Ok, by now, you can see that something UH-MAZING has happened here at NTTC over the past 24 hours.
I legitimately feel like I got a major makeover, with a REALLY cute haircut, when really, it’s only my site that experienced any change.
My Blog Had Changed
I know you guys have noticed it. My blog has just evolved. In many ways, I’d outgrown that bubble gum pink yoga lady (while maintaining my yoga love, of course) and my tagline “Where Life is So Fabulous There’s No Time for Dessert” never really resonated with me. My last designer pushed me for a tagline, and it was the best of the worst ideas I came up with… not terrible, but not really me.
Asking for Feedback
First, I wanted to get rid of that terrible tagline. And, while I kept brainstorming ideas… I didn’t like anything I came up with. So, I put it out there to you guys via a “re-write my tagline” contest. Kenlie had the winning suggestion offering up “Healthy Choices Make Life Sweet.” So perfect for my re-branding that was about to start. Thanks, Kenz!
Next, when I launched my annual Blogtastic Reader Survey, I asked questions specifically about navigation and asked what you would like to see. Many of you helped me to confirm the direction I was heading, and several of you gave me new ideas that I hadn’t considered yet! Thanks!
Finding a Designer
I was blown away by the redesign that my dear friend Ashley over at Coffee Cake and Cardio completed earlier this year. It looked so beautiful and fresh! I knew I wanted to use the same designer… Ashley made the introduction, and a match was made!
I began working with the ever-so-talented Cassie Johnston from Back to Her Roots, and we quickly began formulating our plan. I had my new tagline, and I knew I wanted to simplify. I never would have expected we would have ended where we did…
I quickly found my color scheme… and I knew I wanted to incorporate beets.
Pinterest brought additional inspiration, and mostly, Cassie pieced it all together, coming up with the design you see today.
So, What Changed?
Well… the overall look and feel is different, of course. But there’s a few other things that I had in mind too.
Simplify, Simplify, Simplify
Mostly, I wanted to simplify the page. Many (including me!) said that there was just too much going on. Way too many things were happening on all the columns, and the chevron had grown a little busy.
Organizing All those Recipes
In addition, I wanted to make my recipes easier to find. Rather than my list style pages, I wanted to have pictures. By updating the theme to Genesis’ Foodie theme, we were able to make this happen. (Again, this is part of Cassie’s behind-the-scenes magic.)
Simply click on one of the recipe categories from the menu, and you’re transported to a pretty picture page where you can choose what to make! So easy!
Note: The only thing I haven’t done is make all of my recipe posts printable. It’s still on the table as an option, but I’ll need to go in and update every single (350+) recipe and re-write the posts. Not sure I’m up for that right now, but it’s on my to-do list. If I decide to head in this direction, know that it will be this time next year before I’m done…
Speeding Up the Page
My previous hosting provider was beginning to run REALLY slow. Because my site has lots of pictures, the site had reached a “size” where they began to throttle my speeds. As if!!
So, Ashley and Cassie introduced me to the team at AcceleratedWP, and they’ve taken amazing care of me! They’ve given great support (even when I had a question on a holiday!) If you’re looking for a new company to host your site, I highly recommend Joe and team at AcceleratedWP. Be sure to tell them I sent you!
In the end, I hope you love the new-and-improved NTTC site as much as I do!!! And, if you’re looking for a blog redesign, reach out to my girl Cassie – – I can’t thank her enough for the work she did here on my site!
What do you think?