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Code Craft — web development and digital marketing
Blog

Guides written by the people who do the work.

No AI-generated filler and no thin listicles. Long, specific pieces on the things clients actually ask us about — including the answers that cost us work.

Topics
  • SEO & GEO7
  • WooCommerce13
  • Business37
  • Product News2
All articles

59 guides, all of them long.

We'd rather publish one thorough piece a fortnight than four thin ones a week — and search agrees.

Showing all 59 articles

How to Sell on Online Marketplaces Without Losing Money
WooCommerce

How to Sell on Online Marketplaces Without Losing Money

Marketplaces put you where customers already shop — but the wrong platforms, thin listings and account-health mistakes burn cash quietly. The honest playbook for doing it right.

28 August 20269 min
Magento in 2026: When Your Catalog Outgrows the Rest
WooCommerce

Magento in 2026: When Your Catalog Outgrows the Rest

Magento is the right platform for a specific kind of merchant — and the wrong one for everyone else. Here's how to tell which you are before you commit.

27 August 202611 min
How Dental Practices in the USA Win Patients Online
Business

How Dental Practices in the USA Win Patients Online

A practical, honest guide for USA dental practices: the website, local SEO, Google Ads, reviews and booking flow that turn online searches into booked appointments.

27 August 202610 min
When Vanilla JavaScript Beats Reaching for a Framework
Business

When Vanilla JavaScript Beats Reaching for a Framework

Not every interactive feature needs React. When plain JavaScript is the smarter trade-off, how to modernise legacy jQuery safely, and how to keep a site fast.

26 August 20268 min
Node.js Backends That Stay Simple as They Scale
Business

Node.js Backends That Stay Simple as They Scale

Node handles high-concurrency work beautifully and CPU-bound work badly. Here's how we build backends on it honestly — auth, real-time, queues and monitoring included.

25 August 20269 min
Branding Beyond the Logo: Strategy That Makes Marketing Work
Business

Branding Beyond the Logo: Strategy That Makes Marketing Work

A logo without strategy behind it is decoration. Here's how positioning, a coherent identity and a real voice make every piece of your marketing pull harder — and why guidelines matter.

24 August 20269 min
Technical SEO Explained: The Ceiling On Every Ranking
SEO & GEO

Technical SEO Explained: The Ceiling On Every Ranking

Technical SEO is the invisible foundation that decides whether your content can rank at all. What it covers, why engineers do it better, and where the biggest wins hide.

23 August 202610 min
Product Design: From Fuzzy Idea to a Product People Use
Business

Product Design: From Fuzzy Idea to a Product People Use

A product that sells is different from one that merely ships. Here's the discovery, ruthless MVP scoping and validation that separate the two — before you spend a sprint on the wrong thing.

22 August 202610 min
Bulk Product Uploading: How to List a Big Catalog Fast
WooCommerce

Bulk Product Uploading: How to List a Big Catalog Fast

Uploading thousands of SKUs by hand is where deadlines die. The workflow we use to list large catalogs accurately across platforms — clean data, real QA, no manufacturer boilerplate.

21 August 20269 min
Custom WooCommerce Stores: Beating the Plugin Pileup
WooCommerce

Custom WooCommerce Stores: Beating the Plugin Pileup

WooCommerce gives you total ownership — and the freedom to slow your own store to a crawl. Here's how we build Woo stores that stay fast at 10,000 products.

20 August 202610 min
How Dental Practices in the UK Attract More Patients Online
Business

How Dental Practices in the UK Attract More Patients Online

A practical, honest guide for UK dental practices: the website, local SEO, Google Ads, reviews and booking flow that turn online searches into booked NHS and private patients.

20 August 202610 min
Django or FastAPI? A Practical Python Build Guide
Business

Django or FastAPI? A Practical Python Build Guide

Where Python earns its place — backends, automation and data pipelines — and how to choose between Django and FastAPI without defaulting to habit.

19 August 20269 min
React Done Right: Architecture That Survives Growth
Business

React Done Right: Architecture That Survives Growth

React is easy to start and easy to make a mess of. The difference is architecture, state decisions and tests made deliberately — before the first dozen screens.

18 August 20269 min
GEO Explained: Getting Cited by ChatGPT and AI Search
SEO & GEO

GEO Explained: Getting Cited by ChatGPT and AI Search

AI engines now answer millions of buying questions with specific brand names. GEO is how you become one of them — what it is, how it differs from SEO, and where to start.

17 August 20269 min
Local SEO: How to Own the Map Pack in Your Area
SEO & GEO

Local SEO: How to Own the Map Pack in Your Area

The map pack captures a huge share of local clicks — and it's winnable faster than national SEO. Here's the profile, review and citation work that actually gets you there.

16 August 20269 min
UI/UX Design: Building Interfaces That Need No Manual
Business

UI/UX Design: Building Interfaces That Need No Manual

The best interface is the one nobody has to think about. Here's how research, clear flows and honest states turn a complex product into something users understand instantly.

15 August 202610 min
BigCommerce vs Shopify: Which Platform Fits in 2026
WooCommerce

BigCommerce vs Shopify: Which Platform Fits in 2026

Two strong hosted platforms, very different economics. The honest breakdown of transaction fees, B2B, apps and headless — so you pick on your numbers, not the marketing.

14 August 20269 min
How to Build a Shopify Store That Actually Converts
WooCommerce

How to Build a Shopify Store That Actually Converts

A beautiful Shopify store that doesn't sell is just an expensive brochure. Here's how we build storefronts that load fast, convert, and grow lifetime value.

13 August 20269 min
Dental Practice Marketing in Canada: Book More Patients
Business

Dental Practice Marketing in Canada: Book More Patients

How a Canadian dental practice attracts and books more patients online — a fast, trustworthy website, local SEO, Google Ads and reviews, within your college's advertising rules.

13 August 202610 min
Custom Software vs Off-the-Shelf: A Practical Guide
Business

Custom Software vs Off-the-Shelf: A Practical Guide

When a spreadsheet stops scaling and SaaS almost fits but not quite, custom software earns its cost. How we scope, architect, test and hand over software you own.

12 August 202610 min
When Next.js Is the Right Choice (and When It Isn't)
Business

When Next.js Is the Right Choice (and When It Isn't)

Next.js earns its place when a site has to rank and load fast on first visit. Here's how we decide, and how we build it so SEO isn't an afterthought.

11 August 20269 min
The Honest SEO Guide: What Actually Moves Rankings
SEO & GEO

The Honest SEO Guide: What Actually Moves Rankings

No secrets, no guarantees, no jargon — just the SEO work that reliably moves rankings and revenue, in the order we run it, and how to tell effort from theatre.

9 August 202610 min
Web Design That Converts: How Layout Earns Trust Fast
Business

Web Design That Converts: How Layout Earns Trust Fast

A good-looking site isn't the goal — a trusted one is. Here's how we structure hierarchy, proof and CTAs so visitors decide you're the obvious choice within seconds.

8 August 20269 min
How to Choose the Right Ecommerce Platform in 2026
WooCommerce

How to Choose the Right Ecommerce Platform in 2026

Shopify, WooCommerce, BigCommerce or custom? The honest decision framework we use with clients — matched to catalog, margins and how you actually run the business.

7 August 202610 min
How to Build a WordPress Site That's Fast and Update-Safe
WooCommerce

How to Build a WordPress Site That's Fast and Update-Safe

Most WordPress sites are slow, fragile and painful to edit — not because of WordPress, but because of how they were built. Here's the process we use to avoid all three.

6 August 202610 min
Dental Practice Marketing in India: Book More Patients
Business

Dental Practice Marketing in India: Book More Patients

How an Indian dental clinic attracts and books more cash-pay patients online — a fast mobile-first website, Google Business Profile, reviews, WhatsApp enquiry and Google Ads.

6 August 202610 min
Cross-Platform vs Native: An Honest App Build Guide
Business

Cross-Platform vs Native: An Honest App Build Guide

One codebase for both stores, or two native teams? The real trade-offs, what an app actually costs, and how we take a mobile app from idea to store listing.

5 August 20269 min
How We Build Websites That Stay Fast and Rankable
Business

How We Build Websites That Stay Fast and Rankable

What actually separates a site that grows with you from one you rebuild in a year: the stack choice, the performance budget, and who owns the code at the end.

4 August 20269 min
Why Your Google Ads Lose Money (And How to Fix It)
Business

Why Your Google Ads Lose Money (And How to Fix It)

Most underperforming ad accounts fail for the same three reasons — broken tracking, weak landing pages, and no testing cadence. Here's how we diagnose and fix each one.

30 July 202610 min
How to Rank in AI Answers: The Practical GEO Guide for 2026
SEO & GEO

How to Rank in AI Answers: The Practical GEO Guide for 2026

ChatGPT, Gemini and AI Overviews now answer millions of buying questions. Here's the exact playbook we use to get brands cited — while competitors are still arguing about whether GEO is real.

28 July 20269 min
Social Media Strategy for Businesses That Want Sales
Business

Social Media Strategy for Businesses That Want Sales

Followers don't pay invoices. Here's how we build a social presence around two or three platforms that actually drives pipeline — strategy first, posting second.

24 July 20269 min
New: AI Visibility Tracking Comes to Our All-in-One SEO Plugin
Product News

New: AI Visibility Tracking Comes to Our All-in-One SEO Plugin

Version 1.1 ships the feature we've wanted for a year — see exactly how ChatGPT-class assistants talk about your brand, ranked against competitors, tracked weekly.

20 July 20265 min
How to Write SEO Content That Ranks and Reads Well
SEO & GEO

How to Write SEO Content That Ranks and Reads Well

Great SEO content isn't keyword-stuffed filler or pure AI output. Here's the research-write-edit process we use to produce articles that rank on Google and read like a human wrote them.

18 July 202611 min
The 21-Point Technical SEO Checklist We Run on Every Site
SEO & GEO

The 21-Point Technical SEO Checklist We Run on Every Site

The exact technical audit our engineers run before any SEO campaign starts — Core Web Vitals, crawl budget, schema, rendering and the fixes that move rankings fastest.

14 July 202611 min
Website Maintenance: Why It Matters More Than You Think
Business

Website Maintenance: Why It Matters More Than You Think

An unmaintained website isn't static — it quietly decays. Here's what proper maintenance actually covers, why the '2am outage' problem is real, and what a care plan should include.

12 July 20269 min
How Game Development Actually Works: Budgets and Timelines
Business

How Game Development Actually Works: Budgets and Timelines

What it really takes to ship a game people finish — how budgets are set, why you prototype first, which engine fits, and where the money is made after launch.

6 July 202610 min
Speed Up WooCommerce: From 6 Seconds to Under 1
WooCommerce

Speed Up WooCommerce: From 6 Seconds to Under 1

The exact process we've used to rescue dozens of slow WooCommerce stores — what actually causes the slowdown, what to fix first, and the numbers to aim for.

30 June 202610 min
When a Hand-Coded HTML Website Beats WordPress in 2026
Business

When a Hand-Coded HTML Website Beats WordPress in 2026

A static HTML site loads faster, breaks less and costs less to host — but only when it fits. Here's exactly when hand-coded HTML is the right call, and when it isn't.

28 June 20269 min
When to Choose Laravel for Your Next Web Application
Business

When to Choose Laravel for Your Next Web Application

Laravel gives you routing, an ORM, auth and queues to a consistent standard — so the next developer doesn't dread the code. Here's when it's the right backend, and how we build it.

22 June 202610 min
39 Plugins, One Standard: A Tour of the Code Craft Product Suite
Product News

39 Plugins, One Standard: A Tour of the Code Craft Product Suite

From WishKeep wishlists to SwiftSearch, PopForge and a full POS — why we built our own product line, and what 'plugin quality' means when your name is on 39 of them.

20 June 20267 min
Choosing Webflow vs WordPress: An Honest 2026 Guide
Business

Choosing Webflow vs WordPress: An Honest 2026 Guide

Webflow suits teams who want visual editing and fewer moving parts; WordPress wins on complex logic and plugins. Here's how to tell which one actually fits your site.

16 June 20269 min
Recovering Abandoned Carts: The Email Sequence That Wins Back 15%+
WooCommerce

Recovering Abandoned Carts: The Email Sequence That Wins Back 15%+

70% of carts are abandoned — but a third of those customers were genuinely interested. The capture setup, timing and email sequence that consistently recovers revenue.

12 June 20268 min
Choosing a CMS: An Honest Guide to Getting It Right
Business

Choosing a CMS: An Honest Guide to Getting It Right

WordPress, Joomla, Drupal or Ghost? The right content management system depends far more on your team than any feature list. How we choose, honestly.

10 June 20269 min
When Joomla Beats WordPress: Access Control and ACL
Business

When Joomla Beats WordPress: Access Control and ACL

Joomla earns its place when you need granular permissions and real multilingual content out of the box. Here's when it's the right CMS — and when it isn't.

4 June 20268 min
Drupal for Complex Sites: When the Scale Justifies It
Business

Drupal for Complex Sites: When the Scale Justifies It

Drupal is built for structured content at real scale — universities, government, publishers. Here's when its power is worth the complexity, and when it isn't.

29 May 202610 min
How Much Does a Website Actually Cost in 2026?
Business

How Much Does a Website Actually Cost in 2026?

Real numbers from 9,000+ delivered projects: what drives price, what each budget realistically buys, and the traps that make cheap sites expensive.

26 May 20269 min
Ghost CMS in 2026: Fast Publishing and Paid Memberships
Business

Ghost CMS in 2026: Fast Publishing and Paid Memberships

Ghost is built for writing, not plugin sprawl — with native memberships and newsletters. Here's when it beats WordPress for publishers, and how we build it.

23 May 20268 min
Is Wix Right for Your Business? An Honest Build Guide
Business

Is Wix Right for Your Business? An Honest Build Guide

Wix gets dismissed by developers and oversold by templates. Here's the senior view: where it genuinely fits, where it fights you, and how to build one properly.

17 May 20269 min
Squarespace Done Right: A Guide for Small Brands
Business

Squarespace Done Right: A Guide for Small Brands

Squarespace can look designed or look templated — the gap is entirely in the build. Here's how a senior team pushes it past the default look, and when to choose it at all.

11 May 20269 min
12 Questions That Instantly Reveal a Web Agency's Quality
Business

12 Questions That Instantly Reveal a Web Agency's Quality

After inheriting hundreds of other agencies' projects, we know exactly where bodies get buried. Ask these before signing anything.

8 May 20267 min
PrestaShop Explained: Multi-Region Selling You Own
WooCommerce

PrestaShop Explained: Multi-Region Selling You Own

PrestaShop gives you open-source ownership plus native multi-language, multi-currency selling — without Magento's weight. Here's when it's the right ecommerce platform.

5 May 202610 min
OpenCart in 2026: Lightweight Ecommerce You Own
WooCommerce

OpenCart in 2026: Lightweight Ecommerce You Own

OpenCart offers self-hosted ownership with no monthly platform fee and none of Magento's overhead. Here's who it suits, where it shines, and how to build one that lasts.

29 April 20269 min
How a New Online Store Earns Its First Real Orders
WooCommerce

How a New Online Store Earns Its First Real Orders

First orders aren't a luck problem — they're a sequence. Fix the technical foundation, rank for what buyers actually search, then remove the friction at checkout.

23 April 20269 min
How to Import from China Without the Middleman Markup
Business

How to Import from China Without the Middleman Markup

Importing from China is where product businesses find their margin or lose their shirt. The difference is rarely the factory — it's how many people stand between you and it.

17 April 20269 min
Freight Forwarding Explained: Air, Sea or Land Cargo
Business

Freight Forwarding Explained: Air, Sea or Land Cargo

A shipment that clears customs on time is invisible. One that doesn't becomes the most expensive week of your month. Here's what a freight forwarder actually does for you.

11 April 20268 min
The Import Export Code (IEC): A Plain-English Guide
Business

The Import Export Code (IEC): A Plain-English Guide

If you plan to import or export from India, there's a ten-digit number you need before you ship anything. Here's what the IEC is, who needs one, and how it's filed.

5 April 20269 min
GST Registration in India: What It Involves and Who Needs It
Business

GST Registration in India: What It Involves and Who Needs It

A plain-English walk through GST registration — who has to register, which documents you need, what the LUT does for exporters, and where returns fit in after you get your GSTIN.

30 March 202610 min
Import/Export Setup: The Groundwork Before Your First Shipment
Business

Import/Export Setup: The Groundwork Before Your First Shipment

HS codes, customs documents, AD code and DGFT setup, incoterms and landed cost — the setup that keeps a shipment moving instead of stuck at the port, explained in plain English.

24 March 202611 min
FSSAI Registration and Licensing: Which One Your Food Business Needs
Business

FSSAI Registration and Licensing: Which One Your Food Business Needs

Basic, State or Central — how FSSAI licensing is decided, what food importers need, the FoSCoS filing, renewals, and where the government fee sits, explained plainly.

18 March 20269 min
How we write

Four rules, and we'd rather publish less.

  1. 01

    Written by practitioners

    Every piece is written by someone who does the work on client projects. Where we need expertise we don't have, we interview someone who does rather than researching our way to a plausible-sounding article.

  2. 02

    AI for research, never drafting

    We use it to find gaps and structure outlines. We don't use it to write, because it's confidently vague in exactly the places that lose a reader's trust — and increasingly, a search engine's.

  3. 03

    Specific or not published

    Real numbers, real examples, and opinions a generalist wouldn't hold. If a draft could have been written about any business in any sector, it doesn't go out.

  4. 04

    Including what costs us work

    We publish that most companies shouldn't incorporate in Delaware, that the S-Corp election rarely pays below $60k, and that plenty of businesses need a cheaper tier than they came in asking for.

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Ask — we might.

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