WordPress Blog Design with The Strategic Mama
So, anyone who has been visiting A Momless Mom long enough would know that this site of mine has gone through various phases in its one year life!
That includes changing platforms from Blogger to WordPress, WordPress blog design revamping and later on venturing to custom WordPress blog design. I was never satisfied with my blog’s appearance and constantly felt that it was lacking in something. I was so determined to find out this ‘missing puzzle piece’ and left no stones unturned in my journey to make my blog WHOLE (note that word, it is key!)
Initially, I started off in the free platform of Blogger. That’s about the time when I had no clue of what I was doing or where was I going with this. Once, I got a grip in the online world, I decided to jump ship and soon found my home with WordPress (self-hosted too 🙂 ) . I felt that things looked well at the moment. I began exploring the plugins and such and decided that it will do.
Months passed and this nagging feeling came back. I wanted more from my blog in terms of freedom, flexibility and user friendliness. I wanted a more powerful framework and realized that it was time to hire a professional to make my blog come alive.
Enter Genesis.
My designer at the time recommended this framework as powerful enough to attract all the search engine traffic out there and assured me that it will do half the work for me in that area. I obliged and the relationship with Genesis began…
Well, long story short, approximately 5 months into my life with Genesis, I started noticing discrepancies in terms of plugins working against each other and a drastic increase in the site’s loading time. It greatly impacted my bounce rate and hurt my rankings bad.
I knew I was in trouble but did not want to pay yet another designer to take a look at my technical issues.I was basically broke at that time and I was not sure whether I will get my money’s worth if I spend more $$$ in seeking professional expertise, yet again.
But you know how I operate by now, right? I am a Perfectionist! Always have been… So, I just couldn’t sit around doing nothing while my blog suffered in spite of all the hard work I put into it.
I had a designer in mind. In fact, I had her in my mind all along since the time I became a blogger.
Her name is Vanita and The Strategic Mama is her enterprise. She is not only a designer but also a terrific Guru for all things SEO. She can develop top notch websites for you at the same time act as a coach for your online business endeavors including WordPress designs and online content marketing. Vanita can help you create your online business empire and she doesn’t do bullshit. Bottom line, you can trust her with your dreams and she will play a big role in making your dreams come true with your foot firmly planted on the ground…
Vanita has done some fabulous blog designs for some sites I have been following over the years. Needless to say, I was in awe and admiration for the designs that she created and I was a regular stalker of her blog and those of the blogs that she worked on.. Few notable examples for you given below to see so that you get the feel of her style.
Confident Cook Hesitant Baker
Masala Chica
And our very own, Sverve to name a few!
When I needed a designer for the first round of blog design face lift for A Momless Mom, I thought about Vanita but didn’t dare to approach her. I considered my blog so small and insignificant at the time and feared that she might laugh at me for seeking her services for such an inconsequential site as mine. Hence, I took a detour and hired somebody else and Genesis came to life. That was in May last year. And when I encountered trouble again with my beloved site after five months, I knew I needed help from someone as knowledgeable as Vanita. I knew she was expensive but I had no choice because this time, I needed not just a designer but also a tech savvy person who is familiar with WordPress like the back of her hand with added bonus of SEO ammunition.
I made the first contact with her in October and we had zillions of email correspondence where she tested me out to find out how sincere and serious I am with my blogging business.
And I think she seemed satisfied.
Because at the end of our conversation, she told me that she is going to accept me as her client. That’s right! Vanita does not accept each and every client who comes her way. She will only accept you based on your sincerity and dedication to your business. If blogging is just a hobby and nothing more to you, then she will probably say ‘bye bye’. But if you are really serious and sweat blood to build up your blog business and do everything necessary to see it as a success, she is your girl and she will help you all the way. Vanita has told me more than once, ‘Girl friend, if you look bad, I look bad’. This is really important to her. She sees her clients’s success as her own!
Vanita created a brand new business site for me on the finance niche named Vinma Joseph and she redesigned A Momless Mom as you see here. It didn’t take that long for Vanita to finish both sites up to my satisfaction and she was always available whenever I had questions. I am a real happy client 🙂
Both my sites are now on Thesis framework and I am loving it! All of the technical issues I was experiencing earlier is now history and I am on the road to success with my blogs. I am glad that I approached her and everything worked out well at the end.
If you are a blogger and thinking of livening up things a bit for your blog or just has some questions related to SEO, social media, content marketing etc, Vanita is your girl! I am not going to lie, her services don’t come cheap. But think of it as your investment for your online empire. You won’t be sorry. I have been there, remember? 🙂
Vanita’s services include Word Press Blog designs, Custom Thesis Blog designs and Email Marketing mentoring among other things. I am such a fan of hers that I can’t stop talking about her . I guess you have realized that by now,right? 😉
Go check her out. I promise, you will like what you see!
****Disclosure: This post contains a couple of affiliate links. Go ahead and click on them and make me rich 🙂 *****
Your blog design looks great. I am especially fond of the color. Mine had a makeover a couple years ago, but other than that, it stays the same.
Thank you for the information, I am just very new to blogging so find this very helpful. I will check out Vinma for sure! Thanks again!
I’m also new to blogging. The information you provided is very helpful. Thank you so much for sharing.
That is a fabulous article you wrote about Vanita! She is awesome and I really appreciate all of her professionalism. I, too, had hired someone else prior to Vanita and hated the design. Vanita created a site for me that reflects my content and who I am. Your site looks fabulous, by the way, Vinma!! Are we glad we found her??
Cher! Yes, I am so glad that I found her and it was a turning point for both of my sites! Its really hard to live with a blog when it is lacking in something and I had lived with that feeling for so long until Vanita came along. I am thankful to her for her patience for answering my (silly)questions in whichever time of the day. I strongly recommend her to all of my colleagues who are in the market looking for a designer or a coach for their SEO needs 🙂
I am still on blogger-it seems to work for me and I am able to work it which is kind of important. Yes, I did have help setting it up originally but I still love the colors and the design. If I ever decide to switch to wordpress I will keep this designer in mind.
Thank you for sharing and you blog looks great i am going to take the step to ump away from blogger soon i already have my own domain name and my lovely hubs is the IT man if i need any help lol.
This is good to know. I emailed my site designer last week and never got a response, so I just emailed her again to see if she was in business still. I wanted to make a few small changes and I’ve always gotten an immediate response – until this time. I will keep Vanita in mind should I need someone!
Robin! I think it is imperative that your designer responds to you on time. Trust is a great thing when it comes to situations like this and it cannot be build on unprofessionalism or being MIA when you need them the most. I hope she responds to you soon with your questions answered.
So happy to read how you feel about her services and now about your blogs!
There is nothing like finding the right person for your needs
thanks for the kind post Vinma. It’s a pleasure working with you and I am excited to see you grow now that all the technical issues are gone and no longer holding you back.
Thank you Vanita! If I ever encounter technical problems, I know where to find you 🙂
I honestly want to revamp my site as well – hopefully this coming month! I’d like to have is on Genesis Framework too.
Vanita sounds like a wonderful blog designer! I need to work on my blog design too – I just haven’t had time! 🙁
I am not in the market for this yet. But I am planning to be soon. I would love to upgrade my blog but its just not in my budget
I love the new design! Very fresh and clean! I use a WordPress free theme on my personal blog but I have Genesis themes on my others. I am thinking about changing my personal blog as well but I just love the theme on there.
So glad that you could find someone that is a good fit for your blog! As a web designer myself sometimes it’s hard to capture someone’s vision, but when I do, it’s fun to see everything come together and get a hurray from them! Cheers to Vanita! Hurray!!!!
I really like the design of you blog too! I am happy that you found someone who took the time to help you get exactly what you wanted! Vanita sounds like a fabulous person to work with!
I may use her next time! I had someone else do my blog a few years ago and it got totally screwed up. The worst was she never wrote back, never helped or offered support. Finally when she did write back she said she was no longer in the business and couldn’t help. It was so unprofessional of her 🙁 I love to hear about people who actaully care about the people they work with
Melanie! Sorry to hear that you went through this terrible experience. With Vanita, I did not have any issues like that. She was always available and responded readily. And when she is not available or going to be busy with something else, she always let me know in advance. Little things like that count a lot…
I really do want to give my blog a makeover. It need a more professional touch. I can only do so much with it by myself. I will have to check her work out! Thanks!
You are welcome Amberlee. You are going to like working with Vanita, I promise 🙂
Oh she sounds like a brilliant match to fix your website issues. I have quite a few myself. I will have to look into her more and see if maybe she might be the answer to my Wordpress and blog design issues too.
I am in the process of revamping my own blog. It is good to know about her, I am in need of professional assistance.
Vanita is the right candidate for your needs Pam 🙂 She is really the best in business 🙂
Your blog looks great…. Mine is so run of the mill blogger, but I don’t really care. I just have a blog for entertainment. I don’t make money on it.. but I do get to do reviews, so I am happy.
Your blog design is lovely – I really want to get something more done with mine – it’s on my to do list this year so I will check out the designers you have mentioned 🙂 x
I love the design. I also have Genesis and really need to sit down and figure it out as there are so many features I am sure I am not taking advantage of.
I made the move about 4 months ago and I am glad I did. I love my new look and although it took me a while to get used to it, I wouldn’t go back!
Ive done the revamping on my blog lots of times. Im finally happy with it. lol I love the design!
I can see why you are such a huge fan of hers. She is like a one person show. She can not only design a blog but also make is SEO friendly.
I absolutely love Wordpress and all of the fun plugins that are available.
I need a redesign as well but it is too early in the year. I have to wait until a few months roll by so I can justify more expense.
I think that blog designers are so creative and I wish that I had this talent so I could change my blog at a whim.
I will have to keep this information in case I need help down the road. Your blog looks great!
What a great post, I am still on the fence with it. I did book mark this page and I look forward to spending some much needed time revamping things.
You’ve clearly put a lot of thought and dedication into blogging and she saw that. I’m glad she took you on and turned your blog into what you were looking for!
I have a big blog overhaul and websites as well planned for this year. It looks really good.
I am currently using Blogger but am thinking about changing over to Wordpress… I’m just afraid I will do something wrong and everything will be gone! I’ll for sure have to hire someone to help me out.
I do like the new design and I agree about not being satisfied until everything is perfect! I will bookmark Vanita for some time in the future. I also visited your other blog, and wow, it’s awesome!
I’m still on Blogger and loving it but I do plan on moving over to WP pretty soon. I’ll be checking out Vanita and see what she has to offer me. Thanks for the referral.
I love this new look. It’s clean and easy to get around… TY too for mentioning Vanita. I’m sorely in need of some CSS and HTML help and would prefer a recommended person. Will keep her profile.
Eliz
I am glad you posted this. I am tinkering with the idea of moving on over to Self Hosted WordPress next month and have been wondering WHERE to look and now I do!
Your blog looks great!
Thank you Jamie! Glad that you found this post helpful. My designer is really the best in business and she can guide you through that transfer to self hosted WP you are planning 🙂
Your blog looks great! I switched to WP a couple months ago from Blogger. I’d been wanting to do it a long time, but finally just jumped in with both feet. I’m so glad I did.
Same here Stephanie! I did not want to move from Blogger first..It was sort of like a comfort zone for me. When I realized that to reach new heights in my blogging business, move to WP is necessary, I had no choice but to move…And I am glad that I did 🙂 Thanks for stopping by 🙂
I’ve been thinking of cleaning up my blog I currently own my own domain through Go Daddy but still use blogger when writing. I terrified to do much else as i’m so computer stupid but i really want to clean up my blog so will go check her out and see what is what.
I like your post Thanks for sharing .