WordPress developer · Barcelona

Freelance WordPress Developer in Barcelona

Senior WordPress development for companies that need more than a theme installation — custom functionality, WooCommerce, performance, technical SEO and AI automation. I write, debug and maintain production sites, and I work with the people who own the outcome rather than a chain of account managers.

10+years building on WordPress
Barcelonabased · EU invoicing (autónomo)
Remoteacross Spain & Europe
Anton Smolik at his desk working on WordPress and database code — based in the Barcelona area
Barcelona area, Spain Available locally & remotely across Europe
What I can help you build

WordPress development, not decoration.

Six areas where a senior WordPress developer makes a measurable difference. Most projects touch two or three of them at once — a store that also needs to pass Core Web Vitals, or a custom build that has to talk to an existing CRM.

Custom WordPress development

Custom themes and Gutenberg blocks built on a clean, maintainable architecture — ACF field structures, custom post types, reusable components and integrations with the systems you already run. The goal is a codebase your team can extend in a year, not a stack of quick hacks that breaks on the next update.

  • Custom themes
  • ACF
  • Gutenberg
  • Custom post types
  • Architecture

Custom WordPress plugins

When no existing plugin fits, a purpose-built one is cleaner than bending a general-purpose plugin until it breaks. Custom business logic, admin workflows, REST API integrations, internal tools and bespoke frontend functionality — packaged, documented and versioned so it survives handover.

  • Business logic
  • Admin workflows
  • API integrations
  • Internal tools

WooCommerce development

Store customisation where small technical decisions move revenue: checkout, custom product logic, large catalogues, and integrations with payment, shipping, ERP and PIM systems. Performance matters most here — a slow product or cart page costs sales directly. See more on WooCommerce and e-commerce work.

  • Checkout
  • Large catalogues
  • ERP / PIM
  • Payments & shipping

Performance & Core Web Vitals

Passing Core Web Vitals is rarely a plugin toggle. A poor LCP might come from a heavy hero image or slow server response; INP from long JavaScript tasks; CLS from late-loading fonts or ads. The fixes live in the render path, image delivery, caching, database queries, third-party scripts and the CDN — measured one change at a time. More on WordPress performance optimization.

  • LCP · INP · CLS
  • Render path
  • Caching · CDN
  • DB queries

Technical SEO

Technical SEO handled at code and architecture level, not just an SEO plugin: crawlability, rendering and indexing, canonicalisation, structured data, internal linking, pagination, redirects, sitemaps and robots directives. For JavaScript-heavy pages it also means making sure Google can actually render what visitors see.

  • Crawl & index
  • Structured data
  • Canonicalisation
  • JS SEO

AI automation for WordPress

AI where it removes real work, not as a chatbot for its own sake: OpenAI-based content and metadata workflows, automated internal linking, semantic search, and retrieval-grounded (RAG) assistants that answer from your own WordPress content. Wired together with the REST API and orchestration tools like n8n or Make, connected to CRM or marketing systems where it earns its place.

  • OpenAI API
  • n8n · Make
  • RAG · semantic search
  • REST API
Barcelona & beyond

Based in Barcelona, without geographical limits.

I'm based in the Barcelona area and registered as autónomo in Spain, which makes local collaboration and EU invoicing straightforward. That's an advantage for Barcelona startups, SaaS companies, agencies, e-commerce businesses and publishers who want a developer in a compatible timezone and, occasionally, in the same room.

But WordPress development is remote-friendly by nature. Most of the work — building, debugging, performance, integrations — is done the same way whether your team sits in Barcelona, elsewhere in Spain, or anywhere in Europe. Code ships through Git and staging environments, and communication runs on the tools you already use. Location decides where we can meet, not what can get built.

Types of projects

The problems that usually bring people here.

01

A slow or fragile site that keeps breaking

Rebuilding or stabilising a WordPress site that's technically fragile, hard to update, or slow enough that it's affecting rankings and conversions.

02

Functionality existing plugins can't provide

Custom logic, admin tools or frontend behaviour where the plugin ecosystem gets you to 80% and the last 20% is exactly what your business needs.

03

Taking over a project from another developer or agency

Inheriting a build that stalled, lost its original developer, or accumulated enough workarounds that nobody wants to touch it. First, I map what's there.

04

WooCommerce performance problems

Product and category pages that crawl under a large catalogue, uncached cart fragments, or a checkout that's losing mobile buyers to slow load.

05

API, CRM and third-party integrations

Connecting WordPress to the systems around it — CRMs, ERPs, PIMs, marketing platforms and internal APIs — so data moves automatically instead of by copy-paste.

06

Multilingual WordPress architecture

Structuring a multi-language or multi-market site so URLs, hreflang, content and workflows stay coherent as it grows.

07

Technical SEO remediation & Core Web Vitals

Fixing crawl, index, rendering and speed issues on a live site — often without a rebuild, once the actual causes are identified.

08

Automating publishing and content workflows

Removing repetitive editorial and metadata work with automation and AI, so a small team can publish faster without cutting quality.

09

Maintaining business-critical installations

Ongoing development and maintenance for sites the business genuinely depends on — updates, monitoring, incremental features and a developer who already knows the codebase.

Selected results

Selected WordPress projects — problem, work, result.

A few representative engagements. Some clients can't be named under NDA, so these describe the work and the measured outcome rather than the brand.

SaaS platform · organic growth

A content-driven SaaS marketing site was capped by a rigid theme and weak internal structure. Rebuilt the architecture and templating and fixed technical SEO at the code level.

Organic traffic0%
approx. +140% organic
E-commerce · WooCommerce

A plugin-heavy WooCommerce store was failing Core Web Vitals and loading slowly on mobile. Cut the render path, tamed third-party scripts and fixed caching — no redesign.

Page load0%
approx. 60% faster · CWV poor → good
Multi-market publishing

A publishing team ran the same manual steps across several markets. Automated the workflow and metadata handling on top of WordPress to remove the repetitive part.

Publishing time0%
approx. 60% less publishing time

Figures are approximate and specific to each project's stack and starting point. More technical write-ups on the blog.

How I work

My WordPress process, tested before it ships.

A practical sequence, adjusted to the size of the job. A contained fix skips the heavier steps; a full build runs through all of them. Nothing reaches production untested.

Technical discovery

Understand the business goal, the constraints and what "done" looks like before touching code.

Architecture audit

Review the existing WordPress setup — theme, plugins, data model, hosting — to find risks and dependencies.

Scope & priorities

Agree on what gets built, in what order, and where the effort actually pays off.

Development

Build in version control (Git), in small reviewable changes, with maintainability as a first-class concern.

Staging deployment

Everything lands on a staging copy first, so it can be seen and tested against real content.

QA & testing

Check functionality, edge cases, performance and layout — before, not after, going live.

Production deployment

Ship deliberately, with a way back if anything regresses.

Monitoring & iteration

Watch the result in the field and refine — performance and SEO are ongoing, not one-off.

For agencies

Senior WordPress capacity, on demand.

Digital and creative agencies in Barcelona and across Europe bring me in when a build gets technically demanding or a deadline needs an extra senior pair of hands. I integrate into an existing team without needing much management, and I'm comfortable working white-label — under your brand, in front of your client or behind the scenes.

How I work with agencies

  • Temporary development capacity for busy periods
  • Complex WordPress builds beyond the in-house comfort zone
  • Rescuing projects that have become technically difficult
  • White-label plugin development and integrations
  • Performance and Core Web Vitals work on client sites
Pricing

Project pricing

Development work is scoped according to technical complexity, existing architecture and project requirements. Smaller technical work can be handled on an hourly basis, while larger builds and ongoing development are estimated separately. You get a clear scope and an estimate before anything is built.

Why a senior developer

Working with the person who writes the code.

Agencies are the right call for some projects. But for technical WordPress work, going straight to a senior developer changes a few things.

Direct communication

You talk to the person doing the work, so context isn't lost passing through account and project layers.

Faster diagnosis

Ten-plus years of WordPress mean problems get identified quickly instead of escalated through a queue.

One view of the whole

Development, performance and technical SEO handled together, by someone who sees how they affect each other.

Deeper specialisation

A focused WordPress and WooCommerce practice, not a generalist team covering every platform.

Fits your setup

Works alongside your internal team or your existing agency, filling the specific gap rather than replacing everyone.

Ownership stays with you

Code is documented and handed over, so you're never locked into one person to keep the site running.

FAQ

Questions worth answering first.

Yes. I'm based in the Barcelona area and registered as autónomo in Spain, so I can invoice locally and meet in person when a project genuinely benefits from it. Most development work, though, happens the same way whether the client is in Barcelona or another country.

Regularly. WordPress development is remote-friendly by nature, so I work with companies across Spain and Europe. Communication runs over the tools your team already uses, and code ships through Git and staging environments regardless of location.

Both, and most engagements start with an existing site. Taking over a WordPress project from another developer or agency, stabilising a fragile build, or extending a live site are common cases. The first step is understanding what's already there before changing anything.

In most cases, yes. Poor Core Web Vitals usually trace back to specific causes — a slow LCP element, render-blocking JavaScript, layout shift, heavy third-party scripts or uncached requests — that can be fixed on the existing site. A rebuild is a last resort, not the starting point.

Yes. When existing plugins don't fit — custom business logic, admin workflows, API integrations or internal tools — a purpose-built plugin is usually cleaner and more maintainable than bending a general-purpose one. Code is documented so your team can own it later.

Yes. WooCommerce is a core part of the work: checkout customisation, large catalogues, performance, and integrations with payment, shipping, ERP or PIM systems. Stores are where small technical decisions have a direct effect on revenue.

Yes, when it solves a real workflow problem. That can mean OpenAI-based content or metadata workflows, automated internal linking, semantic search or a retrieval-grounded assistant that answers from your own WordPress content, wired together with the REST API and tools like n8n. The goal is removing repetitive work, not adding a chatbot for its own sake.

Yes. Beyond one-off projects, I work with a monthly allocation for teams that need a dependable senior developer on call — updates, fixes, incremental features and keeping business-critical installations healthy.

Location

Based in Vilanova i la Geltrú, on the Barcelona coast.

About 45 km southwest of Barcelona, in the Garraf. Close enough for on-site work across the Barcelona area, and set up to work remotely with companies anywhere in Spain and Europe.

CATALONIA MEDITERRANEAN SEA ~45 km Barcelona Vilanova i la Geltrú GARRAF · BARCELONA AREA
Vilanova i la Geltrú, Spain On-site across the Barcelona area · remote with companies anywhere in Spain and Europe · CET (GMT+1).

Need a senior WordPress developer in Barcelona?

The first step is understanding what exists today, what's failing or limiting growth, and what actually needs to be built. Tell me where the site is now and I'll tell you honestly what it would take.