Say Yes to Pets Phase 2: Building a Monetisation Layer

Project overview

Say Yes to Pets began life as a publishing and advice platform for renting with pets, built as a headless Next.js front end on top of WordPress (covered in phase one). Phase two turned that content platform into a revenue-generating product.
In this phase I designed and built the full monetisation layer: a single source of truth for products and pricing, a generalised Stripe checkout that serves multiple paid offers, secure tokenised download delivery, two new sales funnels for renters and landlords, a free landlord lead magnet, partner referral tracking and an admin funnels view, all measurable end to end. The work overlaps most closely with custom WordPress and Next.js development, technical SEO and ongoing support.

The challenge

The platform already had traffic, a free Pet CV tool and a bespoke CRM, but no way to turn that audience into revenue. Phase two had to add paid products without rebuilding the foundation, while keeping the publishing experience and brand intact.

What was delivered

I built the monetisation layer additively on top of the phase-one platform, shipping each milestone behind feature flags so the live site stayed stable throughout. That included a typed product catalog, a product-aware Stripe checkout and webhook, two paid sales pages with secure downloads, an upsell call flow, a free landlord lead-capture tool, referral pages and funnel analytics.

Core functionality included

Key architecture decisions

The guiding principle was to extend, not rebuild. The phase-one platform already had a bespoke CRM, attribution layer, email automation and a working Stripe webhook, so phase two added a thin product and checkout layer on top rather than introducing new systems. Most of the work was additive: new pages, a generalised checkout, new templates and new CRM events, with almost no change to the underlying data model.
I kept a single catalog as the source of truth so pricing, Stripe links and included templates live in one place, and shipped every milestone behind a feature flag so unfinished funnels never leaked to production. Stripe Payment Links were chosen over the SDK to match the existing working pattern and ship faster, with checkout sessions noted as a future option if dynamic pricing or coupons are ever needed.

Results and outcomes

Phase two turned a content and lead-generation platform into a product with real revenue paths for two distinct audiences, built in a way that stays measurable and easy to extend.

Technology used

The monetisation layer was built with Next.js, React and TypeScript, using WordPress as a headless CMS and Neon Postgres for the bespoke CRM, lead and entitlement data. Payments run through Stripe Payment Links with a custom HMAC-verified webhook, transactional and nurture email through Brevo, and attribution through a first/last-touch UTM layer feeding the CRM.
The delivery is most relevant to custom WordPress and Next.js development, SEO optimisation and ongoing support for content-led platforms with custom product functionality.

Next steps

This case study covers phase two of an ongoing platform — the monetisation layer built on top of the phase-one publishing foundation. The next stage is launch hardening: live Stripe keys, monitoring, an environment audit and a full regression of both funnels before flipping the feature flags on in production, followed by ongoing funnel and SEO optimisation.
If you are building a content-led platform with paid products and custom functionality, the most relevant starting points are usually custom development, SEO optimisation and WordPress care plans.