Boston WordPress developer with 18+ years building, fixing and supporting custom WordPress websites for organizations across Greater Boston: MIT, Harvard Law Review, SBLI, Tufts, OpenView and dozens more.
I'm Kevin Leary, a freelance WordPress developer based in the Boston area. Since 2007 I've worked with local universities, publishers, insurers, agencies and startups as a senior engineer they can reach directly: no account managers, no offshore handoffs, and no agency markup.
Local means I can meet in person when it helps, work in your timezone every day, and stick around after launch. Most of my Boston clients have worked with me for years across redesigns, rebrands, migrations and ongoing support.
WordPress Development Services in Boston
The same senior-level custom WordPress development I provide to national enterprise clients, available to Boston-area organizations with a developer you can actually meet.
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Custom Theme Development Enterprise WordPress themes built from scratch or directly from your Figma designs.
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Legacy Code Cleanup & Takeovers I inherit, audit and stabilize custom themes built by agencies or past developers; most of my Boston work starts this way.
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Plugin Development Custom WordPress plugins built, fixed and maintained for your specific workflows.
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Launches & Migrations Host-to-host migrations, phased launches, 301 redirect mapping and go-live coordination.
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Performance & Core Web Vitals LCP, CLS and INP fixes made directly in the codebase, plus full-page, object and edge caching.
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Security Hardening & Monitoring Vulnerability scanning, login hardening, brute-force mitigation and Cloudflare edge protection.
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Analytics & Advertising Clean GTM, GA4 and ad tag setups with consent-compliant, privacy-proof event tracking.
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AEO & SEO Technical SEO and AI-search optimization so your organization stays visible as search shifts to AI answers.
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Third-party API Integrations HubSpot, Salesforce, Stripe, BigQuery, Customer.io and internal APIs secured with enterprise authentication.
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Custom eCommerce WooCommerce and custom builds: subscriptions, paywalls, Stripe billing and checkout optimization.
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Ongoing Maintenance & Care Plans Monthly update cycles tested from local to staging to production, with a written report of everything that changed.
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Accessibility & WCAG Audits triaged into a prioritized fix list, then fixed in the theme itself.
Boston-Area WordPress Work
Greater Boston organizations I've supported as a WordPress developer, from Cambridge research institutions to Back Bay publishers and Route 128 software companies.
Custom WordPress
AdDaptive Intelligence is a Boston-area B2B account-based advertising and analytics platform, and hired me to rebuild addaptive.com end to end, designing the site, engineering the custom WordPress theme behind it, and standing up the infrastructure it runs on. A two-person marketing team owns a site that finally matches the brand, publishes pages without a developer, and explains an abstract product in about eight seconds.
The work covers a homepage design delivered as a fully animated HTML/CSS/JS prototype, the ABM lifecycle and signal-differentiation diagrams hand-built in SVG, a classic PHP theme with an ACF flexible-content section library so the marketing team can build pages without a developer, audience landing pages for Brands, Agencies and Publishers, News and Press post types, a Calendly demo-booking modal, and a machine-readable /llm-api/ business profile for AI search. It also covers the environment underneath it: local nginx and SSL, CodeKit builds, a private GitHub repository, and a tested WP Engine git deploy pipeline.
HQ · Boston, MA
Focus
- Web design
- Custom WordPress development
- SVG animation & data visualization
- ACF content architecture
- Information architecture
- Front-end development
- DevOps & deployment pipeline
- GEO / AI search
- Google Tag Manager
- Performance optimization
Enterprise
MIT Technology Review hired me as a JavaScript expert to define and build the headless, API-driven frontend behind an extensive redesign of technologyreview.com. The headless frontend supports over 2 million monthly visitors without breaking a sweat, with GA4 data warehoused for Looker Studio reporting.
The work covered a standalone Node.js frontend serving content from a Drupal backend API, plus GA4 data flowing into a BigQuery warehouse for Looker Studio reporting. The system supports over 2 million monthly visitors without breaking a sweat.
HQ · Cambridge, MA
Focus
- Headless frontend architecture
- Node.js & React development
- Drupal/WordPress content API
- GA4 to BigQuery warehouse
- Looker Studio reporting
Enterprise
MIT brought me in through its Internet Policy Research Initiative and CSAIL as the enterprise WordPress engineer for four public research properties: SCRAM, IPRI, MIT Future of Data and the ACM Symposium on Computer Science and Law. Four research sites moved from unversioned production edits to versioned, deployable software, with a people directory the labs maintain without a developer.
The work covers two custom functionality plugins, a team directory built as a post type and shortcode that the labs still run themselves, MIT brand implementation through Elementor global settings, a rebuilt research record, login hardening and web root cleanup, and a local environment, repository and zero-downtime deploy path for every site that previously only existed in production.
HQ · Cambridge, MA
Focus
- Custom plugin development
- Custom post types & taxonomies
- Elementor design systems
- Brand implementation
- WordPress security hardening
- Performance optimization
- Git deployment & environments
- Maintenance and support
Agency
Cramer is a B2B brand experience agency in Norwood, MA, and hired me as their WordPress engineer to build madrigalpatientsupport.com for Madrigal Pharmaceuticals from Figma to an FDA-reviewed production launch. Their team edits approved copy, job codes and resources without a developer, and the site launched with its regulatory content managed in the CMS rather than in code.
The work covers a framework-free custom theme serving separate patient and healthcare-professional experiences from one codebase, an ACF flexible-content module system, the dual sticky/static Important Safety Information component, a Request an ARM form with server-side validation and a Veeva Vault rep lookup, WCAG accessibility and Usercentrics consent, and a 301-mapped URL restructure at launch. Their team edits approved copy, job codes and resources without a developer.
HQ · Norwood, MA
Focus
- Custom WordPress development
- Figma to WordPress
- ACF content architecture
- Veeva Vault API integration
- Regulated pharma compliance
- WCAG accessibility
- Consent management
- Launch redirects & SEO migration
Enterprise
SBLI is a Massachusetts mutual life insurer chartered more than a century ago, and hired me as their sole enterprise WordPress developer for the consumer platform, a relationship that ran eight and a half years. Conversions increased 362%, campaigns optimized on policies issued rather than leads captured, and the platform was handed off documented rather than switched off.
The work covers a custom pricing engine with its own MySQL rate table and XLSX importer driving instant term life quotes at sbli.com/quote, the fully digital application at apply.sbli.com built in Angular on a WordPress backend, four partner lead webhooks feeding an ArrayWorks SOAP CRM, and a Segment/BigQuery measurement stack with a Node microservice pushing offline underwriting outcomes back to the ad platforms. Sustained development across nine private repositories, with a twelve-document handover to the in-house team.
HQ · Woburn, MA
Focus
- Custom plugin development
- Angular quote & application frontends
- Custom HTTP API & MySQL tables
- SOAP CRM integration
- Partner lead webhooks
- Segment & BigQuery analytics
- Offline conversion tracking
- Security hardening
- Documentation & knowledge transfer
Custom WordPress
Building Engines hired me as their web developer to build and support an agency-designed custom WordPress website for their Boston team. The tag container went from hundreds of tags down to eight, and the site generates 262% more leads as a result.
The work covered custom theme development, site speed optimization, and a Google Tag Manager rebuild that went from hundreds of tags down to 8 modular ones. The site generates 262% more leads as a result.
HQ · Boston, MA
Focus
- Custom WordPress development
- Site speed optimization
- GTM container rebuild
- Lead generation improvements
Enterprise
Harvard Law Review hired me as their enterprise WordPress engineer to build and maintain the custom design for their site, and keep it stable under heavy traffic. The site stays fast through traffic surges, and GA4 and Search Console data feed their Looker Studio dashboard on schedule.
The work covers ongoing update cycles, Cloudflare WAF and security headers, MFA and account security, and performance tuning during traffic surges. An analytics pipeline connects GA4 and Search Console to BigQuery, with scheduled queries powering their Looker Studio dashboard.
HQ · Cambridge, MA
Focus
- Custom theme build & maintenance
- Ongoing update cycles
- Cloudflare WAF & security headers
- MFA & account security
- Traffic surge performance
- GA4 & Search Console to BigQuery
- Looker Studio dashboards
Enterprise
MIT Sloan Review hired me as their custom WordPress theme and plugin developer to set up and extend a Piano-powered paywall and the analytics behind it. Corporate group memberships run themselves, and paywall, form and analytics data all land in one BigQuery warehouse.
The work covered a corporate group membership system built with their internal team, plus custom theme and plugin development and a BigQuery warehouse collecting GA4 analytics data, Gravity Forms submissions and more.
HQ · Cambridge, MA
Focus
- Piano paywall implementation
- Group membership system
- Custom theme & plugin development
- GA4 & form data in BigQuery
Custom WordPress
EverPresent hired me as their WordPress consultant to clean up an unstable site by rebuilding it on a new custom theme. Dozens of unnecessary plugins are gone, and they manage a vast library of landing pages on their own, confident nothing will break.
The work covered removing dozens of unnecessary plugins, a modular landing page system, a custom location database, lead form validation and a PHP 8 upgrade. They manage a vast library of landing pages on their own now, confident nothing will break.
HQ · Newton, MA
Focus
- Custom theme rebuild
- Plugin removal & cleanup
- Modular landing page system
- Custom location database
- Lead form validation
- PHP 8 upgrade
Custom WordPress
OpenView Venture is an expansion-stage venture capital firm, and hired me as a local freelance designer and developer to iterate on ideas directly with their investment team in Boston's Seaport. The inbound engine became a model for their SaaS portfolio companies, several of whom I went on to work with directly.
The work covered design and development of a large inbound marketing engine at labs.openviewpartners.com and the firm site at openviewpartners.com, run under a single WordPress Multisite network. The project became a model for their SaaS portfolio companies, several of whom I went on to work with directly.
HQ · Boston, MA
Focus
- Website design
- Multisite network build
- Inbound marketing engine
- Portfolio company support
WooCommerce
Boston Review hired me as an experienced WooCommerce developer to repair a subscription and membership system that had drifted off its own calendar, with no repository, staging or local environment behind it. Renewals bill on the date subscribers were told they would be billed, fulfillment runs four times a year instead of by hand, and 90%+ of page requests are answered at the edge.
The work covers a WooCommerce Subscriptions renewal rebuild traced to next payment dates being calculated from actual payment time, a SQL audit correcting roughly 800 subscriptions, REST-backed print and digital fulfillment runs with a real test mode, Stripe checkout repair, SendGrid transactional email with SPF and DKIM, a Cloudflare account migration and cache rules answering 90%+ of page requests at the edge, and zero-downtime git deployment to WP Engine across localhost, staging and production.
HQ · Cambridge, MA
Focus
- WooCommerce subscription rebuild
- Membership fulfillment automation
- Stripe checkout & payments
- SendGrid email with SPF & DKIM
- Cloudflare migration & edge caching
- Git deployment workflow
- Ongoing maintenance
Custom WordPress
Swagger.io publishes the most popular API documentation system on the web, and hired me as their designer and enterprise WordPress engineer to redesign swagger.io and build the custom theme behind it. Developers suggest and approve documentation edits through GitHub, on a product used by companies like Intuit, Microsoft and PayPal.
The work covered a new design supporting their established brand, developed with their team in Cambridge, MA, and a theme serving dynamic content directly from GitHub so developers can suggest and approve edits. Their product is used by companies like Intuit, McKesson, Microsoft, Morningstar and PayPal.
HQ · Somerville, MA
Focus
- Website design
- Custom WordPress development
- GitHub-powered dynamic content
- Open-source docs workflows
Custom WordPress
Laudio hired me as their web developer to clean up a business website built with the Elementor page builder. Site speed is way up, content management is simpler, and their cost per acquisition is down.
The work covered site speed optimization, GA4 and Google Tag Manager implementation, and Search Console and lead reporting. Site speed is way up, content management is simpler, and their cost per acquisition is down.
HQ · Boston, MA
Focus
- Elementor site cleanup
- Site speed optimization
- GA4 & GTM implementation
- Search Console & lead reporting
Custom WordPress
Not Your Average Joe's hired me to build a new custom WordPress theme that would simplify management of their 50+ restaurant locations. Reservations, menus, online ordering and geolocation stay current across more than 50 locations without manual updates.
The work covered a location management system replacing a poorly built theme, plus editorial workflow simplification and integrations with OpenTable, SinglePlatform and more to automate reservations, menu updates, online ordering and geolocation for mobile users.
HQ · Dedham, MA
Focus
- Custom WordPress development
- 50+ location management system
- Editorial workflow simplification
Enterprise
MIT Arts hired me as their enterprise WordPress engineer for ongoing support of their existing custom theme and plugins across a complex site. Complex eCommerce, events and integrations keep running, with new work shipped on the existing architecture rather than a rebuild.
The work covers eCommerce, event management, complex content management and custom integrations, on a site that needed someone who could rapidly understand the existing architecture and improve on it.
HQ · Cambridge, MA
Focus
- Ongoing theme & plugin support
- Event management systems
- eCommerce functionality
- Custom integrations
Custom WordPress
Tufts Cancer Center hired me to design and build a custom WordPress theme powering the Adolescent & Young Adult Cancer Program section of their website. Their team maintains the whole program section on their own, with enrollment-only access handled by an approval workflow.
The work covered a theme built on Automattic's _s starter with ACF content architecture their team maintains entirely on their own, plus a member registration system with social logins and an admin approval workflow gating an enrollment-only area.
HQ · Boston, MA
Focus
- Website design
- Custom WordPress development
- ACF content architecture
Enterprise
NetBrain builds enterprise software that automates network problem diagnosis, and hired me to design, architect and build a modern WordPress website with ongoing support behind it. Leads flow straight into Marketo and Salesforce, and the site holds up against the attacks aimed at their servers.
The work covers custom theme development, Marketo and Salesforce integrations, rapid lead generation iterations, analytics implementation, and security hardening against attacks on their servers.
HQ · Burlington, MA
Focus
- Website design & architecture
- Custom WordPress development
- Marketo & Salesforce integrations
- Security hardening
- Lead generation iterations
- Analytics implementation
Custom WordPress
Boston's Basilica is Boston's most iconic church, and hired me as a local freelance designer to clean up and rebuild a custom theme built by a local agency. The rebuilt theme loads in under 500ms, and content changes no longer require code.
The work covered CMS simplification so content changes no longer require code, plus a performance audit and the fixes it identified. The rebuilt theme loads in under 500ms.
HQ · Boston, MA
Focus
- Agency theme cleanup
- Performance audit & fixes
- CMS simplification
Enterprise
Keryx is a public biopharmaceutical company, and hired me to develop the custom WordPress theme for their agency-designed public website. The public site and an SSO-secured intranet both shipped, giving staff one place for internal documents.
The work covered custom theme development, followed by a corporate intranet with SAML 2.0 SSO and Google Docs integration built right after the new site launched.
HQ · Boston, MA
Focus
- Custom WordPress development
- Corporate intranet build
- SAML 2.0 SSO
- Google Docs integration
Agency
DGA Productions is a full-service production agency with credits for ESPN, YMCA and PBS, and hired me to design and build a website they could update entirely in-house. 4K samples stream from their own CDN on any device, and they finally had somewhere to showcase their video work.
The work covered a custom WordPress design and build with self-hosted, CDN-delivered 4K video samples using HTML5 playback for full mobile compatibility. They finally had somewhere to showcase their video work.
HQ · Watertown, MA
Focus
- Website design
- Custom WordPress development
- Video portfolio management
Custom WordPress
Citizen Schools runs advanced after-school programs for over 10,000 students in low-income areas nationwide, and hired me as a senior WordPress developer to build a flexible CMS from their in-house design. Over a dozen locations run independent microsites, on a platform we expanded together for more than five years.
The work covered a custom theme with advanced learning management capabilities on WordPress Multisite, letting their team run independent microsites for over a dozen locations. We expanded the platform together for over 5 years.
HQ · Boston, MA
Focus
- Custom WordPress development
- Learning management features
- In-house design implementation
Enterprise
Jana is the world's largest mobile rewards platform, reaching 3.48 billion consumers, and hired me as their enterprise WordPress developer to deliver a custom theme on a very tight timeline for a large international event. The redesign their previous team had struggled to deliver shipped in time for the event, and the site loads in milliseconds.
The work covered a website redesign their previous development team had struggled to deliver, built with HTML5 Boilerplate, Bootstrap, CodeKit and Redis. The site loads in milliseconds and their team manages most of it themselves.
HQ · Boston, MA
Focus
- Custom WordPress development
- Rapid launch timeline
- Website redesign delivery
Enterprise
Madico is one of the world's leading manufacturers of photovoltaic solar panel laminates and window films, and hired me to build a custom web tool simulating how their tinting products look to vendors. Vendors can see how the tinting products look before they buy, and we have worked together on and off for over five years since.
The work covered design and development of the tint simulator and the site around it. We have been working together on and off for over 5 years since.
HQ · Woburn, MA
Focus
- Custom web tool development
- Window tint simulator
- Website design & development
Let's Chat
If you're looking for expert consulting from a seasoned specialist schedule a consultation on Google Meet, or contact me by email.
Boston Case Studies
MIT's Research Property Platform
Enterprise WordPress engineering for four public research properties at MIT's Internet Policy Research Initiative and CSAIL, moving unversioned production edits to versioned, deployable software.
SBLI's Custom Life Insurance Pricing Engine
Custom frontend and backend development for a high-volume onboarding form providing instant life insurance quotes at sbli.com/quote, plus full online applications at apply.sbli.com.
MIT Sloan's Corporate Subscription System
Custom WordPress development using Piano and Stripe API connections for enterprise-level group subscription management, alongside extensive custom theme improvements.
MIT Technology Review's Headless CMS Stack
High-volume headless WordPress supporting a decoupled frontend serving over 2 million monthly visitors, with custom subscription management and MIT alumni eCommerce.
Boston WordPress Developer FAQs
Common questions from Boston-area organizations looking for a local WordPress expert.
- Can we meet in person?
Yes. I'm based in the Boston area and happy to meet on-site for kickoffs, planning sessions or training when it helps. Day-to-day work runs over email, Slack and Google Meet, the same way I work with my national clients.
- Why hire a freelance WordPress developer instead of a Boston agency?
You work directly with the senior developer doing the work, with no account management layer or agency markup. Several Boston agencies hire me themselves when they need senior WordPress engineering, including brand and production agencies in Norwood and Boston.
- Can you take over a WordPress site another developer or agency built?
Yes, and most of my local engagements start exactly there. I audit the existing theme and plugins, stabilize what's breaking, set up proper local/staging/production environments, and then improve the site incrementally instead of pushing an unnecessary rebuild.
- What Boston-area organizations have you worked with?
MIT, MIT Technology Review, MIT Sloan Management Review, Harvard Law Review, SBLI, Tufts, OpenView Venture Partners, Boston Review, Swagger (SmartBear), NetBrain, Laudio, Jana, Building Engines, EverPresent, Madico, Boston's Basilica, Citizen Schools and more; the portfolio above is filtered to local work.
Let's Chat
If you're looking for expert consulting from a seasoned specialist schedule a consultation on Google Meet, or contact me by email.