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Freelance Eleventy developer

Looking for an experienced Eleventy developer? I've used Eleventy for dozens of projects and can help you get the most out of it for your business.

Eleventy (11ty.dev) is the tool I use to build websites that load very quickly, rank well in search engines, and cost very little to host. Whether you're building a brand new site or upgrading an existing one, I can help.

If you need something beyond a website - like a booking system or customer database - see my broader software development services.

How Chobble can help with Eleventy

Building new Eleventy sites

I'll build you a custom Eleventy site shaped around what your business actually does.

Sites I build are mobile-friendly, lean on the CSS and JavaScript, and use my custom image placeholder script so images load nicely on slow connections. RSS feeds, sitemaps and the usual SEO bits (canonical tags, meta descriptions and so on) come baked in.

You can edit content as plain Markdown files or through a simple CMS - whichever you're more comfortable with. Default collections like pages, news posts, products and galleries are pre-configured, ready to edit. There's a contact form with bot protection. You get the full source code and documentation explaining how it all fits together.

Whether you're starting from a template like my Chobble Template or need something built from scratch, I'll deliver a website that's very easy to maintain and always loads quickly.

Click here to calculate the price of a new Eleventy website from Chobble

Adding features to existing Eleventy sites

If you've already got an Eleventy site (awesome, nice choice!) then I can help improve it.

I can add new layouts and collections, build out fast image galleries, write custom shortcodes for tricky content blocks, set up a blog with tags and categories, or wire in third-party stuff like Stripe or booking systems. If your site has gotten slow I can dig in and fix it, or add little bits of vanilla JavaScript for interactivity without dragging in a whole framework.

Whatever the job, I'll fit the changes into your existing codebase without hurting Eleventy's performance.

Fill in the form below to discuss upgrading your existing website

Converting CMS sites to Eleventy

If you're stuck with an expensive, confusing, bulky or slow CMS website, I can help you migrate to Eleventy.

I've moved sites off WordPress, Wix, Squarespace and a handful of other CMSes onto Eleventy. The usual goal is to keep the design and content people are already happy with, drop the bits causing pain, and end up with something that loads faster, costs less to host, and is easier to edit.

I'll match the editing setup to how technical you actually are - some clients are happy editing Markdown directly, others want a small CMS sitting on top. Either is fine.

A real example: I recently converted A&S Home Furnishings from an expensive, broken CMS to a streamlined Eleventy site. I used wget to archive the existing site, converted the pages to Markdown with pandoc, and implemented a fresh, responsive design with minimal CSS. The new site loads instantly, has a working contact form, and costs just £10/month to host.

Click here to calculate the price of an Eleventy site conversion

Switching from another generator to Eleventy

If you're using another static site generator like Jekyll or Hugo, it's probably pretty straightforward to switch to Eleventy. Since Eleventy is a very flexible generator you can store files in any location and it largely "just works". This makes switching from other SSGs to Eleventy is easier than the other way around.

I've converted a bunch of sites from Jekyll to Eleventy - some examples are Buttonkin and Vegan Prestwich. Jekyll is cool but I was frustrated at the slow pace of development, and extending it isn't as straightforward as writing JavaScript, so switching felt like the clear best long-term choice.

Fill in the form below if you need help switching to Eleventy!

Why Eleventy?

I've used a bunch of static site generators and CMS platforms over the years and Eleventy is the one I keep coming back to for small business sites. It's JavaScript, which most developers can already work with - so if I get hit by a bus, you're not stuck looking for someone who knows an obscure templating language. I run mine on Bun, which is faster and nicer to live with than npm, never mind something like Ruby gems.

It's also flexible enough that I can build whatever a client actually needs without fighting the tool. Content can live in Markdown, JSON, HTML, or come from an API - whatever fits. Most small business sites are basically brochures that rarely change, so they don't need a database and a login screen, they need to load fast and be cheap to keep online. Eleventy is great for that. My Chobble Template even handles product listings and Stripe checkouts for shops that don't need live stock tracking.

The output is plain static HTML, which means it'll keep working for as long as browsers exist, it ranks well because it loads fast, and it can be hosted for free or close to it on Bunny.net, Netlify or Cloudflare Pages. (See my SEO guides for more on the search side.)

My Eleventy approach

I build Eleventy sites with a focus on quality and sustainability:

I write semantic HTML with minimal, efficient CSS so sites load fast even on slow connections and work properly with screen readers. Everything's progressive-enhancement first - your site works without JavaScript, and any JS layer just makes things nicer when it's there. The code I hand over is something you can read and edit yourself without needing a CS degree, and every project comes with documentation explaining how the pieces fit together. You're free to maintain it yourself or take it to another developer at any point.

Block-based pages with PagesCMS

A lot of small business sites end up looking like one long wall of text, because the editing tools don't make anything else easy. The Chobble Template gets around this by giving every page a library of around thirty pre-styled blocks you can drop in and rearrange - hero banners, two-column rows that pair text with an image, video, code sample or callout, feature grids, image card grids, stats, galleries, marquees of partner logos, full-bleed video and image backgrounds, calls to action, embedded products, contact forms, and so on. There's a full reference of every block on the template repo if you want to see the lot.

The block system plugs straight into PagesCMS, so editing a page means adding, reordering and tweaking blocks in a normal web form - no Markdown, no YAML, no code. You can build a page that opens with a hero, drops into a two-column intro with a photo, lists three things you offer as feature cards, breaks up to a full-width video background with overlay text, and finishes with a contact form, without anyone going near the source files.

Because the blocks share consistent spacing, dark-mode support, scroll-reveal animations and responsive layouts, pages can look properly varied without ever looking inconsistent. And if a client needs something the existing blocks don't cover, I can add a new one without disturbing the rest of the system.

Prices for Eleventy development

As with all of my services, I charge a flat hourly rate for Eleventy development with transparent estimates and regular updates. I've built a price calculator which you can use to get an immediate estimate for your Eleventy site build.

Learn Eleventy yourself

Want to take control of your own Eleventy site? I offer technical training and tutoring to help you master Eleventy:

We'll cover the basics of how Eleventy turns your files into a website, writing and editing content in Markdown, adding new pages and sections as the business grows, tweaking the design and layout, and deploying updates yourself without needing to call me.

Sessions can be done in person if you're in Prestwich, or remotely, and we'll work from wherever you are now rather than a fixed curriculum.

Let's build something fast

Whether you're starting fresh or improving what you already have, I'll help you create and own a website that's fast, affordable, and built to last.

drop me a message through the contact form on this page with me today and let's talk about your Eleventy project!

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