Over the past few months, when I started Faeb and began developing WordPress websites for clients, I used to build them the “normal” way — using themes, flashy plugins, and imported demo content. I would modify the demo data, replace images and text, tweak colors, and deliver the website.
It worked for the first few websites, but I never felt satisfied. The sites were heavy, slow, bloated, and they just wouldn’t perform. One of the websites I built used to score around 57 on PageSpeed Insights. That number used to bother me more than I admitted.
How the WordPress Herd Builds Websites
I turned to the WordPress community on Reddit, thinking I’d find some guidance… but instead I found out that this way of building WordPress websites is the accepted norm.
People were doing exactly what I did:
- Pick a theme from ThemeForest
- Import the entire demo
- Add plugins for everything, even tiny things
- Rely on 500+ demo images
- Accept bloat as “just how WordPress works”
I saw posts where developers literally made fun of clients who asked for good performance, fast load times, low CLS, and 90+ mobile scores.
That’s when something clicked:
Maybe I wasn’t wrong — maybe the industry was wrong.
But I didn’t know the alternative yet.
So I continued doing what everyone else did.
I was still part of the herd.
The Turning Point
Then came a moment that changed everything.
A redditor who builds static HTML websites got into an argument with me. According to him:
- WordPress is slow
- Page builders are trash
- Themes are bloated
- Static websites will always outperform WordPress
It wasn’t just criticism — it was a direct attack on the work I was doing.
Around the same time, Ziist Studio contacted me.
But they said something that hit me hard:
“The websites you shared are too slow.”
Faeb’s website was scoring 53 on PageSpeed.
I couldn’t even defend myself.
That’s when I made up my mind:
I am going to fix WordPress. It became a mission.
The Two Choices
When I sat down and truly thought about it, I realized I had only two paths:
1. Go headless
Use WordPress as back-end and something else as front-end. But this is not improving WordPress. It’s just pairing it with another framework. So the core problem stays.
2. Make WordPress better
- Make it fast.
- Make it premium.
- Make it bloat-free.
- Make it secure.
- Make it consistent.
- Make it mine.
I went with the second option — the harder one. And that decision shaped everything that came next.
Beginning of the Premium WordPress Journey
I started rebuilding my own website first.
Then Ziist Studio.
Then Rekha Sutra.
Then The Shabaka; a multilingual news website.
Every time I built something, I learned where the bloat came from. Every time I removed something unnecessary, performance jumped. Every mistake taught me something new.
This journey is what led me to the foundation of what we now call Premium WordPress.
Today:
- Faeb.in scores 98+
- Ziist scores 97+
- Rekha Sutra: 99+
- The Shabaka: 95+ across 4 languages
So yes — WordPress can be fast.
You just need to treat it like an engineering platform, not a theme installer.
The Birth of Faeb Layers
One major thing frustrated me:
I used to do the same optimization tasks manually on each site.
So I asked myself:
- Why am I repeating the same work?
- Why not centralize it?
And that’s how Faeb Layers was born.
A proprietary MU plugin that performs all the optimization and security work I want — automatically — for every website I build.
It does things like:
1. Remove WordPress frontend bloat
Gravatar, emojis, comments scripts, and more.
2. Add essential functions without plugins
Duplicate post functionality, lazy loading, fetch-priority, and other features — all through lightweight PHP scripts.
3. Harden security
Block SQL injections, prevent script execution inside uploads, secure endpoints.
4. Clean the WordPress admin
Remove plugin nags, fix admin menu hijacking, simplify and stabilize the backend.
Faeb Layers became the backbone of the Premium WordPress system.
The Design Part
Once performance and security were solved, I moved to design.
Two rules guided me:
1. No templates. Ever.
- No demo data.
- No pre-made designs.
- No theme-specific junk.
Every website is crafted from scratch.
2. No widget libraries
Add-ons like Unlimited Add-ons inject massive CSS and JS. They absolutely destroy performance.
So I ditched all of that.
Instead, I built:
- A custom design system
- Page structures that are flexible
- A subtle tactile elevation style
- Minimal, intentional UI
- Solid, architectural layouts
This gave me complete control over performance.
- No external scripts.
- No surprise CSS.
- No bloat.
This is when Premium WordPress became a real identity, not just an idea.
The Results Speak for Themselves
Now, every site we build is:
- Custom-designed
- Engineered for performance
- Secure with Faeb Layers
- Theme-free
- Bloat-free
- Plugin-minimal
- Consistent
- Fast
Ziist Studio’s website performed amazingly well — and this was the first time I felt proud that the work represented my philosophy.
That was the moment I knew: Premium WordPress is my lane.
Why Premium WordPress Matters
- Themes are slow.
- Plugin-stacks are slow.
- Demo imports are slow.
- Bad architecture is slow.
WordPress itself is powerful, stable, scalable, and flexible. It just needs to be used properly.
Faeb’s Premium WordPress is:
- Engineered
- Intentional
- Secure
- Fast
- Scalable
- Bloat-free
- Modern
And most importantly — affordable for small and medium businesses, unlike custom frameworks that cost 20–30 times more just to make a small change.
If You’re Planning a WordPress Website
You don’t have to settle for a bloated theme.
You don’t need a plugin for everything.
You don’t have to sacrifice speed for design.
With Faeb’s Premium WordPress approach, you get:
- Custom design — no themes or templates
- Faeb Layers security and optimization
- 100 Best Practices
- 100 SEO
- 100 Accessibility
- Guaranteed 91+ PageSpeed
- A long-term scalable system
Check out our pricing, or contact us for a detailed discussion.
Let’s build premium WordPress websites— properly.