Marina Website Refresh, SEO, Analytics & Accessibility

We are looking for an experienced WordPress / Elementor developer to improve, repair and expand the website for Chester Boat Basin, a full-service marina located in Chester, Connecticut. Website: chesterboatbasin.com This is not a complete website rebuild. The site already exists in WordPress and uses Elementor/Elementor Pro. We need someone who can work within the existing environment, improve the design and functionality, clean up existing issues, properly configure SEO and analytics, and build additional pages as needed. The goal is to create a cleaner, faster, more modern marina website that is easy for our Marketing team to continue editing internally. Current Website Environment The site currently uses: WordPress Elementor Elementor Pro Essential Addons for Elementor Yoast SEO Advanced Custom Fields (ACF) Custom Post Type UI Wordfence WP Cerber MonsterInsights All-in-One WP Migration WP Engine integration/hosting environment Candidates should be very comfortable troubleshooting an existing WordPress/Elementor installation rather than simply installing a new theme. Scope of Work 1. Website Audit & Existing Issues Before making major changes, we want the developer to review the current WordPress installation and identify: Broken Elementor sections/widgets Broken images or mixed HTTP/HTTPS image URLs Mobile and tablet responsiveness issues Plugin conflicts Outdated or unnecessary plugins Broken links and 404s Page-speed issues Header/footer inconsistencies Navigation issues CSS/layout problems Any obvious security or WordPress configuration concerns All major work should be completed in staging first, with a full backup created before deployment to production. 2. Homepage Redesign We want the Chester Boat Basin homepage redesigned while keeping the overall Chester/Petzold's branding. One of the major elements should be a three-image hero slider at the top of the homepage. We want the homepage to feel more like a modern marina website and clearly promote: Summer Slips Winter Boat Storage Boat Service Fuel Marina Amenities Chester / Connecticut River location Calls to action for contacting the marina The developer should improve visual hierarchy, spacing, typography, buttons, image treatment and mobile presentation rather than simply rearranging the existing content. 3. Sticky Phone / Tap-to-Call We want a persistent click-to-call element that follows the visitor as they scroll. Ideally: Desktop: tasteful floating/sticky phone button Mobile: highly visible tap-to-call option Does not interfere with navigation, forms or accessibility controls Styled consistently with the site Tracks phone-click conversions through Google Tag Manager / GA4 4. New Pages & Page Styling Our Marketing Director will provide content for additional marina/service pages. The developer will need to: Add new WordPress pages Build them in Elementor Follow the existing brand Create consistent layouts and reusable sections Properly style headings, copy, buttons, imagery and forms Optimize layouts for desktop, tablet and mobile Add internal links Ensure proper heading hierarchy (H1/H2/H3) Add appropriate calls to action Maintain consistent spacing and page width throughout the website We want the site structured so Marketing can easily duplicate or modify pages in Elementor afterward. 5. Yoast SEO Setup Yoast SEO is already installed but needs to be properly configured. We want the developer to complete the technical setup, including: Yoast first-time configuration Site representation / organization information XML sitemap configuration Search appearance settings Indexation settings Canonical URL configuration Schema configuration where appropriate Social metadata Breadcrumb configuration if beneficial Confirm no important pages are accidentally marked noindex Check duplicate or unnecessary WordPress archive pages Make sure sitemap is submitted to Google Search Console Important: Marketing will handle much of the actual SEO copy, titles and descriptions. We need the developer primarily responsible for the technical SEO configuration and implementation. 6. Google Analytics 4 We need Google Analytics 4 properly installed and verified. The WordPress dashboard currently indicates that the website is not tracking Google Analytics. Requirements include: Create or properly connect the Chester Boat Basin GA4 property Configure the website data stream Install tracking preferably through Google Tag Manager Verify that pageviews are being recorded Configure important conversion events Exclude obvious internal/developer traffic where appropriate Connect GA4 to Search Console where appropriate At minimum, we would like to track: Contact form submissions Phone-number clicks Email clicks Quote/request buttons Important CTA clicks 7. Google Tag Manager Create or properly configure a dedicated Google Tag Manager container for Chester Boat Basin. The developer should: Install GTM correctly across the entire site Configure GA4 through GTM Configure conversion/event tracking Test tags before publishing Provide Marketing/admin access to the GTM account Avoid duplicating Analytics tags through plugins and GTM Google recommends correct placement of the Tag Manager code/data layer, so I would specifically request that the developer implement it properly rather than simply installing another analytics plugin. 8. Google Search Console We need the site set up and verified in Google Search Console. Preference is for a Domain Property for chesterboatbasin.com, which covers the domain's protocol and subdomain variations. Google requires DNS verification for a Domain Property. Scope: Create/verify property Confirm Marketing retains verified-owner access Submit XML sitemap Check indexing Review current crawl/indexing problems Identify existing 404s Review HTTPS/canonical issues Check Core Web Vitals/basic page experience Confirm robots.txt isn't blocking important areas 9. ADA / Website Accessibility We would like an accessibility solution/widget installed, but we do not want someone to simply install a floating accessibility icon and call the site ADA compliant. The website itself should also be improved toward WCAG 2.2 Level AA accessibility, including items such as: Keyboard navigation Visible focus states Image alt text support Appropriate color contrast Proper heading structure Form labels Accessible buttons and links Accessible navigation Slider accessibility Appropriate target sizes on mobile Screen-reader considerations W3C recommends WCAG 2.2 as the current WCAG standard and Level AA is a commonly targeted conformance level. The U.S. Department of Justice also states that businesses open to the public need to make their web content accessible under the ADA. We would like the developer to recommend an appropriate accessibility solution in addition to actual accessibility remediation. 10. Broken Elements / General Cleanup There are currently some front-end elements that do not display correctly even though they appear correctly within Elementor. We need someone who can troubleshoot issues involving: Elementor rendering CSS Image URLs HTTP vs HTTPS assets Caching Plugin conflicts Responsive behavior WordPress database/content URLs Elementor-generated CSS Browser caching WP Engine caching/CDN if applicable This person needs to be comfortable actually diagnosing WordPress issues rather than simply rebuilding the affected element.