WooCommerce Website Optimization and Feature Development

WordPress / WooCommerce Site Optimization, SEO & Feature Development
Project Overview

I am seeking an experienced WordPress & WooCommerce developer to audit, fix, optimize, and extend my existing website. The site currently uses multiple plugins and requires technical, SEO, performance, structural improvements, along with new content features (Pet News and AI-powered Q&A).

The work must be done carefully on a live or staging site, following best practices and without data loss.

Project Scope & Requirements
1. SEO, Sitemap & Google Search Console Setup

Properly configure Yoast SEO

Generate, validate, and submit XML sitemaps

Ensure all relevant pages are indexed in Google Search Console

Identify and resolve:

Indexing issues

Exclusions

Crawl errors
(Note: Any premium plugin costs such as Yoast Premium will be paid separately by me.)

2. Plugin Management

Update all installed plugins to latest stable versions

Identify and safely deactivate/remove inactive or unused plugins

Ensure no plugin conflicts post-update

3. Duplicate Content Cleanup

Identify duplicate or thin content pages

Implement proper 301 redirects where required

Ensure clean URL structure and correct canonical tags

4. Meta Description Optimization

Identify pages with missing or weak meta descriptions

Create and implement SEO-friendly meta descriptions
(AI-assisted content is acceptable)

5. Affiliate Category Landing Page (Subdomain Setup)

Page Details

Subdomain: petsupplies.[domain].com

Page slug: /petsupplies

Create one landing page featuring 15 pet-related categories

Categories

Dog Supplies

Cat Supplies

Fish & Aquatic Pet Supplies

Bird Supplies

Small Animal Supplies

Reptile & Amphibian Supplies

Horse Supplies

Pet Food

Pet Treats

Pet Health & Wellness

Pet Training & Behavior Aids

Pet Grooming Supplies

Pet Beds & Furniture

Pet Travel & Outdoor Gear

Pet Cleaning & Waste Management

For each category

3-block grid layout per row

AI-generated category image

Unique AI-generated description (~100 words)

Affiliate link to my Amazon affiliate URL

Fully responsive & SEO-friendly structure

Geo-Redirection Rules

Visitors from India → open main site index

Visitors from outside India → redirect to petsupplies landing page

All 404 errors must redirect to the petsupplies landing page

6. PHP Version Upgrade

Upgrade PHP to a recommended, compatible version

Ensure compatibility with:

WordPress core

WooCommerce

Theme

Plugins

7. WordPress Auto-Update & Security Fix

Issue to resolve:

WordPress security and maintenance releases are blocked by:
define('WP_AUTO_UPDATE_CORE', false);


Tasks

Enable automatic background updates for security & maintenance

Fix WP_AUTO_UPDATE_CORE configuration

Ensure WordPress updates work without FTP or permission issues

8. Performance & Page Caching Optimization

Install and configure page caching solution

Reduce server response time

Current: ~1655 ms

Target: <600 ms

Enable browser caching headers:

cache-control

expires

etag

last-modified

Validate improvements using standard speed-testing tools

9. Theme Cleanup

Identify and remove inactive or unused WordPress themes

Retain only:

Active theme

Required default themes

10. Pet News Section
Requirements

Dynamic news section pulling only pet & animal-related news

Use free RSS/JSON feeds from reputable sources:

Google News (Pet category)

Animal welfare organizations

Pet & veterinary blogs

Strict filtering to exclude:

Politics

Finance

General tech

Non-pet content

Display Features

Title

Summary

Image

Source link

Publish date

Pagination or infinite scroll

Category filters (Dogs, Cats, Wildlife, Vet News, Adoption, etc.)

Auto refresh (hourly or daily)

Admin moderation: approve / reject / hide items

Preferred approach

Feed aggregator plugin (e.g., Feedzy or similar)

SEO-friendly output & caching

11. AI-Powered Q&A Section – “Ask About Pets & Animals”
Functionality

Users can ask questions related only to:

Animals & pets

Health, food, behavior, training, care, welfare, breeds

Answer Logic

Search existing site content first

If no answer found:

Use licensed AI knowledge base (ChatGPT or alternative)

Reject unrelated topics politely (e.g., politics, finance, tech)

Example refusal

“Sorry, I can only answer questions about animals and pets.”

Features

Simple Q&A UI

Instant responses

Optional admin moderation

Store Q&A in searchable database/FAQ

Source attribution for AI-generated answers

Show related internal content links

12. AI Licensing & Integration

Possible options:

OpenAI (ChatGPT API – paid, topic-restricted)

Anthropic Claude API

Hugging Face hosted models

Self-hosted open-source models (LLaMA, Falcon)

Preferred

OpenAI API with strict topic filtering & cost controls

Deliverables

Fully optimized and secure WooCommerce website

Correct Google Search Console indexing

Improved SEO health and crawlability

Faster page load and server response times

Clean plugin & theme environment

Functional Pet News section

AI-powered Pet Q&A system

Final summary report of completed work

Vendor Requirements

Proven WordPress & WooCommerce experience

Strong technical SEO & performance optimization skills

Experience with caching, redirects, PHP upgrades

Ability to work safely on live or staging sites

Clear communication and realistic timelines