Untamed Animal Health
A self-manageable online store the client runs without a developer.
Visit Untamed Animal HealthUsama Gierdien is a freelance WordPress developer building custom websites that load fast and stay easy to run.
Move across the type. Click for a ripple.
Selected work 12
Twelve client builds at three Cape Town agencies. All live. Swipe through them, or use the arrows.
Shark Diving Cape Town
A clear booking path that converts seasonal tourist traffic.
Visit Shark Diving Cape Town
Midland Group
A credible site that presents a large operation clearly, farm to plate.
Visit Midland Group
Also built, for practice
- E-commerce DemoFront-end · React
- GitHub FinderFront-end · React
- Calculator AppFront-end · JavaScript
Seamless
A WordPress performance plugin I build and sell.
Seamless is my own plugin: it cleans up the render path, defers what can wait and measures the difference. It has a handbook, a licence system and paying customers.
- Activate.
- It optimizes everything.
- Every page stays fast.
Full-page caching
Fully-rendered pages are served straight from disk, so WordPress and PHP sit out most requests entirely.
Pre-compressed serving
Pages ship gzip- and Brotli-compressed direct from your web server: the lightest bytes, with zero PHP in the path.
Next-gen images
Automatic WebP and AVIF conversion and right-sizing. Your originals are never altered, so every change is reversible.
Self-maintaining
Edit a post and only that page re-caches. No cron to babysit, no manual purging, no stale pages left behind.
Stays out of the way
Script order and lifecycle events are preserved, so your theme, builder and plugins keep behaving exactly as before.
All on your server
No cloud service, no API keys, nothing that breaks when someone else’s servers go down. Your site, your data.
What you can hire me for
For a business that needs a site built properly, from the ground up.
- A custom WordPress build, structured around your content
- Elementor layouts, including the ones it supposedly cannot do
- Fast by default: images, scripts and caching handled
- GA4 and Tag Manager wired in, so you can see it working
- Handed over easy for your team to edit
For selling online, with WooCommerce.
- WooCommerce set up properly: products, shipping and payments
- Custom product and category templates
- A checkout tuned to convert
- Fixes when an existing store is fighting you instead of selling
For a site you already have that is slow, broken or stuck.
- Core Web Vitals and page speed, measured before and after
- Custom PHP, JavaScript and MU plugins where plugins fall short
- Elementor fixes and custom CSS
- GSAP motion that does not slow the page down
What I build with
The tools behind the work, grouped by the job they do.
- WordPress
- Elementor
- Beaver Builder
- WooCommerce
- ACF
- Custom / MU Plugins
- PHP
- JavaScript
- HTML
- CSS
- GSAP
- React
- GA4 / GTM
- Performance Cleanup
- Conversion / CRO
About
I started in a studio in 2020 and have built for clients ever since. Most of it is agency work inside constraints someone else set: a builder the team already knows, content that must stay editable, a deadline fixed before the scope was. The job is getting a fast, tidy site out of that anyway. I write the PHP and JavaScript where a plugin would be the wrong answer, cut what a page does not need, and measure before and after instead of guessing.
- Projects delivered
- 15+
- Years building for the web
- 5
- Agencies worked with
- 3
- Brandesign GroupFrontend Developer2024 to now
- Shift ONE DigitalWeb Developer2021 to 2023
- LC StudioWeb Developer, intern2020 to 2021
How it
runs
Six steps, in this order, every project.
- 01
Audit
I look at what you have: performance, structure, what is converting and what is broken. Then I find the real problems worth fixing.
- 02
Plan
A clear, no-jargon plan: scope, priorities, and what success looks like. You know exactly what you are getting before we build.
- 03
Build
Clean, maintainable builds in WordPress/Elementor with custom code where it helps. Fast, accessible, and easy to update.
- 04
Test
Cross-device and cross-browser QA, performance checks, and tracking verification, so nothing breaks after launch.
- 05
Launch
A smooth go-live with redirects, analytics, and the small details handled. No surprises, no downtime.
- 06
Improve
Post-launch I watch the data and refine, because a website is a tool that should keep getting better at its job.
Questions, answered
I need a website for my business. Where do I start?
Tell me what the business does, who the site is for, and what it needs to do: sell, take bookings or bring in enquiries. I reply with a plan and a quote. You do not need a finished brief.
How much does a website cost?
It depends on what the site needs to do. After a short brief I send a clear scope and a quote, so you know exactly what you are getting before anything is built.
Why WordPress?
It runs a large share of the web, so it is well supported and easy to hand over, and your team can edit their own content. I build it so it stays fast and does not lean on a pile of plugins.
Can you fix or speed up the website I already have?
Yes. That is the speed and fixes work: I measure the site, find what is slowing it down or breaking it, and fix that, with the numbers before and after.
Do you work with clients outside South Africa?
Yes. I am based in Cape Town (GMT+2) and work remotely with businesses and agencies anywhere, over email and video calls.
Do you work with agencies?
Most of my work so far has been for agencies: Brandesign Group, Shift ONE Digital and LC Studio. I fit into your process and build to your designs.
Tell me what you want built, or what is slow.
Send the form and I will reply by email. Or skip it and write to me directly.
gierdienusama@gmail.com