Barney C.

If your WordPress site has already been "optimized" and the numbers still don't move — that's the work I do. 25+ years in web infrastructure. 12 years focused exclusively on WordPress. I specialize in the performance problems that persist after everyone else has "fixed it": LCP that won't drop below 4 seconds, TTFB creeping back up after a caching plugin, INP failures on Elementor-heavy pages, CLS triggered by late-loading assets nobody thought to audit. I work at the server level — SSH, MySQL, Apache, and PHP configuration — because that's where these problems actually live. I work in Elementor Pro daily. Most CWV problems on Elementor sites aren't WordPress problems — they're builder-level problems. Bloated DOM output, render-blocking widget scripts, unoptimized dynamic CSS. I fix them at the source, not by bolting on another optimization plugin. WHAT I SPECIALIZE IN Core Web Vitals & PageSpeed: LCP, INP, CLS, TTFB, TBT — full CrUX and lab score analysis Server-level optimization via SSH (Apache or NGINX) MySQL query profiling and database optimization PHP configuration, memory limits, and error resolution Server-side caching (Redis, Memcached) and Cloudflare CDN Render-blocking resource elimination at the code level Elementor-specific DOM and script optimization Real user metrics, not just lab scores Technical SEO: Hand-coded JSON-LD schema — not plugin-generated .htaccess for redirects and canonicalization robots.txt and llms.txt for traditional and AI crawler control Crawl error diagnosis via server log analysis RankMath Pro configuration and optimization WordPress Infrastructure: Migrations between hosts with zero downtime Staging environment setup and backup protocols Security hardening at the server and file permission level cPanel, WHM, and Kinsta environment management Ongoing maintenance with monthly reporting CLIENT RESULTS Corporate services site (2025): 47 hand-coded JSON-LD schemas — Service, Person, FAQ, AggregateRating with page-level targeting. Site health 88% to 99%. PageSpeed desktop +32 points. Delivered 5 days early, zero validation errors. Local business (2024): SEMrush visibility +25.6% in four months. 14 new top-3 keyword rankings. 92% site health score. E-commerce (2024): Domain authority 0 to 36 in under a year. Google Ads CPC dropped from $163 to $0.30 — 99.8% reduction in ad spend through organic visibility gains. Nonprofit (2020-2025): Inherited site with zero DA. Audit found database timeouts, 300+ broken redirects, unparseable schema — none addressed by the previous agency. Fixed all three. Result: 400%+ organic traffic increase, DA 0 to 25. WHO I WORK BEST WITH You're a good fit if: - Your site has CWV failures or PageSpeed scores that survived a previous optimization attempt - You've hired someone for this before and got a report instead of results - Your site runs Elementor, and performance is degrading as the content grows - You need server access, not just dashboard access - Your budget is $1,000- $5,000 for project work. WordPress only. Not the right fit for Shopify, Wix, Squarespace, or basic plugin updates. TOOLS Performance: GTmetrix, PageSpeed Insights, CrUX, SEMrush, Search Console WordPress: Elementor Pro, Perfmatters, EWWW Image Optimizer, RankMath Pro Server: SSH, cPanel, WHM, phpMyAdmin, MySQL, Apache, NGINX Hosting: Kinsta, WP Engine, SiteGround, A2, Liquid Web, Cloudflare Minneapolis-based (CST). All work through Upwork.