5 Reasons You Should Have a Self-Hosted WordPress Site

I’ve designed and developed blogs on Blogger, WordPress.com and self-hosted WordPress for my clients and hands down WordPress is the best choice for your book blog. Need some convincing? In this post I’m going to share 5 reasons you should have a self-hosted WordPress site.

Protect Your Content by Owning Your Site

The cool thing about having a self-hosted WordPress blog, is that you actually own the little piece of the web (the server space) that your site is built on. That means that no one can remove your blog without your permission, unless of course you forget to pay your host.

Unfortunately, when you use free web hosts like Blogger or WordPress.com those companies are the owners of that server space and have the ability to remove your blog at any time. If you haven’t read my post on how to protect your Blogger book blog from getting shut down, go read it!

WordPress is Easy to Use – But has Limitless Options

Even though there are lots of options for more advanced users, the WordPress dashboard is really easy to use. If you can create a document in Word, you can write a blog post in WordPress.

There are also lots of great resources and tutorials out there specific to using WordPress. The beginner videos from WP101 are a good place to start!

Once you have learned more about blogging, those advanced options will be there waiting for you. By starting on a self-hosted WordPress account you will be setting yourself up for success from day one!

Awesome Sidebar Plugins for Book Bloggers

With WordPress, there is a plugin for almost everything! Want to have an Amazon search bar on your sidebar? There’s a plugin for that. Want to connect with Goodreads or Instagram? There’s a plugin for that too.

Plugins are easy to install and setup without ever touching a line of code. And the best part is that most are free!

SEO: Helping people find your blog

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a breeze with WordPress! If you use a premium framework like Genesis, you can be confident that the proper HTML structure is there so that search engines can easily find and share your content.

More advanced bloggers can also install the free Yoast SEO plugin which helps you set keywords, meta description, and social sharing options for each post. You can even select the exact image you want shared to Facebook!

Better Design Options

Let’s be honest. Whether you use a pre-made template or hire a professional web designer, sites built on WordPress blogs just look more professional. That’s because your designer can have complete control of the code for the site.

Here are some great resources for pre-made templates:

• StudioPress Themes: Professional & Modern.
• Restored316 : Pretty & Stylish
• Elegant Themes: Easy for the DIYer (Check out Divi!)

Or if you want something a little more custom, be sure to check out my book blog design and author website design services!

6 Simple Steps to Protect Your Blogger Book Blog

Did you know that if your blog is hosted on Blogger that Google could shut it down at any time, with no warning? It’s true. I have spoken with several unfortunate book bloggers who have had this happen to them. Most of the time the blogger wasn’t aware that Google has the power to shut down a blog and remove its content. In this post, I will show you how to protect your Blogger book blog from getting shut down, in 6 simple steps.

Why would Google shut down a book blog?

It’s very clear in the Blogger Content Policy that adult content must be placed behind a Warning Message. For book bloggers writing about romance novels or adult books often the content or book covers are risqué in nature and could be construed as adult content.

Why does Google think I have adult content on my site?

The most likely scenario is that a visitor reaches your blog and for whatever reason reports it to Google. Google then reviews these flagged sites and if they find it to be in violation of their Content Policy, then they will take one of the following actions:

• Put the blog behind a ‘mature content’ interstitial
• Put the blog behind an interstitial where only the blog author can access the content
• Delete the offending content, blog post or blog
• Disable the author’s access to his/her Blogger account
• Disable the author’s access to his/her Google account
• Report the user to law enforcement

How can I protect myself against Google shutting down my book blog?

If you are blogging about romance novels or novels with adult content (and don’t want to move to WordPress), the single best thing you can do is turn on the Warning Message! Even if you are not writing adult content, the fact that you are linking to a book that contains it or are displaying a book cover that is risqué in nature might be enough to require the Warning Message.

How do I turn on the Adult Content Warning Message in Blogger?

Here are The 6 simple steps to turning on the Adult Content Warning Message and protecting your Blogger book Blog from Google shut down:

1. Login to the Dashboard of your site
2. Click Settings
3. Click Other
4. Find the Adult Content section
5. Select Yes
6. Click Save Settings

That’s it! A two-minute fix that could save you hours of headache later. Better yet, you should consider migrating your blog to a self-hosted WordPress site where you will have complete control of your content.

If you’re interested in making the move to WordPress, please contact me and I’d be happy to guide you through it!

Semi-Custom WordPress Book Review Blog

I was so excited when Cristina from Cristina’s Book Reviews emailed me to say that she was making the jump from a wordpress.com blog to self-hosted WordPress. Not sure about the difference? Read my FAQ!

Since she was already pretty happy with the header & background from her last design, we opted for a Semi-Custom package and customized the LifeStyle theme from StudioPress.

In addition to customizing the theme, I also added a few of the book blog essentials for her book reviews: custom blockquotes for her synopsis from Goodreads areas, fancy heading fonts, ratings graphics, purchase links, and two-by-two recent reviews in the sidebar.

Also checkout the organized custom book reviews page that shows the book cover, title, and short intro to each of her review posts.

Here’s what Cristina had to say about working with Priceless Design Studio on a Semi-Custom Blog Design:

Working with Katie has been a wonderful process, not to mention that she has the patience of an absolute saint!  She took my blog and made it modern but still keeping it feminine and simple, which is exactly what I wanted.

Not only did she listen to my needs as a book blogger but she made creative suggestions when necessary and let me control the reins when I had to. Blogs are meant to be reflective of who we are and Katie created a masterpiece that best describe ME. Katie is what one would call a fairy blog-mother!   – Cristina

Thank you so much Cristina! I’m so proud to be considered a fairy blog-mother. Working with you has been an absolute pleasure!

Custom WordPress Book Blog Design

If there is one thing I love, it’s sparkle and this custom book blog design for Vilma’s Book Blog truly shines! Pink and navy are one of my favorite color combinations, and if gold counts as a color (and I think it does!) it’s the perfect accent to this duo. Vilma is truly a girl after my own heart.

One of the custom widgets I created was a Follow VBB box, where fans can subscribe to any of Vilma’s social feeds in one convenient place on the sidebar. If you get a chance, go check out the hover effects!

Vilma’s design is chock full of the book blog essentials: synopsis area, review rating graphics, fancy heading fonts and social sharing buttons. The custom block quote styling helps make Vilma’s most important thoughts stand out.

Quite possibly my favorite custom element on this blog is the Book Reviews category page. Every book Vilma reviews gets automatically updated on this page via WordPress magic. You have to go see it to truly understand the power of using a custom page template in WordPress.

Here’s what Vilma had to say about working with Priceless Design Studio on a Custom Book Blog Design:

Working with Katie Price was an absolute blast!!! I approached her with a particular look-and-feel for my blog, including a long list of details and expectations. I honestly wasn’t sure what I would see. Well, I was absolutely blown away by Katie’s work. It was exactly what I had in mind and so much more. She embedded her own twist and creativity and over time worked to create what I think is a stunning blog site that feels uniquely me. She is a consummate professional and a great partner to work with. Her design aesthetic is fresh and beautiful, her attention to detail is impressive and she continuously pushes herself to deliver the best quality design that leaves clients like me grinning wildly. I am so proud of what she’s put together and I couldn’t be happier! – Vilma

Thank you so much, Vilma, for putting together such great inspiration and ideas for your site design! It was an absolute pleasure to work with you on this amazing book review blog.

Custom WordPress Book Blog Design

Natalie and the rest of the lovely ladies from Love Between the Sheets had a modern romantic vision for their custom WordPress book blog design. It was a lot of fun to mix different textures and graphics on this site design. The chalkboard and pink turned out to be a great combo!

I absolutely loved creating all the little details for the sidebar widgets. Including little surprises when you hover your mouse over certain objects is always one of my favorite things to add to custom sites. (Go look for them!)

During the design process we talked about what each post would look like, and the best way to format the blockquotes and heading fonts to achieve a stylish look for the synopsis area and book reviews.

Here’s what Natalie had to say about working with Priceless Design Studio,

Working with Katie was an absolute pleasure. She has the patience of a saint to be able to work with three sisters each with our own design aesthetic. When we were unable to agree on certain aspects of the design Katie was right there to work with us, offer suggestions and provide guidance to create a design that we were all happy with. We now have a blog that is uniquely our own and we are proud to show it off every chance we get. Right from step one, Katie made the entire process easy and stress free, especially for those of us who are not so technically inclined Katie we can not thank you enough for the beautiful design. It is absolutely perfect! Thank you again for everything. – Natalie

Thank you, to the beautiful sisters and ladies between the sheets. I’m so thrilled you love your custom WordPress book blog design!

It’s hard to believe that another year has gone by! I’m so thankful to my wonderful clients for putting their trust in me. I feel truly blessed to be able to do something I love and work with amazing people.

One of the add-on services I offer with a WordPress blog design is a Social Media Package. This includes a profile pic, Facebook cover, Twitter cover and matching Twitter background. But it’s always fun to change things up for the holidays!

I hope you enjoy these Free Holiday Facebook covers! Feel free to share them with friends

To Use:

• Click on the image you want to save & it will open in a new window at full size.
• Right click on the image to “save image as..”
• Save the image somewhere easy to find.
• Upload your new cover to Facebook! 

If you end up using one of these free holiday facebook covers, please let me know in the comments, send me a note on twitter, or pin the image below! Happy Holidays from Priceless Design Studio!

From day one, I had a blast creating this WordPress fashion blog design for witty blogger Megan! With a site name like, F Yeah! how could it be anything fun?

I worked a little coding magic on the home page so that Megan’s posts would be clearly labeled either Fashion, Food, or Fun. As she writes her posts, all she needs to do is check the box for which category her post belongs in and they are automatically labeled! I’m just in love with how this organizes and simplifies her home page.

Isn’t that photo fabulous? I’ve been super impressed by the quality of the photographs and written copy on this site. Megan is hilarious, just check out her sidebar titles. I customized the look of the Genesis eNews Extended plugin, but she’s the one who came up with the clever text.

Here’s what Megan had to say about the design process,

“When choosing a web designer, my criteria were (1) great listener, (2) detail-oriented and (3) extremely patient (I’m a bit slow in the technology department.).  Katie was all 3 and more.  It sounds cliché, but it was truly a pleasure working with her.”

I have to give credit to Megan where credit is due. She had a clear vision for her site design. She even emailed me a photo of a hand painted draft she made while brainstorming. I love working with clients who know what they want and trust me to translate their vision into a functioning website. This was truly a team effort!

This beautiful author website was designed especially for the New York Times bestselling contemporary and new adult romance author, A.L. Jackson. The custom WordPress homepage features a countdown timer to her next release date, an image slider featuring scenes from her latest books, a carousel image slider displaying all of her book covers, and a featured post section displaying the latest from her blog.

Each of AL Jackson’s current 6  books have a custom book page template featuring their purchase links, cover, and a full width scalable photo background. I really love the mix of modern and handcrafted on A.L.’s new author website.

Here’s what A.L. Jackson had to say about her website design experience,

“Katie Price of Priceless Design Studio created my dream website. I had a clear picture of what I wanted, and Katie not only delivered, but made it better than I ever could have imagined. From beginning to end, she was professional, knowledgeable, and creative, but never hesitated to include my wishes and insights in the design, making for a final product that I couldn’t have been happier with. It was a great experience and I would highly recommend her to anyone.”

Thank you so much, Amy! It was a pleasure working with you as well

Recipe Blog Design for WordPress

This custom WordPress Blog Design for Maria of Hot Lollies was my first recipe blog design! I was really excited to try my hand at creating a Recipe Index and came up with two page templates for Maria to use for organizing her recipes.

Recipe Index Page

Category Page Template

I also created a custom skin for the Easy Recipe plugin. Visitors can now see, save, and print nice organized recipes right from Maria’s blog design.

This recipe blog was a lot of fun to design and organize! I used the Innovative Child Theme from The Pixelista and StudioPress as a base and it was a dream to customize. The natural color palette and bohemian textures Maria sent as inspiration really came together on this site. Thanks Maria!

Custom Blogger Makeover

This Blogger Makeover makes me smile! I was so stinking excited when I looked at the design homework that Tyler from Rays of Purple submitted. Even though most of my designs recently have been graphic based, I am just in love with this simple and modern style.

The custom menu and search box is my favorite part! The neighbors probably heard me squeal when I saw it all come together. I just love taking Blogger blogs and turning them into something unexpected and fresh.

I owe Tyler big props for coming up a clear direction for her blossoming blog. She knew exactly what she wanted when she contacted me. This is the second makeover that I’ve completed for Tyler and it’s been so fun to watch her blog grow in purpose and clarity since we last worked together.

Here’s what Tyler had to say about the experience,

“When I decided to redesign my blog, there was only one place to go, Priceless Design Studio! This is my second blog design with Katie and she is seriously amazing. I had a pretty good idea of what I wanted, and Katie nailed it! She is such a pleasure to work with, and she makes the whole process so fun. Anybody who uses Pinterest to help with design inspiration gets an A+ in my book. Thank you so much Katie, I am in love with my new design!”