THE JOURNAL
Notes on building, shipping & securing the web.
SEO · 5 min
Internal linking architecture: building hubs that pass authority
Internal links are the one ranking signal you fully control. How we design hub pages, link modules and anchor text that scale with a growing site.
Ravi Iyer · Sep 23, 2025
DevOps · 5 min
Terraform state layout and guardrails for small teams
One giant state file works until it does not. How we split Terraform state, protect it, and review changes so a three-person team can manage infrastructure safely.
Leo Tanaka · Sep 15, 2025
Shopify · 5 min
Subscriptions on Shopify: choosing and wiring the right setup
Subscription revenue lives or dies on the details: plan design, customer portals, failed payments and inventory. Here is how we set it up.
Sofia Lindqvist · Sep 09, 2025
E-commerce · 5 min
Building product configurators that stay fast and usable
Configurators sell custom products well when they load quickly and never allow an impossible combination. The architecture and UX choices that matter.
Sofia Lindqvist · Aug 27, 2025
Security · 5 min
Penetration test or security audit: which one you actually need
They are often sold interchangeably, but they answer different questions. How to choose, scope and budget for each.
Maya Okafor · Aug 26, 2025
WordPress · 5 min
A Git-based deployment workflow for WordPress teams
Version control, Composer, staging and automated deploys for WordPress, so changes stop being made live over FTP and start being reviewed.
Leo Tanaka · Aug 26, 2025
Engineering · 5 min
How we scope fixed-price software projects
Fixed prices only work if the scope is precise and the risks are priced honestly. The process we use to turn a brief into a quote we can stand behind.
Arjun Mehta · Aug 14, 2025
AI · 5 min
Keeping LLM costs predictable as usage grows
Budgets, caching, model routing and monitoring that stop a successful AI feature from turning into an unpleasant invoice.
Leo Tanaka · Aug 06, 2025
Performance · 5 min
Field data vs lab data: reading CrUX, RUM and Lighthouse together
Lighthouse says 95, Search Console says failing. Why both can be right, and how we use each source to make decisions.
Ravi Iyer · Aug 05, 2025
Design · 5 min
Designing operational dashboards people actually use
Most dashboards show everything and help with nothing. How to design operational dashboards around decisions, not around available data.
Nadia Haddad · Jul 31, 2025
One email a month. Only the good stuff.
Field notes from real client projects. No spam.