# Psy Digital

> Psy Digital is Simon MacFadyen, an independent full-stack developer in Cheshire. I build and look after Shopify stores, WordPress sites and Laravel applications for retailers, agencies and growing businesses.

One developer: the person you brief writes the code. Over 15 years of experience, remote by default and on site in Chester, Liverpool and the Wirral when it helps. Psy Digital has traded from Cheshire, United Kingdom since 2020. All blog content and copywriting is human-written; AI tools are used for code assistance during development work. Case studies describe real client projects and carry no results figures.

## Services

- [Services overview](https://www.psydigital.co.uk/services/): Shopify, WordPress, Laravel and bespoke development from one developer
- [Shopify development](https://www.psydigital.co.uk/services/shopify-development/): custom themes, app integrations, speed fixes and migrations for retailers in Liverpool and the Wirral
- [WordPress development](https://www.psydigital.co.uk/services/wordpress-development/): custom themes, plugins and WooCommerce shops, built and looked after by the same developer
- [WordPress web design](https://www.psydigital.co.uk/services/wordpress-design/): WordPress sites designed from the client's brand guidelines, agreed as mock-ups, then built as the theme
- [WordPress maintenance in Cheshire](https://www.psydigital.co.uk/wordpress-maintenance-cheshire/): updates, security, backups and fixes, agreed site by site, including for sites someone else built
- [Laravel development](https://www.psydigital.co.uk/services/laravel-development/): applications, APIs and dashboards, plus rescue work on codebases that need stabilising
- [Bespoke software and integrations](https://www.psydigital.co.uk/services/bespoke-software/): custom applications, integrations and automation scoped by the developer who builds them
- [White-label development for agencies](https://www.psydigital.co.uk/services/white-label-development/): Laravel, Shopify and WordPress capacity under the agency's brand

## Guides for people hiring a developer

- [How to hire a Shopify developer without getting burned](https://www.psydigital.co.uk/blog/how-to-hire-a-shopify-developer-without-getting-burned/): the questions to ask and the red flags to walk away from
- [What to look for in a WordPress care plan](https://www.psydigital.co.uk/blog/what-to-look-for-wordpress-care-plan/): what to demand, what to avoid, and when a site needs a rebuild first
- [When to rebuild vs refactor your website](https://www.psydigital.co.uk/blog/when-to-rebuild-vs-refactor-your-website/): how to tell when refactoring has become denial
- [What technical debt is really costing your business](https://www.psydigital.co.uk/blog/what-technical-debt-is-really-costing-your-business/): how debt builds beneath the surface and why it is a business risk
- [The real cost of ignoring WordPress maintenance](https://www.psydigital.co.uk/blog/real-cost-ignoring-wordpress-maintenance/): what neglect costs before the hack or the crash
- [Choosing the right technical partner](https://www.psydigital.co.uk/blog/choosing-the-right-technical-partner/): cost, speed and quality, and why you cannot have all three

## Case studies

- [Shopify Plus theme for a luxury jeweller](https://www.psydigital.co.uk/portfolio/shopify-luxury-ecommerce-rebuild/): custom theme with V12 and Novuna finance, HubSpot CRM and page control for the marketing team
- [WordPress platform for a financial adviser](https://www.psydigital.co.uk/portfolio/wordpress-financial-advisory-platform/): ACF block builder and a fee calculator used in client meetings
- [Laravel trading platform for a cryptocurrency exchange](https://www.psydigital.co.uk/portfolio/laravel-fintech-blockchain-platform/): real-time order book, queue-based matching engine, KYC and audit tooling
- [Design system for an educational institution](https://www.psydigital.co.uk/portfolio/html-enterprise-design-system/): TypeScript component library with design tokens, Storybook and accessibility tests

## About and contact

- [About Simon MacFadyen](https://www.psydigital.co.uk/about/): background, timeline and how I work
- [Contact](https://www.psydigital.co.uk/contact/): the contact form
- [Blog](https://www.psydigital.co.uk/blog/): hiring guides and technical series on Laravel, Shopify and WordPress
- [Portfolio](https://www.psydigital.co.uk/portfolio/): all case studies

## Optional

- [Laravel Mastery series](https://www.psydigital.co.uk/blog/series/laravel-mastery/): Eloquent, Artisan, middleware, events, performance and deployment
- [Shopify Essentials series](https://www.psydigital.co.uk/blog/series/shopify-essentials/): theme performance, Liquid, custom apps, API integration and deployment
- [WordPress Performance series](https://www.psydigital.co.uk/blog/series/wordpress-performance/): caching, database optimisation, hooks and plugin performance
- [RSS feed](https://www.psydigital.co.uk/rss.xml): every post, newest first