# How we rebuilt my website

_Published on 2 September 2026 at 5:44 PM · Around 4 minutes to read_

We started by rebuilding my website away from WordPress and moving towards a much lighter, headless setup.

Instead of having the design, content, database and publishing system all tied together inside WordPress, we separated those concerns. The website itself is now being built as a fast front end, with the content structured so it can be managed independently and changed without rebuilding the whole experience around a traditional CMS.

We set up the site as a proper codebase with version control, so there is one clear source of truth for the design, content, decisions and functionality. This also means changes can be tested properly before anything is published.

We moved the hosting to Netlify. That gives us a fast, modern deployment setup where the site can be published directly from the codebase, tested on its own temporary URL and only moved onto the main craigjamieson.com domain when it is ready.

We designed the site around a persistent interface rather than loading a completely new page every time someone navigates. The main shell stays in place while the content changes, allowing us to create smoother transitions, motion, colour changes and a more deliberate experience without sacrificing performance.

At the same time, we are making sure the underlying site still works as proper web content. Important information should exist in the HTML rather than only appearing after JavaScript runs. That makes the site faster, more accessible and easier for search engines and AI agents to understand.

We are also deliberately building for traditional SEO, newer AI search and agent discovery. That includes clear page structures, semantic HTML, structured metadata, sensible URLs, crawlable content, sitemaps, appropriate crawler access and content that can be understood without relying on the visual interface.

The content itself is becoming part of that system. My work, experience, case studies, biography and future writing will be structured as useful knowledge rather than simply being text placed inside a portfolio template.

I am also going to publish design-related writing regularly. Over time, that gives the site a growing body of material that represents what I know, what I think and how I work. It should help both people and AI systems build a much richer understanding of me than they could from a conventional portfolio.

We are testing the site as we build it rather than waiting until the end. That includes performance, accessibility, SEO, HTML quality, responsiveness, crawler access and AI readiness. We can use those results to keep improving the build before the final domain is switched over.

Going forward, updating the site will be very different from working inside WordPress. I will not need to maintain themes, plugins, page builders, WordPress updates or a large CMS installation just to publish content.

Instead, the website remains a controlled design system and front end, while content can be added or changed through the content layer we establish. New articles, case studies and updates can be published into that structure without redesigning pages or fighting with WordPress.

The result should be a site that is faster, easier to maintain, easier to evolve, much more deliberately designed and significantly better prepared for the way people, search engines and AI systems are beginning to discover and consume information online.

There is still work to do. We need to finish the content structure, refine the interactions and motion, complete the case studies, improve the imagery, finish the publishing workflow, run the full performance and accessibility checks, validate the AI and agent requirements and finally connect craigjamieson.com once we are happy with the result.

Oh, and by ‘we’, I mean me and my AI stack, Claude and ChatGPT.

Filed under: [Process](https://craigjamieson.netlify.app/category/process/)

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