A Fresh New Look

Hello there readers!

If the fresh new look of my blog and title of this post didn't already give it away, let me spell it out for you - this post is all about my blog's long-overdue and much-needed makeover 😊

Makeovers can be powerful and revitalising. Now that I think about it, I desperately need one myself but I'll put that thought aside for the moment and focus on my blog. 

To be honest, since the time my blog came into inception, the only things I have invested in it are my time, effort and some TLC. I didn't bother to set up a custom domain, I still have no idea what the heck SEO is and don't let me get started on understanding befuddling HTML codes (gah!). 

Whatever you saw on my blog previously - the content, design, layout, configuration, the imagery were the work of someone with zero tech skills (aka me). At the time, I was under the illusion that I had done a good job but in hindsight, not so much 😆 I never thought of asking anyone for help or assistance, even though at times, I had no freaking clue what I was doing. I didn't deem it necessary to go the extra mile because at first, I didn't think anyone would read my blog. I started blogging only because I felt like writing - not to gain followers, monetisation or to connect and interact with like-minded individuals but solely as a creative outlet to express myself.

But after the first few months, my vanity wore off and I realised that it is gratifying to blog only if you have a following. Appreciation and feedback from readers help motivate a blogger and push them to strive for improvement. It is a continually learning process and one can only learn when there is sustained interest and passion. Blogging is really hard work and I've witnessed a lot of bloggers giving up on it prematurely. Perhaps, only the ones who are truly made for blogging, stick it out. I cannot predict my future in the blogosphere with assured certainty but as of now, I'd like to believe that I'm in it for the long haul (fingers crossed). 

Anyway, moving on, I wanted to blog about all my interests and not just restrict it to cooking. But I was in a bit of a dilemma because I didn't have a niche audience. Blogging about everything under the sun would be confusing to my readers so I narrowed my interests down to a few categories so that people visiting my blog would know what kind of posts to expect from me. Picking the name for the blog literally gave me a migraine. I dodged the words 'spice', 'food' 'recipe', 'kitchen', 'culinary' because they were too restrictive, I dismissed 'Singapore' in the title because of the very real possibility of relocation, I wasn't too keen on generic terms like 'adventure', 'world', 'life', 'space' and to make things more complicated, I did not want my own name featured in the blog title. It had to be something that would encompass all the blogging topics I had in mind and be unique at the same time. I finally settled on the current name - I wasn't crazy about it (still not sure I am) but over the years it has grown on me so it looks like it is here to stay.

Even after launching the blog, I did very little to promote it. My priorities were ensuring the content was original and authentic, the writing was engaging, my posts had a personal touch to them and the subject matter was based on actual knowledge and/or experience. I also was determined to adhere to a fairly regular blogging schedule. A detail that struck me as important was to provide a candid 'About Me' section with a name and a face to back it up because from personal experience, I tend to lose interest in blogs which do not offer any insight into the author. I did submit my food photographs to a couple of reputed food websites in an attempt to drive some engagement but that's about it. I was, and continue to be, a very lazy blog reader and even though I appreciate other blogs, I don't have the habit of subscribing to other them, leaving comments or initiating any kind of blogger communication or collaboration. I do however, make it a point to reciprocate if I receive appreciation. That being said, after 5 years of blogging (I say 5 and not 6 since I choose to discount 2010, the year my blog wasn't even open to the public and I was only testing the waters) I think there are a few people out there who do spend their valuable time here so making it look visually appealing seemed worthwhile.

So after staying in my comfort zone for so long, I decided to take the plunge and switch things up a bit. And as you can see, I haven't made drastic changes. I wanted to change the design aesthetic which mainly entailed a new eye-catching banner to replace the lacklustre, outdated one that I had before. But I wasn't sure how to go about it. 

It was around the same time that I was getting acquainted with the work of a family friend who works as a freelance illustrator in my hometown. She is also the creative brain behind Doodle Doo, an Indian online store for illustrated fun and quirky goodies. I really liked her signature style and so approached her to design an illustrated banner for my homepage. I wanted it to be simple, upbeat, vibrant and animated so it would represent my personality and at the same time showcase my many interests which include cooking, books, movies, travel and of course, my identity as a twin mom. I think she did a brilliant job. It completely met the expectation of what I had envisioned. The caricature of me even looks like me - talk about customisation! The other itty bitty changes that you see are ones I did myself. The whole process was a hoot and I'm happy with how everything turned out.


Thank you for sticking with me through my blogging journey. Now it is time for me to jump back onto the bandwagon and churn out some more (hopefully engaging) posts.


Here's to more recipes, reviews and ramblings.

Do you like the new look? Leave a comment to let me know what you think.

Cheers,

Megha