2026: a working guide
Classic organic, AI Overviews, programmatic content, and generative-engine surfaces. The four SEO surfaces in 2026 and how to win across all of them.
Next.js, Astro, or WordPress in 2026: how to choose
How I decide between Next.js, Astro, and WordPress in 2026. The framework picks itself once you are honest about team, content, and budget. From a working agency operator.
Modern WordPress in 2026: the operator guide
When WordPress is the right answer, when it is not, and how to run it well if it is. The operator view from 12,000+ sites at Seahawk Media.