Wellington, New Zealand
Websites built like infrastructure.
I build fast, search-ready sites for New Zealand businesses, then keep them patched, backed up and monitored. No retainer for small edits. No page builder bloat. You keep control of your own content.
01 Speed
Core Web Vitals in the green on mobile, measured before launch and after.
02 Control
WordPress block editor, set up so you can edit pages without calling me.
03 Found
Schema markup, clean semantics and content structured for Google and AI answers.
04 Safe
Weekly patching, offsite backups and uptime monitoring on managed hosting.
Services
Four ways to work with me, priced so you know where you stand.
Website build
From $789
A five page site built on a clean WordPress foundation, written and structured for your industry, and handed over with a walkthrough so you can run it yourself.
- Custom block layouts, no page builder
- On-page SEO and schema markup
- Forms, analytics and tracking wired up
- Editable by you from day one
Managed hosting
From $39 / month
Your site on infrastructure I actually maintain. Weekly checks, core and plugin updates, and a restore point that works when it matters.
- Weekly updates and security scans
- Daily offsite backups, tested restores
- Uptime and SSL monitoring
- Small text edits included
Rescue an existing site
Quoted
Slow, out of date, or held hostage by whoever built it. I take over the site, clean out what is breaking it and move you onto hosting that holds up, usually without a full rebuild.
- Migration handled end to end
- Plugin and theme cleanup
- Performance and security pass
- Full access handed back to you
Site audit
Free
A written report on what your current site is doing well and what is costing you enquiries, plus a call to walk through it. No obligation to hire me afterwards.
- Speed and Core Web Vitals results
- Search visibility and schema check
- Security and update status
- Prioritised list of fixes
Process
Four weeks, start to live, and you know what happens in each one.
Week 01
Scope and content
We go through what you sell, who buys it and what the site has to do. I map the pages and tell you exactly what copy and images I need from you.
Week 02
Design and build
Layouts built as reusable blocks in a staging environment you can look at any time. One round of changes is part of the price, not an extra.
Week 03
Search and speed
Titles, schema, sitemaps, image compression and caching. I test on a real mobile connection, not just a desktop score, and fix what fails.
Week 04
Launch and handover
DNS cutover, analytics and Search Console connected, then a recorded walkthrough of how to edit your own pages. Admin access is yours.
The stack
The tools behind every site I hand over.
Nothing exotic, nothing you get locked into. Every piece is documented, transferable, and something you could hand to another developer tomorrow if you wanted to.
CMS
WordPress, block editor
Native blocks and patterns instead of a licensed page builder. Faster pages, and nothing stops working when a licence lapses.
Performance
Edge caching and AVIF
Cloudflare in front, full page caching, modern image formats and lazy loading. Measured against Core Web Vitals field data.
Search
Structured data
LocalBusiness, Service, FAQ and Breadcrumb schema written properly, so Google understands what you do and where you do it.
AI visibility
Answer ready content
Clean HTML, an llms.txt file and content written in the question and answer shape assistants pull from when someone asks for a supplier.
Security
Patching and firewall
Managed updates on a weekly cycle, a web application firewall, forced SSL and login hardening. Backups held offsite and restore tested.
Monitoring
Uptime and reporting
Every site checked from a central dashboard. If something goes down I hear about it before you do, and you get a monthly summary.
The difference
What working with me is not.
| Typical agency | Life Ring | |
|---|---|---|
| Small text change | Support ticket, billed at an hourly rate | You do it yourself, or I do it same day |
| Who you deal with | An account manager relaying to a developer | Me, the person who built it |
| Site ownership | Proprietary theme, licences tied to their account | Standard WordPress, all logins in your name |
| If you leave | Migration fee, and a fight over access | Export, credentials and a handover call |
About
I am Jason. I build and I maintain, and that is the whole business.
I started Life Ring because too many small businesses in New Zealand were paying agency money for a site they could not touch, on hosting nobody was watching. That is a bad deal, and it is avoidable.
So the work is straightforward. I build the site properly, I show you how to run it, and I keep the technical side maintained in the background. If you want to change your own opening hours at nine on a Sunday, you can, and it costs nothing.
You deal with me directly, from the first call to the day you decide you no longer need me.
No charge, no obligation
Find out what your site is actually doing.
Send me your address and I will run it through the same checks I use on every build, then write up what I find in plain English. Usually back to you within two working days.
Questions
The ones I get asked most.
Do I have to stay on your hosting?
No. The build is yours whether you host with me or not. Most people stay because they would rather not think about updates and backups, but you can take the site elsewhere at any time and I will help you move it.
What if I have no copy or photos yet?
That is normal. I give you a short brief for each page so you are not staring at a blank document, and I will draft the structure and headings. If you need photography I can point you at a local shooter.
Can I really edit it myself?
Yes, and that is a deliberate design decision. Pages are built from labelled blocks, so changing text or swapping an image is the same as editing a document. You get a recorded walkthrough of your own site at handover.
How long until it is live?
About four weeks for a standard five page build, assuming content comes back reasonably quickly. Rescues and migrations are usually faster because the content already exists.
Tell me what your site needs to do.
Fill this in and I will come back with an honest read on whether I am the right fit, and what it would cost.