# Muhammad Ali: Shopify, WooCommerce and WordPress developer > Muhammad Ali is a lead web engineer in Islamabad who fixes and builds Shopify, WooCommerce and WordPress stores: speed, SEO, tracking, custom features and integrations. Top Rated Plus on Upwork. **Web engineer for Shopify, WooCommerce and WordPress stores.** I fix slow pages and broken checkouts, build the custom features a theme can't handle, and set up tracking you can rely on. Nine years as a Shopify, WooCommerce and WordPress developer, for e-commerce brands and agencies. Based in Islamabad, Pakistan (UTC+5). I work with online stores and teams in the US, Canada and Australia. The usual first step is a fixed-scope technical review, followed by the highest-priority fixes. ## What I do ### Shopify and Shopify Plus Custom themes and sections on Online Store 2.0, features written in Liquid, and headless storefronts in React when a theme isn't enough. I've owned the theme of a Shopify Plus store and led the developers working on it. - Open Box upsell and a Shop Build section - Predictive search and search ranking - Product fitment wizard - Bundle, checkout and Recharge plan validation - Inventory updates by CSV and API - Headless storefront work with React ### WordPress and WooCommerce Custom themes and plugins, Elementor and Gutenberg builds, WooCommerce stores, and rescue work when an update breaks something. I extend third-party plugins without editing their core files, so updates stay safe. - WooCommerce SmartCollection plugin - Elementor Pro landing, course and sales pages - WPForms, Elementor forms and Typeform - Site audits and clean rebuild plans for large WooCommerce builds - Wix to WordPress migrations with membership integrations - Long-term WooCommerce maintenance ### Speed, SEO and tracking Core Web Vitals and PageSpeed work, technical SEO fixes, and GA4 and Tag Manager setups that match what customers actually do on the site. Optimization work at Creative Dreams Agency cut page load times by 30%. - Render-blocking scripts, image and theme bloat - H1 corrections, schema and robots.txt - Google Search Console issues - GA4 and GTM e-commerce event tracking - Cookie consent with Complianz - Yoast SEO configuration ### Figma to code Responsive builds that match the design, from Figma files, screenshots or a style guide. Plain HTML, CSS and JavaScript, WordPress pages or Shopify sections, with GSAP animation when the design calls for it. - Pixel-accurate HTML from Figma - Scroll and product animation with GSAP - Shopify 2.0 theme conversion - Design systems and page templates - Marketing and landing pages ### Custom tools and integrations PHP and MySQL tools for the back-office work around a store, and the integrations that connect it to other systems. I also build AI chatbots and workflow automations for repetitive office tasks. - Inventory sync and price comparison with supplier APIs - Spreadsheet imports with PhpSpreadsheet - REST and GraphQL integrations - ActiveCampaign and CallRail - A Shopify app with background jobs and an audit trail - WordPress plugins for form sync and contact bars ### Hosting and ongoing support Migrations, staging and production workflows, DNS and SSL, and monthly support for stores that need someone to call. I also review code and lead small teams. - WP Engine, SiteGround, AWS and DigitalOcean - cPanel and VPS setups - Git-based deployments - Plugin and theme conflict debugging - QA and code review - Leading a team of three developers ## Service pages - [Shopify developer](https://m-ali.dev/services/shopify-developer/): Custom themes, Liquid features, subscriptions and checkout rules, and headless storefronts for Shopify and Shopify Plus. - [WooCommerce and WordPress developer](https://m-ali.dev/services/woocommerce-wordpress-developer/): Custom themes and plugins, Elementor builds, audits and rescue work for WooCommerce and WordPress sites. - [WordPress developer for law firms](https://m-ali.dev/services/wordpress-developer-for-law-firms/): Speed, technical SEO, tracking and support for law firm websites, from the engineer who leads web work for a personal injury firm. - [Speed, SEO and tracking](https://m-ali.dev/services/speed-seo-tracking/): Core Web Vitals, technical SEO fixes and GA4 and Tag Manager setups, with before and after numbers. - [Custom tools, integrations and AI](https://m-ali.dev/services/custom-tools-integrations-ai/): Back-office tools, integrations, a Shopify app and AI chatbots and automations for repetitive tasks. - [All services](https://m-ali.dev/services/) ## Selected work ### Cosmo Together (Shopify Plus) Kids' smartwatch brand. Lead web engineer, team of three, Sep 2025 to Jun 2026. https://cosmotogether.com I took over storefront engineering for a Shopify Plus store that sells the JrTrack smartwatch for kids, and led the three developers working on it. - Owned the Shopify Plus theme: custom sections and Online Store 2.0 templates for product, collection and landing pages. - Built the JrTrack 5 product and activation pages, plus collections and add-ons. - Set up Recharge subscriptions and checkout validation. - Worked on the headless activation flow and its API integrations. - Handled GA4 and Tag Manager tracking, consent, SEO, conversion tests and performance work. - Ran code review and QA before each release, and handled production issues. Stack: Shopify Plus, Liquid, Online Store 2.0, React, Recharge, GA4, GTM. ### HotTub.com (WordPress and WooCommerce) Hot tub and swim spa retailer. Technical lead for the audit and rebuild, Oct 2026 to present. https://hottub.com A large WooCommerce site whose pricing, sale and discount logic had grown hard to change. I audited all of it, wrote the plan for a clean rebuild, and I'm building the new pricing system alongside the old one. - Audited the theme, plugins, hosting and integrations, and wrote the findings up for the team and the CEO. - Mapped how prices, sales and discounts flow from the product page through the cart to checkout. - Wrote a clean rebuild plan, and rebuilt the in-house plugins in a clean copy with a handbook and a test guide. - Designed a new pricing table with monthly finance payments, built beside the current one so the live site can roll back at once. - Built a nearest-store locator for product pages. Stack: WordPress, WooCommerce, Elementor, PHP, JavaScript, WP Engine. ### Freedom Gorilla (Shopify) Optics and accessories retailer. Theme developer, Ongoing. https://freedomgorilla.com A Shopify store with a wide product range. I built its theme and the custom features around search, filtering and upsells, and cleaned up how inventory is imported. - Theme development, including a custom Shop Build section. - Open Box upsell on product pages. - Predictive search and product filtering. - Swiper-based sliders for products and promotions. - Inventory and warehouse imports, and vendor cleanup in the catalog. - robots.txt, metadata and product schema validation. Stack: Shopify, Liquid, JavaScript, Swiper, Schema.org. ### Dewitt Law Firm (WordPress) Personal injury law firm, Central Florida. Web engineering lead, Sep 2024 to present. https://dewittlaw.com I run web engineering for the firm's WordPress and Shopify sites: fixes, new pages, tracking, SEO and the daily work of keeping them stable. - WordPress development, theme and plugin work, landing and service pages. - Technical SEO: H1 corrections, Search Console issues, robots.txt and call-to-action improvements. - Analytics and tracking setup, speed and Core Web Vitals work. - Hosting support, migrations and production issue resolution. - AI-assisted workflows and automations to cut manual work. An intake system for legal leads, built on RAG and n8n, exists as a concept build. Stack: WordPress, Elementor, Shopify, GA4, GTM, n8n. ## Blog Practical guides on store speed, SEO, tracking, migrations and automation: https://m-ali.dev/blog/ - [How to Audit Shopify Apps That Slow Down Your Store](https://m-ali.dev/blog/shopify-apps-slow-down-store/): Audit the Shopify apps that slow down your store: list what each one loads, measure its cost, find leftover code, then keep, replace or remove it. - [Black Friday Readiness Checklist for Shopify and WooCommerce](https://m-ali.dev/blog/black-friday-readiness-checklist-shopify-woocommerce/): A technical Black Friday readiness checklist for Shopify and WooCommerce: speed, checkout and discount tests, tracking, hosting, code freeze and rollback. - [AI Product Descriptions for Shopify Without Hurting SEO](https://m-ali.dev/blog/ai-product-descriptions-shopify-seo/): A safe workflow for writing Shopify product descriptions with AI: structured facts in, a strict prompt, human review, bulk publishing you can undo, and measurement. - [Custom Shopify App Development Cost: What Drives the Price](https://m-ali.dev/blog/custom-shopify-app-development-cost/): Custom Shopify app development cost depends on scope, integrations, data, admin screens, testing and upkeep. Learn what drives it and what a good quote includes. - [How to Hire a Shopify Developer: A Practical Checklist](https://m-ali.dev/blog/how-to-hire-a-shopify-developer/): How to find, vet and brief a Shopify developer: what to check in their work, questions to ask, red flags, safe store access and how to run a small paid trial. - [Shopify GA4 Ecommerce Tracking: How to Audit It Properly](https://m-ali.dev/blog/ga4-shopify-ecommerce-tracking-audit/): Can you trust your Shopify GA4 ecommerce tracking? Find every tracking source, test events with a real checkout, catch duplicate purchases and reconcile revenue. - [Shopify Store Slow on Mobile? How to Find the Real Cause](https://m-ali.dev/blog/shopify-store-slow-on-mobile/): Diagnose a slow Shopify store on mobile: read Core Web Vitals, find heavy apps and scripts, fix the hero image and fonts, then re-test in a sensible order. - [Shopify vs WooCommerce: How to Choose for Your Store](https://m-ali.dev/blog/shopify-vs-woocommerce-how-to-choose/): Shopify vs WooCommerce: compare who maintains the store, total cost, customization, checkout, SEO and growth, then use six questions to decide which fits. - [WooCommerce Slow Checkout and Admin: Causes and Fixes](https://m-ali.dev/blog/woocommerce-slow-checkout-and-admin/): Why is your WooCommerce checkout or admin slow? Measure server time first, then check hosting, object cache, order storage, cron and plugins, and fix in order. - [WooCommerce to Shopify Migration Without Losing Your SEO](https://m-ali.dev/blog/woocommerce-to-shopify-migration-seo/): A practical plan for a WooCommerce to Shopify migration that protects SEO: URL mapping, 301 redirects, metadata, a launch checklist and monitoring. ## About I'm a web engineer in Islamabad. I started in 2016 as a WordPress developer, spent two years on front-end work at an agency, and since 2018 have worked mostly on e-commerce: first as a freelancer on Upwork, then as a full-stack developer for Creative Dreams Agency in Melbourne, and lately as a lead engineer. Today I lead web engineering at Dewitt Law Firm and take on freelance projects through Upwork, where I've been a Top Rated Plus freelancer for five years. Until June 2026 I led the Shopify team at Cosmo Together, a Shopify Plus store. Most of my work is specific problems: a slow product page, a checkout that loses people, a plugin conflict nobody can find. I test on staging before anything goes live, write down what I changed, and leave the code in a state the next developer can pick up. I work in English with teams across time zones, mainly in the US and Australia. More: https://m-ali.dev/about/ (author and editorial standards) ## Contact - Email: hi@m-ali.dev - Contact page and enquiry form: https://m-ali.dev/contact/ - LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/muhammad-ali-a7369811b/ - GitHub: https://github.com/maliilyas-dev - Upwork: https://www.upwork.com/freelancers/~01f3fbb7f2d9ceeded Web page: https://m-ali.dev/