What makes agency sites more complex to convert
An agency website is rarely just a few static pages — it usually has a case studies section that grows over time, a services section with several near-identical layouts, and a team page that needs regular updates as staff change. Converting it as flat static pages recreates the visual design but misses an opportunity to make ongoing updates easier.
Deciding which sections should become dynamic custom post types (case studies, team members) versus which remain simple static pages (about, contact) is the first real decision to make before any template code is written.
Setting up the base theme structure
As with any theme, the conversion needs the standard WordPress files: style.css with the theme header block, index.php as a fallback template, header.php and footer.php for the shared navigation and footer, and functions.php to register scripts, styles, custom post types, and any custom fields.
For an agency site specifically, it is worth also planning archive-case-study.php and single-case-study.php templates early if case studies will be a custom post type, since retrofitting this structure after launch is more work than building it in from the start.
Converting the visual design accurately first
Agency sites tend to have distinctive visual branding — custom typography, specific hover states on portfolio thumbnails, subtle scroll animations — that represent real design investment and should not be lost or approximated during conversion.
Themify handles this part of the process directly: it captures the live agency site in the browser and outputs an installable WordPress theme with style.css, index.php, header.php, footer.php, functions.php, and assets already generated, preserving the original CSS and JS animations. Starting from this accurate visual baseline means the remaining conversion work is entirely about adding WordPress-specific content structure rather than also having to rebuild the design from a screenshot or a Figma file.
Building the case studies section
Case studies benefit from being a custom post type with custom fields for client name, project category, and results metrics, since this lets the agency filter and display them dynamically (by industry, by service type) without manually editing a static page every time.
The archive template should support filtering if the agency has enough case studies to warrant it, while the single template needs to handle case studies of varying length gracefully, since some clients write two paragraphs and others write two thousand words.
- Register a Case Study custom post type with relevant custom fields
- Build an archive template with optional category filtering
- Build a single template that handles short and long content well
- Migrate existing case studies as individual posts, not one static page
Handling the team page
A team page is one of the most frequently outdated pages on any agency site, since staff join and leave regularly. Setting it up as a Team Member custom post type with a simple template (photo, name, role, short bio) means updating the team page becomes a two-minute task in wp-admin instead of a developer request.
This also means the site owner can reorder team members or mark someone as inactive without touching code, which removes a recurring small maintenance burden from the agency's own development team.
SEO considerations during conversion
Agency sites often have accumulated search rankings for specific service pages and case studies, so preserving URL structure or setting up accurate 301 redirects is important. Map every old URL to its new WordPress permalink before launch, not as an afterthought.
After launch, submit the updated sitemap through Search Console and monitor the coverage report for crawl errors over the following weeks, since a missed redirect on a well-ranked case study page can be a meaningful and avoidable traffic loss.
Final QA before launch
Test the contact form thoroughly, including any file upload fields common on agency sites (for job applications or project briefs), and check that the .htaccess upload size limit and PHP memory limit are sufficient for the file sizes being accepted.
Review the site on actual mobile devices rather than only browser emulation, since agency sites with heavy animation sometimes perform noticeably differently on real hardware than in a desktop browser's mobile simulator.
Frequently asked questions
- Should agency case studies be a custom post type?
- Yes, in almost all cases, since it enables filtering, consistent formatting, and easy addition of new case studies through wp-admin rather than editing a growing static page manually.
- How do I keep my agency site's design exactly the same after moving to WordPress?
- Starting the conversion from an automated capture of the live site, such as with Themify, preserves the CSS and JS animations accurately, giving you a visual baseline to build WordPress functionality on top of rather than recreating the design from memory or screenshots.
- Will I lose search rankings when converting my agency site to WordPress?
- Not if you map old URLs to new permalinks with 301 redirects, keep existing page content and titles where possible, and submit an updated sitemap through Search Console shortly after launch.
- How should I structure the team page so it is easy to update?
- Set up team members as a custom post type with fields for photo, name, role, and bio, so adding or removing someone from the team page is a normal wp-admin edit rather than a code change.
- What is the biggest mistake agencies make when converting their own site to WordPress?
- Rebuilding everything as static pages instead of taking the opportunity to make frequently updated sections like case studies and team members dynamic, which recreates the same maintenance burden the migration should have solved.