I develop sites that convert, and manage the infrastructure behind them.
No middlemen. No outsourcing. One senior developer, working directly with you.
I’m Saad Malik, an independent web developer in Austin. I built my first client website in 2007, in ASP, and the work has expanded steadily since. What began with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript grew into WordPress and PHP development, then modern JavaScript frameworks and technical SEO, and eventually the DevOps and security work that keeps a site running after launch.
Over that time, clients have included Rackspace, IBM, Amy’s Ice Cream, the City of Farmers Branch, Texas, and Mercedes-Benz. Today, the practice covers every layer of a website: the interface people use, the content systems behind it, the integrations that connect it to the rest of a business, and the search and marketing work that turns visitors into customers.
Every build is made to be handed over - clean code that other developers can extend, and a clean interface that clients can manage without help.
More about me ↗How I work.
Sometimes leading development, sometimes embedded with your team - the engagement takes the shape the project needs.
Simple, honest billing
Billing is hourly, at a fixed rate agreed up front, and invoiced monthly. No minimum commitment, so starting is simple and low-risk: use as much or as little time as the project needs.
No surprises
Every piece of work is requested, estimated, and approved before it starts. Spend is tracked weekly and available for you to check at any time, and changes in expected cost or timing are flagged the week they appear. If a budget or a deadline cannot work, that gets discussed before work starts - not after the invoice.
Anonymized example budgets from similar past projects show what development like yours actually costs.
Fixed time, variable scope
Development proceeds in short stages with regular feedback. Time and budget stay fixed; the scope flexes to fit them. That discipline trims complexity early, which is where the real savings are - in development, and in maintenance long after launch.
The work I take on.
All services ↗Six areas, from the page to the infrastructure. Most projects touch more than one.
Web development
Custom WordPress themes and plugins, accessible and responsive frontend development, and Core Web Vitals performance work. Pages that load fast and are easy to maintain.
WordPress development / Custom themes & plugins / Page speed
Explore the work in Web developmentSEO & digital marketing
Help the right people find you, then see what brings them back. Technical SEO, email campaigns, and analytics that connect your marketing to inquiries and sales.
Technical SEO / Email marketing / GA4 & conversion tracking
Explore the work in SEO & digital marketingHosting & integrations
Managed WordPress hosting, server migrations, and API integrations - CRM, email platforms, payment gateways - that keep the website and the tools around it working together.
WordPress hosting / Server migrations / API & CRM integrations
Explore the work in Hosting & integrationsE-commerce
WooCommerce and Shopify stores, checkout flows, and secure payment integrations that turn visits into orders. PCI readiness reviews and remediation support the systems behind each transaction.
WooCommerce & Shopify / Secure payments / PCI readiness reviews and remediation
Explore the work in E-commerceAI & automation
Put AI to work in the tools you already use. AI agents, connected workflows, and automations that take repetitive work off your team’s plate.
AI enablement / Workflow automation / Connected tools
Explore the work in AI & automationSecurity research
WordPress plugin vulnerability research and responsible disclosure through bug bounty programs, with advisories that tell site owners exactly what to update.
CVE disclosures / Advisories
Read the findingsSelected work.
The full portfolio ↗Client work and independent tools.
Technical products
Client case study · Client name withheldMaking a technical catalog easier to compare.
Product comparison tables, clearer shopping information, and content updates for a technical product business.
- Added a table view for comparing products.
- Designed a product-page format for multiple variations.
- Restructured the shop’s product listings and rewrote customer-facing order-status messages for clarity.
B2B eCommerce
Client case study · Client name withheldAn SEO campaign that grew the audience 245%.
A search campaign launched in November 2024 for a B2B eCommerce business. Users grew 245% in 2025, with organic acquisition up 49% in the first six months.
- Organic user acquisition increased 49% in the first six months (5,429 to 8,109 users).
- Engaged organic sessions increased 42% in the same window (5,616 to 7,993).
- Users grew from 21,719 to 75,018 in 2025 (+245%).
Technology business
Client case study · Client name withheldA homepage redesign with growth that compounded.
A homepage redesign launched in July 2024 for a technology business. Users increased 16% in the first six months on retention, then grew 50% across 2025.
- Users increased 16% in the first six months (5,020 to 5,838), with organic traffic flat at +2.5%.
- Sessions increased 11% in the same window (8,724 to 9,641).
- Users grew from 10,629 to 15,965 in 2025 (+50%).
Technical products
Client case study · Client name withheldCutting origin bandwidth by two-thirds with caching at the edge.
Server-side caching with Cloudflare in front of WP Engine hosting. Average daily bandwidth fell from 8 GB to 2.5 GB ahead of a costly hosting tier change.
- Implemented server-side caching with Cloudflare in front of the WP Engine origin.
- Repeat page views and asset requests are served from cache instead of the origin.
- Average daily bandwidth fell from 8 GB to 2.5 GB (-69%).
Rackspace
An event agenda that took hours out of publishing
A custom WordPress agenda plugin, CSV import, and multisite support for Rackspace::Solve. Agenda entry time fell from eight hours to two.
DEKRA North America
Connecting the website to the marketing workflow
HubSpot workflows, email templates, landing pages, and CMS migration work for DEKRA. The engagement crossed the systems used to publish content and run marketing.
City of Farmers Branch
A faster home for local stories
A blog template and performance work within the existing WordPress tourism site. Organic traffic grew 120% in three months, and page load time improved from seven seconds to 1.6 seconds.
Technical Design Group
A clearer website for a technical consultancy
A new WordPress website for a consultancy working on technical systems in sports facilities, entertainment venues, and convention centers.
Texas Hospital Association
Hospital data and donations, made easier to navigate
Two pieces of work for the Texas Hospital Association: a searchable hospital-data interface and a separate single-page donation application.
Where the Winds Blow
A store migration, a better buying flow, and automated reviews
WooCommerce theme work, a review-solicitation API integration, and a server migration for an established Mah Jongg store.
Malcolm's Miracle
A BigCommerce store, rebuilt on WooCommerce
A move from BigCommerce to WooCommerce, UX improvements informed by behavior analysis, and PayPal Pro checkout for Malcolm's Miracle.
Worth & Associates
Office listings that update themselves
A custom WordPress theme and property-listing integration using Amazon S3, replacing a manual step in keeping office listings current.
Cafe Express
A headless site with a stronger search result
Metadata improvements on a React/headless WordPress site and an AWS hosting migration. Organic click-through rate increased 30% over two months.
WORDPRESS PLUGIN
PostHog for WP
Add PostHog analytics from your WordPress settings without editing your theme. Used on 100+ active installs.
Professional recommendations.
From clients, colleagues, and people I have had the privilege of working with. Excerpts from their LinkedIn recommendations, in their own words.
He helped us completely revamp it from front-end to back. We now have a website that is user-friendly, highly responsive, visually appealing, and allows us to scale our events with greater ease.
Corin Bragstad
Marketing Programs Manager, Rackspace
His talent and expertise were evident from the beginning, but over the course of two months he has also been extremely professional, thorough, communicative and reliable.
Nico Keyes
Product growth leader
We have worked with Saad for almost a year now and continue to be impressed by his quick thinking, extensive technical skills, and collaborative attitude.
Nadia Huda
Strategic Marketing Leader, DEKRA
Saad was so easy to work with and did a great job with our project! I highly recommend him for any of your website development needs. He is very knowledgeable, quick to respond and helpful.
Meredith Dowdy
Tourism Manager, City of Farmers Branch
He's been able to swoop in like a hero and help me out with some significant web development projects without requiring a lot of hand-holding or coding instructions. He is responsive, responsible and produces high-quality work.
Lane Boyd
Digital Communications Manager, Texas Hospital Association
The work performed was exceptional as well as the attention to detail and follow-up customer service. We will not hesitate to recommend Saad's design services to our clients and other industry professionals.
John Miller
Vice President, Technical Design Group
Having Saad on our team makes the daily challenges of ecommerce much more palatable. From his cheery disposition and can-do attitude, to his breadth of knowledge with regard to fixing, developing, and improving our website.
Lauren Jenkins
Senior Brand & Visual Designer
Plus he has a lot of expertise in a lot of development areas, and has been able to successfully troubleshoot some very strange problems we've had on our (very large) website. If he wasn't already working, I'd hire him again in a heartbeat!
Lynn Chorn
Owner, Where the Winds Blow
Saad is very technical and is always improving his coding skills! He was also a great project manager and had great attention to detail.
Steven Martin
Director of Web Development, Fair Marketing
While we worked together I was always impressed with his abilities and felt like I had a reliable colleague. He is also very easy and fun to work with.
Dwayne Casey
Owner, CTO & Marketing, C3 Building Solutions
Saad has been an A+ team player and has a work ethic like NO-OTHER! … Saad is wicked smart, tech savvy and can learn anything he puts his mind to- it's been my pleasure to have worked with him.
Roger Janik
Founder, Mozaik · Fair Marketing · Fountains.com
Let’s discuss your project
Tell me what you’re building or what needs to work better.
Contact Form
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