WordPress Consulting · Indianapolis, IN & Online

Your WordPress problems,
solved. Then explained.

I fix what’s broken, build what’s missing, and make sure you understand every move I make. The goal is for you to never be dependent on anyone for your own website.

The Russell Difference

I don’t just fix it and
walk away.

Too many WordPress “consultants” take your money, push some buttons, and leave you exactly as dependent as before. Maybe more. You still don’t know what happened. You still can’t do it yourself. The same problem will be back in six months.

I work differently. Every fix comes with an explanation. Every change I make, I walk you through. The end state I’m working toward is you not needing me. I’ll tell you plainly when we’re there.

15 years. WebDevStudios. 550+ sites managed weekly. Plaza Hotel & Casino. I’ve seen every flavor of broken WordPress site. I know what I’m doing. And I know how to explain it to people who aren’t developers.

🔍
I audit first, act second
Every engagement starts with me understanding how your site is actually built before touching anything.
📋
You get documentation
I write notes on what I did and why. You’ll have a record. Not just a fixed site you still don’t understand.
🎓
Every fix is a teaching moment
I show my work. If you want to understand what I did, I’ll explain it until it clicks.
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No ghosting, no disappearing acts
I’ve heard all the horror stories. I respond to emails. I show up on calls. I finish what I start.
💰
Fair pricing, no retainer traps
I don’t lock you into monthly contracts to do things you could learn to do yourself. If you want maintenance, great. If not, no pressure.
What I Handle

Services & Specialties

From “my site is down” emergencies to long-term maintenance. Here’s what I do.

🩺

WordPress Audits

A full health check: plugins, theme, hosting, security, speed, backups. I tell you what’s wrong, what’s risky, and what to fix first.

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Emergency Fixes

White screen of death. Hacked site. Plugin update that broke everything. I know where to look and I move fast.

🚀

Speed & Performance

Caching setup, image optimization, Core Web Vitals improvement, CDN configuration. Real performance gains. Not just better scores.

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Site Migrations

Moving hosts, consolidating sites, going from staging to live. Done carefully, with a backup in place before anything moves.

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Security & Hardening

Wordfence or Solid Security setup, user role audits, login protection, malware removal, and post-hack cleanup.

🛒

WooCommerce Support

Product setup, payment gateway integration, shipping configuration, plugin conflicts. I know WooCommerce well enough to move efficiently.

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Plugin & Theme Updates

Safe update management with staging testing. No blindly hitting “update all” and hoping for the best.

📝

Content & Custom Development

Custom post types, ACF fields, minor theme customizations, Gravity Forms builds, page builder work. I get in and get it done.

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Ongoing Maintenance

Monthly or weekly update rounds, uptime monitoring, backup verification. Available if you want it. No pressure if you don’t.

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I’ll jump on a call — no big deal
Quick question about what I just did? Not sure you understood something? Call me, text me, email me. I’m not one of those consultants who charges you for every touchpoint.
🖥️
Screen share first, invoice later
Before I go off and fix something, I want us to look at it together. You should see what I see, understand what’s wrong, and agree on the approach.
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I narrate my work
As I fix, I explain. Not a lecture. Just a running commentary: “here’s what I found, here’s why it broke, here’s how this solves it.” You’ll know what happened on your own site.
📋
You get documentation, not just results
I leave behind notes that explain what I did and why. If something similar happens six months from now, you have context. Or so your next developer isn’t starting from zero.
Teacher First. Consultant Second.

Hiring me doesn’t mean staying in the dark.

Most people hire a consultant and walk away with a fixed site they still don’t understand. A week later something similar breaks and they’re back at square one, dependent again.

I grew up in the WordPress community: meetups, WordCamps, podcast conversations, late-night forum threads. That culture is built on knowledge-sharing. It shaped how I think about working with clients.

When you hire me, the work itself is almost secondary. The real deliverable is you having a clearer picture of your own website than when we started. That’s the thing I actually care about.

I’ll jump on a call anytime. I’ll explain things three different ways if the first two don’t land. I’ll walk you through my fixes live instead of just handing you a cleaned-up site. Not because I’m charging extra for it. That’s just how I do this.

Let’s Talk →
My Commitment to You

What you can always expect.

I’ve worked for some of the best WordPress companies in the industry: WebDevStudios, Maintainn, Nexcess. I know what professional support looks like because I’ve lived it from the inside.

I brought those same standards to every client I work with independently. Small business owners, bloggers, nonprofits, content creators. Everyone gets treated like an enterprise client.

And the thing I care most about: when we’re done, you should understand your own site better than when we started. That’s not optional. That’s the point.

I respond within 24 hours
No waiting days for a reply on your broken site
I take backups before I touch anything
Non-negotiable. Every single time.
I use staging when it matters
No experimenting on your live site
I document what I do
You get notes. Not just a fixed site.
I tell you when you don’t need me
My goal is your independence, not your dependency
Flat, fair pricing
No surprise invoices, no scope creep without a conversation
I finish what I start
I’ve heard the horror stories. I’m not that person.
Who I Work With

Good fit? You’ll know.

I work best with people who want to understand their site, not just pay to forget about it.

🏪

Small Business Owners

You need a site that works and someone who won’t disappear after launch. That’s me.

✍️

Bloggers & Creators

Your content matters. Your site shouldn’t be the thing slowing you down or stressing you out.

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Aspiring WP Professionals

Learning WordPress as a career path? I can show you the inside of professional support work firsthand.

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Teams & Organizations

Need to train your internal team on WordPress best practices? I do team sessions too.

How We Work Together

From first contact to finished

1

You Reach Out

Tell me what’s going on. No form essays. Just describe the situation.

2

We Talk It Through

Quick call or email thread. I ask the right questions to understand your site before quoting anything.

3

I Audit & Plan

I get into the site, take stock of what’s actually there, and map out what needs to happen.

4

Work Gets Done

On staging first when possible. I communicate as I go. No radio silence.

5

Handoff & Education

You get the docs, the walkthrough, and the confidence to handle it going forward.

Real Talk

What bad WordPress help looks like vs. what you should expect

🚩 Red flags to watch for

“I’ll just update everything and see what breaks”
No staging, no backup before major changes
Ghosting you mid-project after taking payment
Can’t explain what they did in plain English
Locked into a $300/month retainer for basic updates
You end up more dependent than when you started

What you get with me

Backup taken before anything is touched — always
Staging environment for anything risky
Replies within 24 hours, every time
Plain-English explanation of everything I do
Fair pricing with no retainer pressure
You leave knowing more than when we started
On My Radar

AI is changing WordPress.
I’m already using it.

I’m not here to tell you AI is going to replace developers. Or that it isn’t. What I can tell you is that I’ve been using AI tools heavily to build WordPress products, write custom functionality, and debug problems faster than I ever could before. If you need a project done and want someone who knows how to put AI to work inside a WordPress stack, that’s something I can bring to an engagement right now.

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AI-Assisted WP Development
Custom plugins, theme modifications, and complex logic. Built faster and smarter with AI as a build partner alongside 15 years of WP context.
Faster Debugging & Problem-Solving
AI doesn’t replace knowing WordPress. It amplifies it. I use it to cut through the noise and get to answers faster. Your project benefits from that.
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Ready to Get Started?

Stop Googling at 3am.
Let’s fix this together.

One session with me will save you more time than six months of forum posts. No fluff, no retainer required, no disappearing act.