WordPress Site Takeover — EU, US & Australia
Your Developer Is Gone. I Take Over the Site.
Built by someone who is no longer around, and now things are breaking? I take my own backup, audit what is really installed, and send you a written fix list with a fixed price before I change anything. Flat €65/hour for normal work. No retainers.
Sound familiar?
Most takeovers start here
You do not need to know what is wrong. Working that out is the first job.
The developer left
Built a few years ago by someone who is no longer around, and things have started to break or get messy.
Nobody holds the logins
No one is sure what is installed, where it is hosted, or who owns the domain and DNS.
The site went down
It was working fine, and now it shows errors you cannot trace.
Updates nobody dares to run
Postponed for so long that a single click now feels risky.
Emails go missing
Orders or form messages stopped arriving, or are going to someone who left.
Half-finished
A relative or freelancer got it mostly done, and you need someone to finish it properly.
The process
How a takeover works
Six steps, always in this order. Nothing on your live site changes until you have approved the plan.
1. Access
You give me an administrator login, plus hosting and domain access if you have it. If you have lost any of it, I help you recover it through your registrar or host.
2. Independent backup
I take my own copy of the files and database from the server and check that it restores. Nothing is touched before this exists.
3. Read-only audit
I look at what is actually installed: WordPress core, theme, plugins, PHP version, hosting, backups, security, speed, email delivery and, on WooCommerce sites, the checkout.
4. Written findings and a fixed price
You get a plain-language list ordered by risk, with a fixed price for each piece of work. You decide what goes ahead.
5. Fix on a copy first
Risky changes, such as PHP upgrades, are tested locally or on staging before they reach the live site.
6. Then keep it healthy
If you want to stop worrying about it, managed WordPress hosting covers updates, backups and monitoring. If not, the site stays where it is and you call me when you need me.
What I check in the audit
Access and ownership
- Who holds the domain, DNS, hosting and admin accounts
- Whether any of them are tied to a person who left
- Unused admin accounts that should not exist
Software and stability
- End-of-life PHP and outdated WordPress core
- Abandoned plugins and anything with a known vulnerability
- Server response time, heavy plugins, image weight and database bloat
Backups and security
- Whether a backup exists, where it is stored and whether anyone has restored from it
- Leftover files such as old config copies
- Exposed logs and open directories
Email, content and SEO
- Where order and form emails really go, and whether they arrive
- Orphaned pages and broken redirects
- What would hurt rankings if removed carelessly
Case study: WorkCycles, Amsterdam
A cargo-bike retailer came back after its previous developer moved on. I started with an independent backup, then found end-of-life PHP, order notifications going to the wrong inbox and a contact page that was not the real one. PHP moved from the unsupported 8.0 to 8.4 after testing on a local copy first.
What it costs
Fixed price for defined jobs
Once the audit is done, each piece of work gets a fixed price before I start. You know the cost up front, with no surprise invoices.
Rush work
Genuine emergencies and rush work are billed at €95 an hour. Everything else stays at €65.
Flat €65 an hour
Normal work is one flat hourly rate for everything, with no tiers and no surprises.
No retainers, no contract
There is no minimum commitment and no standalone maintenance plan. Ongoing care is part of managed hosting.
Running a WooCommerce store? Start with the free store checkup, which gives you a first read on checkout, speed and plugins.
Frequently Asked Questions
What do I need to give you to get started?
An administrator login for WordPress, plus hosting, domain registrar and DNS access if you have them. If you have lost access to any of those, I help you recover it through your registrar or host. Nothing else is required, and you do not need the previous developer’s help.
What if the previous developer will not hand anything over, or cannot be reached?
That is a normal starting point. I take my own backup from the server, then read what is actually installed, so I do not depend on notes or documentation that may not exist.
Will you change anything before I have seen the findings?
No. The order is always the same: an independent backup, a read-only audit, a written list of what I found with a fixed price, and your approval. Changes start only after that.
Do I have to move to your hosting?
No. I can audit and fix the site where it is today. Managed hosting is an option when the old setup is the problem, for example an unsupported PHP version or a server nobody maintains.
Do you work on sites built with Elementor, Divi or WPBakery?
Yes. I work with what is there and keep it running. If you would rather edit your own content in the native block editor and own clean code, moving to a block theme is a separate, fixed-scope option, not a condition of the takeover.
What does a takeover cost?
Normal work is billed at a flat 65 euros an hour, and defined jobs get a fixed price before I start. Rush or emergency work is 95 euros an hour. There are no retainers and no minimum contract.
Get Started
Inherited a site nobody understands?
Tell me what happened and what is breaking. I will reply within one business day with what I would check first. No commitment required.
Talk to the developer,
not a salesperson.
Send me a message and I’ll get back to you within one business day. I work with SMEs across the Netherlands, Western Europe, Australia and the US.
hello@imagewize.com
Response time
Within 1 business day
Based in
Asia — working with clients in the Netherlands, Europe, Australia and the US
Available for new projects