Me
Hey, there! I'm Karen Skeens, a seasoned marketing consultant / WordPress web designer / brand strategist in Seattle with a substantial creative agency background. Chances are, I've already done a lot of work in your industry, and can quickly apply that insight into a cost-efficient, creative strategy for your business.

WordPress

web designer

...and idea thinker, outside writer, solution finder, analyzer, promotion queen, animal lover, dog walker, rolling hill hiker, beach goer, campsite doer, sun seeker, sleeping bag lugger, entrepreneur, passionate advocate, kid-cat-dog mom

How it started
Regional Account Manager for top radio stations in Portland & Seattle markets
How it went
Creative Director & Agency Partner at leading boutique ad agency in Seattle
Where it's at
Self-Employed Marketing Consultant, specializing in custom WordPress design
10+
years
10+
years
5+
years

Work hard.
Work some more.
Then play.

Skills

Marketing
Communications

Skilled at planning, developing, and executing marketing communications utilizing analytical, design and writing skills. 

Advertising
& Promotion

Concept, write and design ads; plan and schedule media buys; promote events via social and mass media.

Public
Relations

Enhance public image for start-ups and established businesses  through websites, press releases, social media.

Visual Design Strategy
& Digital Marketing Strategy

Plan the visual strategies of print and digital design, as well as the strategy behind digital marketing campaigns.

WordPress
Web Design

From end to end: design and build custom-designed WordPress websites, including planning the navigation and writing copy.  

Brand Storytelling
& Image Shaping

Research, identify and craft compelling positioning and messaging to shape company images, sell ideas.  

what you need

to hire me

Expect...

  • hourly
  • by project
  • employee

Hey there! You caught me with a website that is halfway done with its design upgrades and updates. I'm working on about 7 personal sites simulataneously. Client work first, right? Stay tuned...WordPress Web Guru + Designer + Strategist + Wordsmith + Marketer = this 5-in-1 digital pro...  

Hi, I'm Karen, a seasoned creative director / marketing consultant with a substantial creative agency background who has helped hundreds of businesses and organizations strategically rebrand and create successful online presences. My specialty is creating websites that sell with new branding, then integrating the look and feel into all your marketing collateral and campaigns. You can contract me in a temporary or permanent creative director position to work at home or on-site.

Do you need help only with developing your  headlines and information architecture? I provide content strategy and UX design & copywriting services which include any or all of the following: Wireframing, information organization, discovery / interviewing your staff or customers, conducting surveys and research, developing messaging, UX writing for buttons, forms, error messages, user interface and more.

  • Experience +
  • Insight +
  • Creativity

Services you need are backed by EXPERIENCE.

My deep experience creating hundreds of unique online web presences for clients – large and small –  empowers me to steer your web design project efficiently, make thoughtful recommendations, and avoid those common and not-so-common pitfalls.  So that you get the website you want, on time and on budget. 

INSIGHT comes from listening to you.

Insight about your company comes from listening carefully to you and your team, and conducting research that identifies your competitive advantage, goals, pain points..and finally solutions.  

There's CREATIVITY in the works for you. 

I'm exceptionally creative in my messaging and designs.  That's what they tell me. My co-workers, clients, and peers, that is.   It's all about differentiating and getting attention on behalf of my clients and employers.

Get it done right.

  • Differentiate
  • Target
  • Modernize
  • Optimize
  • Integrate

To differentiate your website and make it stand out, I first probe what makes your product, service or business special. I will help identify (or better define) your competitive edge and voice. 

Your website and supporting online marketing should inspire your target audience through conceptual messaging, polished typography, and a good user experience.

It should portray modern web design best practices. This will, not only visually appeal to your target audience, but it will extend the shelf life of your website. 

To increase the quality and quantity of your web traffic, your website should be optimized for search engine optimization (SEO) and speed. The SEO optimization begins at the ground level with WordPress theme selection, target keyword discovery, navigation planning, naming of your page URLs, and more. The optimization is ongoing throughout the website-building process. The refinement happens upon completion of the website.

Send a clear, consistent message to your target audience and integrate your web branding/messaging into your social media, email campaigns, print collateral - everything.

Kudos

12/11/19 "Hi Karen, I absolutely love the home page redesigned. The outline is fantastic and very much sets the website apart from others as we rebrand the organization. I am so excited and look forward to viewing the final draft as per your notes. Thank you so much. This has truly inspired me."
Susan Hall
Susan HallExecutive Director / Board Member
Enrichment Center for Women, Children & Families
Karen creates beautiful visuals that tell your story better than any words.
Elaine Kraft
Elaine KraftIntergovernmental & Communications Director
Cascade Water Alliance
5/1/20 "We are overwhelmed with gratitude for the incredible website that Karen Skeens has designed for our non-profit organization. Karen has excellent creative insight and interpretation, advanced technical skills that she easily translates into laymen terms. Her communication and organizational skills enabled the project to be completed in a timely manner. Her patience in working with a small organization with limited staff was tremendous. I highly recommend Karen, for her excellent project management, design and technical skills."
Susan Hall
Susan HallExecutive Director / Board Member
Enrichment Center for Women, Children & Families
Karen is a creative genius with a gift in attending to the details. Her stellar ability to articulate ideas, and communicate them clearly, created a backdrop where expectations were clearly understood.
Kyle Dalan
Kyle Dalan Web Developer
Nordstrom
Thanks again for all your work. I love, love, love the site and Jay really enjoyed working with you! More projects to come!
Brent Abrams
Brent AbramsPresident | Ad Hatchery | Seattle
...The finished product was amazing...The end result was a product that is the envy of our industry.
Brent Abrams
Brent AbramsFormer President & CFO
MSBI Lending, dba Kiel Mortgage;
Current CEO of Ad Hatchery in Seattle
We couldn’t be more delighted with the end result our agency's new website at https://AdVenturesDesign.com which Karen designed and programmed. Karen brought a really hard-to-find blend of great ideas plus technical acumen to our project. Her strengths are not only in concept development and design creativity, but also the in crucial implementation of WordPress development - all in one package. We found her work ethic and attention to detail second to none. She has a strong desire to continually develop her knowledge and skill set, combined with a natural ability for great visual design. Not only is our new website graphically appealing and nicely organized, the pages load fast and display well across all the key responsive platforms. Karen keeps up on the latest new tools for WordPress development as well as current design trends, so her work is always a little ahead of the curve and has lots of staying power. No question, she’s the real deal.
Alex Howard
Alex HowardManaging Partner
Ad Ventures Brand-Strategy-Design Agency
Finally made it through all the new web pages. Looks really good! That WAS a major redesign. Specifics: Love the blue and orange theme on most pages. Thought the organization – ease of finding info was great. I only viewed the site in Chrome, but responsiveness worked great across all the pages. Very smart to put a contact box at the bottom of every page. All pages loaded very quickly. Bonus points for design & hosting.
Steve LeeFormer Agency Owner
Karen worked as a regional account manager at a Seattle radio station when I was morning host. I helped Karen brainstorm ideas for clients and would accompany her on client meetings and lunches. She showed a lot of great initiative and creativity, writing copy for live testimonial spots that I read on the air. I highly recommend Karen for marketing and copywriting positions.
Kirby Wilbur
Kirby WilburPM Drive Host
KVI Radio Seattle
This was the look I wanted: soothing, confident, inviting, supported.
Linda Craig
Linda CraigFounder & Owner
Pathways Physical Therapy
"I have known Karen Skeens for over 30 years. She is a talented creative copywriter, both short and long form. Karen often sends me some of her work in advance to obtain my feedback and I find her work polished and forceful, well researched and she has a superior grasp of the English language. I highly recommend her."
Martha Mottau
Martha Mottau Artist, Retired Bank Executive
Hi Karen, that looks great. I’m very happy with the new look and and glad you introduced this new idea and steered us away from the path we were going down. This looks great.
Aaron Adelstein
Aaron Adelstein Executive Director
Built Green
I’m checking the website out and it looks great. This website has turned out far better than we imagined. You did a great, great job and you should be proud of the quality of your work.
Lamont Jacobsen
Lamont JacobsenChief Financial Officer
Freestone Communities
I have to say every time I pull the work up that you are doing I SMILE since I feel the relaxation, serene, rootedness yet malleable, fluid movement that has hidden power and depth which is what everyone will receive. Thank you for pulling it off.
Linda Craig
Linda Craig Founder & Owner
Pathways Physical Therapy
I was really impressed with the work you did for your clients, really impressed with how well your sites suit the personality of the clients, liked that I saw in the website. Rather than building templates, you start from scratch every time to ensure that it is a unique piece.
Diane Harper
I am in amazement at your mastery of computer technologies …. But even more your ability to use words to express pure truth, drawing out and evoking everyone’s feelings simultaneously.
Martha Mottau
"Wow, did you do that site? Love it...it's phenomenally awesome." (Referring to JusticeforMike.org)
Lisa McConnell
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Meet Karen.

After working as an agency creative director / lead copywriter / website UI / UX specialist / salesperson for several years at a well-known, reputable creative marketing agency in Seattle, I went freelance. My core specialties are creating online presences, and designing and building unique WordPress websites for businesses and organizations. I also gravitate to brand and content strategy, especially conceptual messaging and information architecture. The ever-changing web fascinates me and I'm totally addicted to this hands-on kind of work.

Karen Skeens

Creative * detailed * ethical * reliable

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Tacoma - Seattle, WA

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