How to Have a WordPress Website that Looks Like Mine

Here are the details of my recent WordPress redesign and why.

As a WordPress Consultant, I’m asked about the products and services I use, especially as they apply to the design and functionality of my website. Today I’ll share the bones of my site with you.

I constantly review my stats (I wish I could do it more often) before choosing a design, focusing on visitor intent rather than just what I want visitors to know. This data contributes to the homepage layout and menus that support it.

My homepage is only a scroll-and-a-half (one screenshot and half of another), featuring only the most sought-after info. The same applies to the menu—not every page, area, or topic, but only the top places of interest.

Look & Focus

When I chose this design, I knew I needed a theme that would cater not only to the layout of the data indicated visitors were looking for, but also to the Google Page Experience Update algo rolling out at the time.

Over the last several years, I have noticed a clear shift in the types of clients seeking me out. They wanted more personalized, individual, one-on-one services. There was also a transformation in the level of support they wanted and in what they knew they needed to succeed.

The difference was so dramatic that I couldn’t help but follow the data and the dictates of direct communications. However, this approach required me to remove much of the home page and its menus to simplify and focus the content.

Below is what I use for my WordPress Consultant website.

PREMIUM WORDPRESS THEME:

Kadence Theme Framework. Actually, I think of Kadence as a WordPress framework because it is so versatile. I always opt for the Pro or Premium (Membership) versions to have everything at my fingertips, along with the support that backs them, which is worth every penny. With Kadence, I went with the lifetime license years ago.

KADENCE PLUGIN LINEUP:

Kadence Blocks – PRO Extension
Kadence Blocks – Gutenberg Blocks for Page Builder Features
Kadence Custom Fonts
Kadence Pro – Premium add-on for the Kadence Theme
Kadence Reading Time
Kadence Simple Share
Kadence Galleries
Kadence Conversions – Popups, slide-ins

PREMIUM WORDPRESS PLUGINS FROM WPMUDEV

Hummingbird Pro: Hummingbird zips through my site, finding new ways to make it load faster, from file compression and minification to browser caching – because every millisecond counts when it comes to page speed.
Branda Pro: A complete white-label and branding solution for multisite. Login images, favicons, remove WordPress links and branding, and much more.
Smush Pro: Reduces image file sizes, improves performance, and boosts my SEO using the WPMU DEV WordPress Smush API.
Forminator Pro: Capture user information (as detailed as you like), engage users with interactive polls that show real-time results and graphs, “no wrong answer” Facebook-style quizzes, and knowledge tests.
WPMU Dashboard: Provides a control panel for all WPMU Member plugins and a support interface.

There are free, less feature-rich versions of the above plugins, but a WPMU Membership includes the Pro plugins and organizational tools to help you run your business.

PREMIUM WORDPRESS PLUGINS

Anti-Spam by CleanTalk: Premium anti-spam plugin. My forms were getting hammered. This plugin put an end to those bots. No comment spam, no registration spam, no contact spam, and it protects any WordPress forms.
Pretty Links Beginner Edition: Shrink, track, and share any URL using your website and brand. This plugin also provides insight into the products and services site visitors were most interested in.
Advanced Database Cleaner PRO: Cleans my site’s database by deleting orphaned data such as ‘old revisions’, ‘old drafts’, ‘orphan options’, etc. Optimize database and more
Yoast Premium SEO: I cannot live without the Yoast readability guide. Combined with my Grammarly subscription (browser extension), I know both have made me a better writer.
WordFence Security Premium: Anti-virus, Firewall, and Malware Scan. This site gets a lot of foreign traffic (bots, scammers, spammers), so since I only do business in the USA, blocking IPs by country is worth it. I also get real-time threat protection. Priceless.

PLUGINS FROM THE WORDPRESS PLUGIN DIRECTORY

Search Exclude: With this plugin, you can exclude any page, post, or whatever from the WordPress search results by checking off the corresponding checkbox on the post/page edit page.
Top 10 – WordPress Popular Posts: Top 10 adds two widgets that you can use to display a list of popular posts and the count across all your blog posts.

Even though I didn’t change my theme in 2025, I love how Kadence lets me tweak the look and layout to add new information as needed in 2026.

I see no reason to change themes when Kadence is so feature-rich at the block level and continually updates, allowing me to step things up as needed. Are you ready to take things to the next level this year? (Check out the links below.)

At your service,