August 31, 2025 2 min to read

Welcome to my blog!

Constantly exploring the realms of code and creativity. 🚀

So, somehow you’ve landed on this post. whether by chance, curiosity, or because the algorithm gently nudged you my way. Either way, Welcome.

I’m Sham, a UI/UX Designer and Web Developer.

Why Start a Blog in 2025?

When AI is busy spitting out content by the second. Why now?

Reason One. The Web Dev In Me.

I’ve built blogs for clients before. Most didn’t last. The longest survived two years, and even that was a battle. You see, I was using WordPress for the client’s convenience. (Easier to draft, publish, and edit posts)

WordPress Plugins.

When it comes to WordPress, you just can’t avoid plugins. You need them for almost everything! In my experience, this always leads to a bloated project. Not forgetting that the really good plugins usually come with a price tag.

Nulled WordPress plugins. Getting ‘premium’ WordPress plugins for free? Not a smart move, I later learned.

SEO And Monetization

Next comes monetization, the bloggers’ promised land full of milk and honey. But the journey? not so. To get there, you need serious SEO (search engine optimization). This one turns into quicksand if you leave clients to handle it on their own, at least from my experience.

SEO is like bathing, you can’t just do it once and assume you’re clean forever.

And now there are new kids on the block named AEO (Answering Engine Optimization) & GEO (Generative Engine Optimization)

• SEO = Ranking top on search engine results. _{Like Google}
• AEO = Optimizing so AI can crawl and pull your content for answers. _{Google AI search results}
• GEO = Optimizing content to be cited or summarized by AI. _{Like ChatGPT}

Optimizing for SEO, AEO, and GEO requires consistency, patience, and constant upkeep. something most clients don’t have the time or skill for.

Add website maintenance services and the piling costs become a deal-breaker for most clients.

My solution?

Build Smarter, Not Heavier.

• For blogs, use Static Site Generator (SSG) instead of WordPress. I used Jekyll for this website.
• Host on GitHub + Netlify. Zero cost, rock solid.
• Domains? I roll with Spaceship (By Namecheap, solid trust).
• Protection + extras with cloudflare. Currently testing their free email routing with my email [email protected].
• Plug in a CMS (Content Management System) so clients can draft, publish, and edit posts with ease.

Kindly note my cost-cutting approach is tailored for blogs and landing pages. When it comes to e-commerce, scalability is King.

And now, how better to test that out than running my own blog? So here we are. My very first blog post! 😌

Reason Two: Write To Learn, Publish To Share

I aim to share my perspective, the wins and fails, the hacks that save me time, and the rabbit holes worth falling into. It’s my way of leaving a trail, like digital breadcrumbs, for myself and anyone else wandering the same path.

Stay curious!

Sham.