From Crash to Comeback: A Website Migration Story for Silver Surfers

At Te Puke Digital, we’re all about helping local businesses thrive online. We recently undertook a massive project for Silver Surfers, a New Zealand-based jewelry company with a rich history, run by the incredible Sandra Muir. We’ve worked with Sandra before, helping her get her site back on track after a previous developer left it in a mess and it got hacked. This time, however, the challenge was on a whole new level.

Meet Sandra Muir: The Heart of Silver Surfers

For over 30 years, Sandra has poured her passion for beautiful jewelry into Silver Surfers. What began with her “fly pitching” at markets in London has blossomed into a thriving online business. She’s built incredible relationships with suppliers from around the globe—places like Thailand, Indonesia, Nepal, and India—and is proud that her business can help support communities, like the knitters in Nepal who are able to earn a living from home. Now based in Papamoa, just a stone’s throw from our Te Puke base, Sandra, her husband Kev, and their daughter are the driving force behind this wonderful business. The name, “Silver Surfers,” is a nod to her “hippie” days and a playful reminder of her ex-partner’s belief that she’d become a “gun surfer”—a title she jokingly admits she never earned. You can read more about her journey on the Silver Surfers About Us page.  https://silver-surfers.co.nz/about-us/

The Challenge: Four Years of Frustration and Wounded Bull Pricing

For four years, Sandra had been battling with her previous web development company, trying to get her ecommerce website to function correctly. The site was plagued with issues, but the biggest problem was a host that had locked her out, making it impossible to take a clean backup. The situation was a nightmare: the website was slow, riddled with bugs, and compromised with malware and malicious code in its directories.

To add insult to injury, the previous company had charged her like a “wounded bull” for a supposed theme replacement. They blamed the theme and plugins for all the site’s problems, forcing her to “upgrade” to a new server that was still inefficient and a site that was still riddled with bugs and malware. In a move that defies all logic, they migrated her from a professional-grade theme to a generic, basic $7.20 theme and quoted her a staggering $10,000 for this “service.” It was clear this wasn’t about fixing the problem; it was about milking a client who was desperate for a solution.

Our Mission: A Total Overhaul in a Few Days

This wasn’t a simple update; it was a full-scale digital rescue mission. With the clock ticking and a business to save, our team at Te Puke Digital got to work. We had to perform a total rebuild from the ground up, tackling every single pain point in a matter of days.

Here’s a snapshot of the work we did:

• VPS Server Migration: The first hurdle was getting Sandra off the old, restrictive host. We carefully migrated the site to a new, secure VPS server, giving us the control and stability we needed for the rebuild.
• Total Core Rebuild: The old website’s core was corrupted. We rebuilt it from scratch, ensuring a clean, stable foundation.
• Plugin & Theme Overhaul: We replaced bloated, buggy plugins and themes with a fresh, optimized setup, eliminating compatibility issues and improving performance.
• Database Optimisation & Bug Fixing: We meticulously cleaned and optimized the database, purging old, unnecessary data and squashing countless bugs that had been holding the site back.
• Cache & CDN Implementation: We set up a robust caching system and integrated a Content Delivery Network (CDN) to ensure lightning-fast load times for customers all across New Zealand.
• Image Optimisation: Every single image was optimised for the web, reducing file sizes without sacrificing quality, which is crucial for a product-heavy site like Silver Surfers.
• Malware & Compromise Code Cleanup: We performed a deep scan and painstakingly removed all the malicious and compromised code left behind by the previous developers.

The job was immense, but with a clear plan and a dedicated team, we were able to get Silver Surfers back online and running better than ever in just a few days. It’s a testament to what’s possible when you have a local team who understands your business and is willing to go the extra mile. For Sandra and her customers, the result is a website that is not only secure and functional but also a true reflection of the quality and care she puts into her jewelry. To browse her collection of New Zealand jewelry and see the results of our work, visit the Silver Surfers online store.  https://silver-surfers.co.nz/

If your website is struggling and your current provider has left you in a bind, don’t wait four years to get it sorted. Get in touch with us at Te Puke Digital—we’re here to help.