I build
WordPress websites.
Properly.
JamesWelbes
What I Do
Specialized WordPress services for clients that want it done right.
Web Development
Conversion-ready sites with accessible, fast front ends, strong SEO foundations, and maintainable theme structures. Performance over flourish.
Product Leadership
Clarify scope, prioritize roadmaps, write actionable tickets, and ship in sprints with a calm, steady cadence. Leadership that scales with your team.
Prototypes & MVPs
Transform raw ideas into working WordPress plugins and blocks. Perfect for investor demos or early customer pilots. Ship value fast.
Tutorial Videos
Professional YouTube tutorials that showcase your WordPress product's features and workflows. Clear, engaging content that helps users understand and adopt your solution.
About Me
My Approach
With over a decade in the WordPress ecosystem, I’ve worn every hat—agency owner, developer, product owner, and video…maker guy. As former Product Owner at StellarWP (Liquid Web), I contributed to widely used plugins including LearnDash, Restrict Content Pro, MemberDash, and The Events Calendar.
That experience shaped my hands-on, outcome-first approach: ship value fast, protect reliability, and make maintenance easy. Now, through Apex Branding & Design, I partner with founders, nonprofits, and growth-stage teams to turn ideas into traction.
Work With MeMy Principles
User-first editor friendly
Every interface is designed for the people who'll use it daily
Standards matter
Clean, maintainable code that follows WordPress best practices
Performance over flourish
Fast, efficient experiences without unnecessary bloat
Reliability at scale
Built to handle growth without breaking under pressure
Featured Projects
Real-world solutions built for scale, reliability, and user experience
RoadMapWP
Unlock the power of user-driven roadmaps
YouTube for WordPress
Import and display videos from a YouTube channel
CloneWP
Easily clone plugins or themes into your website from GitHub
FinnPrep
ACT Prep, and tutoring. Student success starts here.
His Hands Free Clinic
Nonprofit ministry providing free healthcare to Cedar Rapids and surrounding communities.
Westside Sewing
Four generations of craftsmanship, innovation, and family tradition
Restrict Content Pro
LearnDash
MemberDash
Experience
Owner Apex Branding & Design (December 2015 – Present)
Owner of a small branding and design agency
- Provide consulting for small and medium businesses in the Cedar Rapids, Iowa area.
- Focus on website creation and maintenance, leveraging CMS platforms (WordPress, WebFlow) where applicable and creation/modification of HTML & CSS code when required.
- Manage basic SEO optimization and small AdWords campaigns for customers.
- Other common services include onboarding customers to G Suite or Office 365, website configuration (SSL), and Webhosting.
Product Owner StellarWP (LiquidWeb) (February 2021 – August 2024)
Owned product roadmap and bug triage for several WordPress plugins
- Worked with a very small team (1 dev, 3 CS reps) to bring renewals for RCP from less than 20% to 70%. New sales also recovered
- Brought brand new membership plugin MemberDash to market.
- Worked to bring cohesion to LearnDash premium add-ons. Helped facilitate acquisition of a suite of products including developers from another company.