Motherhood Journeys is a heartfelt and deeply personal blog written by Corinne, a stay-at-home mum of 3 boys with a baby on the way.
FIRST IMPRESSIONS
Looking at your blog for the first time, we can honestly say “this is a blog after our own hearts”! At first glance, you’d think a blog about a mum with three boys would be laughing at the chaos; however, it is much more. It is cerebral and earthy; it’s honest, calm and we love how it focuses on Motherhood more than family life. The reader really feels like they are there with you, through the wonderful times, and the sad.
HEADER AND MENU BAR
Visually you have set a mood for your story. The photography set against the muted blue background is very calming, even with pictures of three boys and a dog! You’ve really captured a sense of warmth and fun in the polaroid/Instagrams of your family running along the top.
TOP TIP: We love the header but one idea we had was perhaps you could make it slightly smaller, so you have more of the most valuable ‘above the fold’ space on your blog. Perhaps you could even introduce a menu along the top, with links to separate pages to help readers navigate your site more easily. A great one would be a link to your ‘Popular Posts’, such as the guide to family camping, and the Bump Photography.
SIDEBAR
Another thought we had was to give your sidebar a bit of a spring clean. Have you considered creating follow buttons, and placing them nice and high up, to entice even more people to follow you? We also wondered if all your categories might seem a bit overwhelming for visitors (a case of too much choice!). If you condensed them right down, they would become even more effective, and have a nicer design aesthetic.
TOP TIP: See if you can reduce the number of categories displayed. Aim for no more than 10-15 labels (20 max) around your most relevant topics.
MAIN CONTENT
We like how you do not shy away from really difficult questions of motherhood. You clearly state your own beliefs without being antagonistic or polarising. Your home page works really well, with the photographs and post teasers drawing readers in, and enticing them to read more.
TOP TIP: While the muted colours are simple and stylish, one of our immediate thoughts was that we’d love to see how it looks with warmer tones: oranges, ochres and browns. Your blog is filled with so much heart and emotion: to us it just seemed fitting that this be reflected in your colour scheme.
FINAL THOUGHTS
These are just a few of our thoughts on Motherhood Journeys. We look forward to reading more about your lovely family, and the arrival of your youngest son in a few months’ time.
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Corinne says
Thank you so much for the feedback on my blog, I love the suggestions and will give them a go!
Uju says
Thanks for submitting your blog to be MaShed. We’re so glad you liked our ideas and look forward to seeing what you come up with next!
Kerrie McGiveron says
This is a really great post – really got me thinking! 🙂
Uju says
Thanks for the feedback Kerrie, we hope that every MaSh my Blog we do offers inspiration for other bloggers too. Actually, we always learn something from each other while doing them as well!