A Full-Stack WordPress Web Developer Who Gets It.

Hello, I’m Neal Chester. I want to help your growing web agency deliver high-performing, custom WordPress websites without the headaches.

American Beverage
Circinus WordWide
Verizon
Sony Music

Experience

Much of my experience involves developing large WordPress websites for agency clients. These relationships were typically long-term remote engagements, varying from three months to over five years.

10+

Yrs Experience

120+

Sites Launched

80%

Built on WP

2002-2025Self-Employed/ Atlanta, GA

Since 2002, I have continued to help agencies and business owners with high-performing websites.

Skills: Front-End Development Back-End Development WordPress Development Conversion Rate Optimization Website Design

2024-2024UL Solutions/ Chicago, IL
  • 6 months
  • Apr 2024 – Sep 2024

While at Underwriters Laboratories (UL), a global safety science company, I maintained several websites within a WordPress multisite and converted two design mockups into live WordPress themes.

Skills: Front-End Development Back-End Development WordPress Development

2023-2024Point B Communications/ Chicago, IL
  • 8 months
  • Sep 2023 – Apr 2024

Point B, an ad agency, primarily supported the health care and social assistance sector. I audited and improved existing websites for speed, ADA compliance, and conversions. I was also tasked with email coding and developing three WordPress websites and their launches.

Skills: Front-End Development Back-End Development WordPress Development Conversion Rate Optimization Website Design

2021-2022Digital Citizen/ New York, NY
  • 1 year, 5 months
  • Apr 2021 – Aug 2022

Digital Citizen (DC) is a marketing agency. I developed responsive static landing pages and WordPress themes for various DC clients (media, food, and science). One site required multilingual functionality.

Skills: Front-End Development Back-End Development WordPress Development

2015-2021ClikTru/ Nassau, DE
  • 5 years, 5 months
  • December 2015 – April 2021

ClikTru is an internet marketing company specializing in design and SEO for lawyers. My primary responsibility was to design and develop WordPress websites for their clients and enhance the speed of their existing websites.

Skills: Front-End Development Back-End Development WordPress Development Conversion Rate Optimization Website Design

2013-2015Spaulding for Children/ Southfield, MI
  • 2 years, 7 months
  • June 2013 – December 2015

Spaulding for Children is a child welfare agency. I was tasked with designing, redesigning, and developing several large departmental websites and intranets.

Skills: Front-End Development Back-End Development WordPress Development Website Design

2011-2015Studio 7/ Ferndale, MI
  • 3 years, 11 months
  • June 2011 – April 2015

Studio 7 was a digital marketing agency. My primary job was to convert website concepts into working PHP websites or WordPress themes.

Skills: Front-End Development Back-End Development WordPress Development

To explore my design and development portfolio, please visit me on Adobe’s Behance.

100% happy with the output from Neal. We brought him in halfway through a project vetted by a different developer and he slid in and got to work right away. His communication was reliable and prompt. We pulled Neal in for his expertise in WordPress theme development and it was the right choice. I wouldn’t hesitate to bring him on for a similar project again.

Ron Gaulden, with EP+ Co
for Verizon Wireless

Verizon corporation building
CSS
90
PHP
70
JS
60
HTML
90

Skill Level and
Capabilities

Front-End Development

From Design to Code:

  • Reading design files
  • Using Figma and Photoshop
  • Attention to detail
  • Image export decisions: WebP & SVG

Coding & Workflow:

  • HTML5, CSS3, JS w/ jQuery
  • Modern CSS (flexbox, grid, custom properties and simple animations)
  • Semantic HTML w/ support for technical SEO + Schema
  • BEM coding methodology w/ HTML+CSS
  • Version control (Git) w/ Github

Accessible + QA:

  • Responsive development and mobile friendliness
  • Accessibility, WCAG compliance
  • Cross-browser testing

Related Skills:

  • Problem solving
  • Customer service
  • Written and video instructions
  • Project management
Back-End Development

Coding:

  • PHP: Core language for WordPress logic, theme, and plugin development
  • The use of JSON, and XML
  • Version control (Git) w/ Github

Hosting + Server Admin:

  • Server and database management w/ MySQL + MyPhpAdmin
  • Familiarity with popular web hosts like WP Engine, Site Ground and GoDaddy

Related Skills:

  • Problem Solving
  • Leverage of AI
  • Customer service
  • Project management
  • Written and video instructions

Security Best Practices:

  • Protecting from common vulnerabilities (SQL injection, XSS, etc.)
  • Use of standard security plugins to protect WordPress
  • Using SSL (secure socket layer) = HTTPS
WordPress Development

Custom Theming:

  • Themes from scratch both traditional, child, and block themes
  • WordPress standard coding practices including: enqueueing assets
  • Custom post types setup
  • WordPress Hooks (actions & filters), the Loop, template hierarchy, etc.
  • Advanced Custom Fields Pro (ACF) plugin
  • Use of the WordPress Query class when necessary
  • Simple plugin development

WP Feature Support:

  • Gutenberg Blocks and Full Site Editing
  • Custom menus and widgets
  • Multi-language
  • Customizer

Integration Support:

  • API integration  using Zapier and dedicated plugins
  • CRM, email marketing tools, payment processors, etc (Stripe, Hubspot, Mail Chimp, Sales Force).
  • WooCommerce integration and store development

Security:

  • Backups, restoration, and migration
  • Staging to production environment setup

Related Skills:

  • Attention to detail
  • Project management
  • Problem solving
  • Customer service
  • Written and video instructions
Page Speed Optimization

Front-end:

  • Image optimization, lazy loading, next-gen file formats
  • Image and font preloading
  • Javascript management w/ Async and Defer
  • Use of Content Delivery Networks (CDN) like Cloudflare

Back-end:

  • Memory caching
  • Browser caching
  • GZIP compression (Apache server)

WordPress:

  • Caching
  • CSS and JS aggregation
  • Alternative font delivery
Conversion Rate Optimization
  • User testing w/ apps like Lyssna
  • Monitoring user traffic and onsite interactions
  • A/B testing w/ Nelio
  • Attention to detail
  • Problem solving
  • Project management
  • Sales copy development w/ the help of AI
UX Website Design
  • User Experience design (UX)
  • Color choices and color  psychology
  • Font choice and pairing
  • Image and icons choices
  • Attention to detail
  • Problem solving
  • Project management
  • Customer service
  • User testing w/ apps like Lyssna

To explore my design and development portfolio, please visit me on Adobe’s Behance.

Why Should You Hire Me?

Short answer: 10+ Years of Experience + Empathy and Reliability. 

Long answer: You’ve got website projects stacking up. Clients want clean designs, fast load times, and full functionality—yesterday.

But finding a developer who can handle both front-end polish and back-end performance?

That’s where most agencies hit a wall…

You’re probably dealing with:

  • Developers who can install a theme, but choke on custom features.
  • Front-end devs who make it pretty, but forget mobile, speed, and SEO.
  • Freelancers who vanish mid-project or miss every deadline.
  • Full-time hires who need constant oversight or can’t scale with demand.

Here’s how I make your life easier…

Design-to-Deployment, Back to Front, Done Right.

  • My sites are coded to standard and remain functional well after I’m gone.
  • With over 10 years of experience, I’ve solved problems related to WordPress, web development, and conversions.
  • My background in graphic design and continued study of UX keeps me detailed-oriented.
  • I maintain two WordPress starter themes to accelerate my development.

Agency-Ready. Remote-Tested.

  • I’ve worked with agencies. I know how to hit deadlines and handle feedback.
  • I’m communicative, dependable, and proactive. No hand-holding needed.

If you’re ready to hire someone who’s been there, built that, and can jump in right away—I’m your developer.

Contact Me

How I Stay Informed

Achievements

Favorite Tools

More Tools

Interested? Let’s Talk

I am available remotely for short-term projects and 3, 6, or 12+ month contracts (W2 or 1099). My rates range from 2k to 4k (USD) weekly.

Accomplishments

I’m proud of what I’ve accomplished since I attended the College for Creative Studies in Detroit, Michigan.

★ 120+ Websites Launched

I’ve planed, designed, tested, developed, launched and maintained websites across various industries.

★ Custom WordPress Assets

I created a WordPress starter theme framework, 10+ custom Gutenberg blocks, icon library and plugins.

★ Website Marketing eBook

I published a book titled “The Foundation of Website Success: Five Core Pieces of the Website Puzzle.”

★ Over 80 Articles Published

I’ve written over 80 articles on the subject on website marketing, design, conversions and custom code.