Today your task is all about attempting to see what readers first impressions are of your blog.
If you're struggling to find a friend or family member who hasn't seen your blog before to help you with this task why not connect with another blogger here in our forum area. Perhaps you can check out their blog and they yours?
Looking forward to hearing what you learn through this exercise!
ProBlogger, DPS & TwiTip
Okey doke, anyone here never read my blog? If so, please complete the audit for me and I'll do the same for you. Thanks
Well, I'll certainly have a look at your blog if you'll look at mine :)
But somehow I don't think it really works that way, you need someone who can sit in front of you and talk to you as he/she's looking at your blog. So it's off to your parents, co-workers, friends and other people who havn;t seen your blog yet and ask them...
The major poblem would be finding someone thathasn't seen it yet. (I've been telling everyone about my blog... so they've all seen it already) Time to make new friends ;)
Mind the beginner A blog on beginning, it sounds so simple but it’s quite complex
I've been struggling with the same thing-- short of recruting the mailman or something, everyone I know has read my blog. I'll check out those above, can you guys take a look at mine?
scarymommy.com An honest look at motherhood: The good, the bad and the scary.
Here's a slightly different tack ...
is a site that will take your url, and present it to visitors for five seconds and then ask them what they remember. Have a look - its quite entertaining to do a few five second audits, and the results of your own are interesting too.
That was quite revealing, thanks Darren. The user who was looking at my website/blog did remark that it contains many topics, but the navigation was not always clear. I think the problem is a "historical" one. I started usind drupal as a content management system with the option of blogging. In the last years the focus has changed increasingly to blogging with a content management system as addon. The title page still reflects the old way. Well, now I have to come up with a concept to overhaul my website in order to put more emphasis on the blog. The elevator pitch challenge will be a good start.
Would appreciate if anyone could spend the time to take a look at my site- From Dominique's Desk
will do likewise if you do a first take audit on my site.
Thanks
I've reviewed your blog, Scary Mommy, but can't find a contact page to send it to you.
@lucynixon - that was a time sink, but I've bookmarked it so that I can go back whenever I feel like doing my good deed - I think I did at least 10 of them
Karenne
It's jill@scarymommy.com---- I guess my first step is to make that more visable, huh? :)
I'm on your site now... THANKS!
And of course, I too would also really like some feedback on either of mine -
or
Thanks very much,
You can email me via the contact form on my website or write me directly - mention day17 in subject header though so I don't trash it ;-)
I will also give feedback back to anyone who visits and reviews mine.
Ta,
Karenne
I will gladly review anyone's blog (link in my name)
Please contact me at first initial last name at gmail.com
If they choose to do the same for me it'd be fantastic :D
Thanks,
Mark Essel
I have the same issue...everyone I know already knows about my blog. If someone will take a look at mine, I'll look at yours, too!
http://nosmallthing.wordpress.com
Hold nothing back. You can email me at dkkwhcs@yahoo.com. Thanks!
RoySc
Member
If anyone's got a few minutes, I'd appreciate a visit and some feedback. Whoever gives feedback gets one back :)
Thanks!
Roy Schwartz
(You can send the feedback through comments at diseaseaday dot com, and I'll send your feedback as a reply)
I'd love to have a few people give me some perspectives on simplescrapper.com - like others, I'll reciprocate.
This is probably one of the most difficult things to do. Not because you can't do it. But because you wont. or youdo not want to accept the critism
I have done this type of thing on LinkedIn. A great SN website, similar to a group. Ask people fo evaluate your site, and you're in for a surpsise
Now my site is probably the one in need of most critism. But I can't see it myself so would benefit greatly by what others say.
Some critics are harsh, while others do not know what they are talking about. But a lot of times its personal. What appeals to a techie like me is completely different than what apeals to a graphic artist.
SO be carefull, wade through the good and the bad. Ultimately you decide what you change and not/ Because you know your readers and market, we don't
Okay, I'm in...please check out my blog Like A Warm Cup Of Coffee
It will actually be redesigned soon, but in the meantime...
"I don't claim to have found the truth but I know it has found me." Sara Groves
@sarahmaeblogs on Twitter<
@lucynixon,
Thats great. Only problem is, most of us our attention span is sless than 5 secs, our memory don't last any longer, and were not that observant.
But anyway, its worth a try
Robert, I think your site looks great, I would just add "Here!" to the header about getting your website designed and switch the "contact us" and "who we are" around, since that link is titled "who we are." :)
Dominique - I tried to email you but it says you're over quota. Here's what it said:
Hi Dominique,
How are you liking the 31 days project? Here are a few comments on your blog.
- It was a little hard to find your contact information. I suggest adding a "contact" tab to your navigation with a web form.
- Your English is very good, but there are a few mistakes here and there.
- Your header graphic is cute, but the image quality is a little off. Your photos look squished.
- Your disclaimer and PR info are very transparent - good feature.
- The sidebar is a little cluttered though not badly - are there badges that are not necessary?
- It seems your focus is on children - perhaps you need a blog tagline that reflects that. "Kid Tips from Dominque's Desk" or something like that. Perhaps you can tie in with your forum community better.
- Your blog is very functional overall and it looks like you know a lot about the technical aspects.
I hope my comments are useful to you.
I'd be happy to read anyone's blog, and would appreciate comments on mine as well. Also, tune in for weekly giveaways starting in May on my blog http://triciachaves.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Tricia's Dish.
I will gladly review anyone's blog (link in my name) Please contact me at first initial last name at gmail.com If they choose to do the same for me it'd be fantastic :D Thanks, Mark Essel
***Word of warning: All of my suggestions are merely my first impressions. I'm not a professional blogger but I do have a love of writing (and reading others blogs). I'm unfortunately a miserable self editor, but hopefully if I keep practicing I'll improve (so all of you are helping me by sharing your blogs). I sometimes have to change posts days later when I reread them with a different reference. My mind is amazingly adept at making sense of the garble that sometimes goes down on the page. Either that or I may actually think pretty fuzzy sometimes***
So far I've reviewed
http://getpaidtowriteonline.com/
There's so much information on the home screen, I don't feel as if I'm naturally drawn to any particular starting location on the landing page. I checked out your latest post: http://getpaidtowriteonline.com/top-tips-on-promotion/ and found the information useful (I'm already familiar with most types of self promotion), but there wasn't a great feel of who the writer is, so it felt a little impersonal. Overall top quality info (especially agree with the sentiment that writers will have to learn how to self promote if they want to reach their audience). I wish I was comfortable with this subject when I first wrote my web marketing page on squidoo: http://www.squidoo.com/web-marketing--seo-tutorial
http://mindthebeginner.wordpress.com/
Beautiful landing page picture (I'm a sucker for scenic landscapes http://www.squidoo.com/ScenicBeauty). On your latest post (Book review for Reclaim your dreams) I think you have a typo: " and I got stuck in straight" -> you meant sucked in right? See my self editing warning, our brains are so powerful they easily miss irregularities when reading or writing. Also when you wrote "He couldn’t be more from the truth, this book real" I think you meant to agree with his statements? Other than some typos/grammatical catches, I really enjoyed your review and look forward to reading Jonathan's book.
Very cool branding image and cute pic. Enjoyed your most recent post, really got a great initial feel for who you are as a writer and a person in just a few paragraphs. Awesome topical writing, easy reading and not too much page clutter. Great layout and excellent writing, you'll be read by everyone in your niche in no time!
http://www.corporate-eye.com/blog/ (not sure if you wanted this or not lucynixon but went ahead)
Very professionsal looking blog, but on first reaction it felt a little too impersonal. Even professional blogs can have a personal touch. The numerous web navigating options menu on top seemed a little too heavy for a blog landing page. The latest post "Best Leadership" while difficult to comprehend at a glance (due to the font size and multiple charts) made more sense after going back and discovering the text between graphs (I'm new to corporate leadership blogging)
On the landing page: very well designed header image (groovy way to put together family photos), but I was overwhelmed by the amount of options/clutter on the right hand side, so much that I didn't see the post until I looked carefully. I'm not familiar with wordless wednesday (form of blog promotion?) but went to the next most recent post, Tackle it Tuesday and this looked like a concise to do list. So I went one post further back, Weekend Linky Love. This post is a short promotion for a friend's spring cleaning ebook. While brief and topical, I didn't get a feel of your personality from any of your posts. Also you may want to do a little more work editing (I'm also guilty of this one far too often), for example this sentence looks automated by a translator "It has been exhausting cleaning up the boys toys litter the floor on a daily basis. "
Wonderful landing image, can I go and visit there? I didn't think the yellow and purple color scheme would work out (just not my personal choice) but it was clearly legible. You posted some "spot on" links for fantatic sources for business/motivation/entrepreneurship/leadership/change making videos. Although the content was incredible, my only regret after reading was that I didn't get a feel for the author's persona/style.
http://www.integralwebsolutions.co.za/Blog.aspx
Robert, a very technical first feel for the blog landing page. Although there was a lot of going on within the page, I could easily navigate where the blog was after reading the introduction (interesting way to give first time readers a feel for the type of content you have). In the intro you describe well focused programming support, but your latest post is about Susan Boyle and the viral nature of her recent rise into the public eye. Although I enjoyed the post (well written and thought out, and I got a feel for your style as an author), you may consider expanding what you promise in your blog intro. Even though I've got a relatively new blog, I've already come across a similar problem as my posts drift from generic life path/career finding to specific trends within social media and internet programming. My poor man's solution (because I'm writing about what I "need" to write about) has been to broaden the intro at the top of my blog, and try to find threads between the topics I enjoy writing about.
http://www.likeawarmcupofcoffee.blogspot.com/
What a wonderful landing page picture, I immediately felt comfortable with the site, and the page layout wasn't overcrowded. The latest topic, "My Abortion Story" is quite powerful. I got an immediate feel for your writing style, and personality from your post. This helped me connect to your perspective as a reader. A sad and touching story, as a new reader it felt almost like too much information for a first visit, but we write what we need to.
http://confessionsofahousewife.com/
Lovely landing page, and top of the page images and color scheme. Your about page clearly describes your viewpoint, and writing persona, good stuff. Your latest post "All my posts vanished... post count 0" captures a feeling of panic anyone familiar with data file problems has encountered. Wonderful that you found the problem (wp-posts table) and got your blog up and working once again. Your blog appears to be focused on personal anecdotes sharing your feelings of being a housewife and mother, while honestly reviewing products (gotta pay the bills).
@sarahmae,
Thanks you very much. First, Glad to see that there are good christian women taking their family seriously
On your sugestions, adding "Here!" to the heafer, would it then read:
"Get Your Professionally Designed Here!"
On the About US Page, Are you suggestiong I put the Contact us form on the right and the Whoare we, on the left
Thanks
@evelester,
Nice Site. I am not the flowery type so I wont comment on that.
I would like to see your script headings a little larger.
Maybe A little more white space/border around the articles
I would take the pagerank button out of the advertise and PR page
Otherwise very nice.
Way to go on the five second test link lucynixon! I've created my poll would you all take a peek and fill out the five things?
Thanks in advance!
@sarahmae
Nice Site. Like that you have loads of white space.
Your tagline on your banner"a place to surl up and begin your day" I think should be a little brighter. More contrast with the darker background. A little difficult to read.
See if you can switch the Titles of your posts and the date tags around, ie H3 and H2. Currently the date is H2 and the titles are h3. Sifnifying that the dates are more important thatn the titles. But then you will have to play with the styling as well, or your dates will be bigger than your Titles. Although this is not significant, It does Help a little with SEO.
Just my 2 cents worth
Hey guys, can someone take a look at my blog and provide some suggestions. My blog is http://trendycellular.com/blog
thank you in advance for the help!
Sam
TrendyCellular.com - a cell phone resource site (photos, specs, features and news)
@victusfate One thing I would do is to increase the line height a bit. Makes for easier reading
You must log in to post.
