WordPress web design in Des Moines
Custom WordPress sites for Des Moines businesses, from $499. You get the admin, the licenses and every file — and you can edit the site yourself the day it launches.
Since 2011 · You own everything · Technical SEO built in · Veteran-owned
Why we build Des Moines business websites on WordPress
Most people who call us about WordPress are not starting fresh. They already have a site, and something about it has gone wrong.
The site was built with a page builder nobody explained, so a price change means emailing someone and waiting. You are renting access to your own words.
Plugins updated, something conflicted, and the site went down or went strange. Nobody was watching, so you found out from a customer.
Every request was solved by installing something. Each one is a moving part, a license and a way in for someone who should not be there.
The hosting is in their name, the licenses are on their account, and you are not sure what you would actually be handed if they never answered again.
What a custom build includes, page by page
The same list applies at every tier. The tier only changes how many pages get built.
- A custom design — not a stock theme with your logo dropped in
- Built on WordPress with a clean admin your staff can actually use
- Every page written individually, structured for search
- Mobile and tablet layouts checked on real screen sizes
- Technical SEO built in: titles, structure, schema, sitemap
- An accessibility pass against WCAG 2.1 AA
- Domain, SSL and hosting set up in your name and under your billing
- A walkthrough of how to edit it, recorded so you can rewatch it
- Every file handed over on request, same day
Who edits the site after launch
This is the question almost nobody answers before you sign.
You do, if you want to. The admin is built so the things that change often — text, prices, hours, photos, posts — are editable without touching layout or code. We record a walkthrough of your actual site, not a generic tutorial, so the person who ends up doing it can rewatch it in six months.
What that looks like in practice: the things that change often are fields, not layouts. Editing a price does not put you inside a page builder where one stray drag breaks a column. Adding a staff member or a post uses the same form every time. The parts that should not move — the grid, the type scale, the colors — are set once in the theme rather than re-chosen on every page, so a page cannot drift off-brand by being edited.
If you would rather not, we can make the changes instead. That is a maintenance arrangement and it is priced separately — it is not a condition of the build, and you are not locked into it to keep the site working.
Who owns the site, the plugins and the licenses
You do. All of it, and here is what that means in practice.
The domain is registered in your name. The hosting account is opened under your billing at a host you could have chosen yourself. Any premium plugin or theme license is bought on your account, not ours — which matters, because a license bought on a developer’s account does not transfer, and a site you cannot update is a site you will have to rebuild.
The plugin count matters here too. Every premium plugin is a license you have to keep renewing and a dependency somebody has to keep current, so we install as few as the job actually needs and tell you what each one is for and what it costs you annually. A site held together by forty plugins is not a site you own outright — it is a site you rent from forty companies.
We do not resell hosting at a markup, so we make nothing from you staying. If you leave, there is no migration to negotiate — you remove our login.
Hosting, maintenance and security: three different things
Three different things that often get sold as one.
Hosting is where the site lives — server, uptime, SSL, backups and speed. Maintenance is keeping the core, the theme and the plugins current so a known hole does not stay open. Security is prevention: fewer plugins, least privilege, tested backups.
Most WordPress sites are not compromised by anyone targeting them. They are found by an automated scan looking for a plugin that should have been updated weeks ago. That is a maintenance problem, and it is the honest reason to have a plan — not fear.
The three get sold as one bundle because bundling them makes the invoice harder to question. They are worth separating, because you can buy them separately and from different people. Hosting you buy directly, at cost, in your own name. Maintenance you can buy from us, from someone else, or do yourself if somebody there is willing to run updates and check that the site still works afterwards. Security is mostly a consequence of the first two being done — there is no product that substitutes for updating a plugin.
What the build does not include
Said plainly, so you are not surprised by an invoice or a gap.
- Ongoing SEO retainers — technical SEO is built in, ongoing campaigns are separate
- Paid advertising, ad accounts or media buying of any kind
- Logo and brand identity design from scratch
- Copy for pages beyond your tier's page count
- Online stores, booking systems, member logins and client portals — quoted separately
- Integrations with software you already run — scoped and quoted after we look at it
- Hosting and domain fees themselves, which you pay directly at cost
Every site is built by Elisabeth Samuels and the Salterra team — a company building websites since 2011. Not a reseller, not an offshore queue. The same person who scopes your project writes the pages and hands over the logins.
Send the page count and what the business does. You get the price and a timeline back in writing — you do not have to book a call to hear it.
What WordPress web design costs in Des Moines
The price is on the page because you should not have to book a call to hear it.
Up to 15 pages starts at $499. Sixteen to 50 pages starts at $999. Fifty-one or more starts at $1,499. These are starting figures, not fixed quotes — not every 15-page site is $499, and what changes the number is listed right here rather than explained on a call.
What moves the number
- Page count — this is the tier, and it is the honest driver, because every page is written and structured individually rather than duplicated
- Functionality — a store, a booking system, a member login or an integration with software you already run is quoted separately, because the work is not predictable from a page count
- Content — if you have copy and photographs ready it moves faster; if we write everything from scratch it takes longer
- How many rounds of change you want after the design is approved — small changes stay included, structural ones are quoted and move the timeline
Frequently asked questions about WordPress web design in Des Moines
Why build a Des Moines business website on WordPress?
Because it is the platform you are least likely to be trapped by. It runs a large share of the web, the people who can work on it are everywhere, and nothing about it is proprietary to us. If you stop working with us, any competent developer can pick it up.
What does WordPress web design cost in Des Moines?
From $499 for up to 15 pages, $999 for 16–50, $1,499 for 51 or more. Those are starting figures and the things that move them are listed above.
Can my staff edit the site themselves?
Yes. The admin is set up so text, prices, hours, photos and posts can be changed without touching layout or code, and we record a walkthrough of your own site so whoever does it can rewatch it later.
Who owns the site and the plugin licenses?
You do. The domain is in your name, the hosting is under your billing, and any premium licenses are bought on your account — because a license bought on our account would not transfer to you.
How long does a WordPress website take to build?
Four to six weeks is typical for a standard build. The two things that usually move it are how quickly content and photographs arrive, and how many structural changes are requested after the design is approved.
What is included in maintenance?
Keeping the core, the theme and the plugins current, monitoring uptime and SSL, taking backups off the server and testing that they restore. It is a separate arrangement from the build and you are not required to buy it.
Do you work with Des Moines nonprofits?
Yes. The tiers are the same — pricing is by scope, not by who you are.
What happens to my WordPress site if I stop working with you?
Nothing. The domain, the hosting and the licenses are already in your name. You remove our login and everything keeps running. There is no migration to negotiate and no file we hold back.
Tell us what you sell. Get your number.
Send us what your business does and roughly how many pages you think you need. You will get the number and a timeline in writing.
Takes about a minute. No call, no obligation.
We reply to everything within one business day.