Introduction: The Niche Crisis That Started It All

There I was, staring at a blank screen, paralyzed by the question every new blogger dreads: “What should my website even be about?”

Travel? I hadn’t left my city in two years. Music? My guitar was gathering dust. DIY crafts? Let’s just say my last “upcycling project” ended with a glue gun inexplicably stuck to the cat.

Then it hit me—I was already knee-deep in learning full-stack digital marketing. Why not document that journey? A lightbulb moment occurred: “Marketing With Manthan.”

This wasn’t just a website—it became my accountability partner. Every blog post doubled as study notes, and every case study proved my growing skills. When I eventually landed clients, it evolved into a living portfolio.

Little did I know, this decision would lead me through WordPress mazes, design triumphs, and an SEO reckoning that humbled me to my core.

Step 1: Why WordPress? (Spoiler: It’s Not Just Because Everyone Else Does It)

Confession: I almost picked Wix. Their ads made it look so easy—drag, drop, done! But then I crunched the numbers:

• • 43.6% of all websites run on WordPress (including giants like Sony and Disney).

• • 59,000+ free plugins versus Wix’s 800 apps.

• • Zero platform fees (just hosting costs).

But the real clincher? Control.

With WordPress, I could:
• Convert my blog into an e-commerce site later,
• Access analytics tools that Wix hides behind paywalls, and
• Own my content completely (no lock-in).

The dashboard initially felt like a cockpit, but tutorials quickly demystified it. My mantra became:

“If college students build WordPress sites for ₹5k, I can learn this.”

Step 2: Blocksy Theme—From Cookie-Cutter to ‘This Feels Like Me’

Blocksy’s demo impressed me with its:

• • Speed: 98/100 on PageSpeed Insights (while other “pretty” themes scored in the 40s).

• • Flexibility: Portfolio-ready sections that I could adapt as I grew.

My Customization Journey

Color Crisis

The default teal/orange screamed “generic startup.” Using Coolors.co, I created a new palette:
• Dark Blue (#1B0D3E) for trust,
• Orange (#FF4A11) for energy, and
• White (#FFFFFF) and Black (#000000) for readability.

Content Overhaul

• • Replaced “Years of Experience” with “Hours Invested” (32+ and counting).

• • Changed “Clients Served” to “Tools Learned” (WordPress, Elementor, Canva, GA4).

Honest “Skill Bars”

• • WordPress: 65%

• • Elementor: 70%

Menu Rebuild

• • Renamed “Services” to “Projects” (to showcase mock campaigns I designed).

• • Added “Learning Diary” for raw, mistake-filled posts.

Step 3: Elementor Pro—From ‘What’s a Widget?’ to ‘I Made That Header!’

I expected Elementor to be like PowerPoint for websites. Instead, it became my digital sandbox.

Phase 1: The Overwhelm

My first header featured:
• A logo lost in white space,
• Navigation menus hidden under a “burger” icon (and I don’t even eat burgers), and
• Fonts that clashed like polka dots and plaid.

Phase 2: Breakthroughs That Saved My Sanity

• • Global Styles: I enforced one font pair (Inter + Lora) and a four-color palette site-wide.

• • Dynamic Content: I set up auto-updating “Recently Learned Tools” using custom fields.

• • Mobile-First Discipline: I designed for phones first—ending the “Why’s my text overlapping?!” era.

Phase 3: Proudest Tweaks

Learning Roadmap

A timeline of my stumbles:
• Week 1: “Installed WordPress (3 hours, 4 coffees),”
• Week 4: “First SEO audit: 29/100. I cried, then compressed images.”

Tool Cards

• • Canva: 80%

• • Google Analytics: 55%

Step 4: Launch Day—No Fireworks, Just Quiet Purpose

There was no viral traffic, no LinkedIn floods (I’m not even on it yet). Instead, I spent the day:
• Testing every link (what if “Contact” leads to a 404?),
• Sending myself eight test emails, and
• Sharing the site with two friends for feedback.

The first response?

“It’s… refreshingly honest. Like watching someone learn guitar—wrong chords and all.”

Exactly what I aimed for.

The SEO Wake-Up Call (Why My Traffic Flatlined)

Two weeks after launch, my stats were brutal:

• • Daily Visitors: 3 (me, my friend, and a bot from the United States)

• • Bounce Rate: 89% (my “About Me” page read like a cringe memoir)

Rank Math’s Audit Exposed

• • Meta Descriptions: Auto-generated gibberish (“A post about post stuff”)

• • Alt Text: Neglected labels like “IMG_1234” in my media library

• • Internal Links: My posts were isolated islands.

My Month-Long Fixes

Keyword Grading

I targeted realistic phrases such as:
• “How to start digital marketing with no experience,” and
• “Best free tools for WordPress beginners.”

Content Clusters

I grouped posts into:
• “Tool Deep Dives” (e.g., Canva hacks, GA4 setup), and
• “Fail Logs” (like my $0 Google Ads disaster).

Speed Surgery

• • Reduced hero image sizes from 4MB to 200KB using ShortPixel.

• • Disabled plugins that were slowing down load times.

What I Know Now (That Would’ve Saved 40+ Hours)

SEO Starts Before Your First Post

• • Use Ubersuggest’s “Keyword Difficulty” filter from day one.

• • Install Rank Math while building pages, not afterward.

Your Theme Is a Partner

• • Test mobile responsiveness before adding content (Blocksy’s preview is gold).

• • Use child themes for safer tweaks.

Elementor ≠ Magic

• • Global widgets save time but can bloat your database.

• • Learn basic CSS (centering a div will save your sanity).

Conclusion: My Website Is a Work in Progress—And That’s Okay

This isn’t a “10K Visitors in 30 Days!” fairy tale. It’s the messy reality of:
• Spending three hours fixing a header that still looks “meh,”
• Writing posts that get seven views but teach me more than any course, and
• Realizing SEO isn’t a checkbox—it’s a mindset.

But here’s the magic: Every struggle is now content. My flops have become case studies, and my tiny wins prove I’m growing.

What’s Next?

In my upcoming post, I’ll share:
• How I went from 3 to 300 monthly visitors (no ads),
• Free tools that beat paid SEO plugins, and
• My “link-building” strategy (spoiler: it’s just being helpful).

Read the SEO turnaround here—where I embrace gradual growth over vanity metrics.