Blog Feedback Post #5

This is a “blog feedback” post. To learn more about my blog feedback category, please visit the Blog Feedback section. Below are a few reviews of other blogs. I would like to thank the blog owners for submitting their blogs for reviews.

Blog #1
Coffee With Allan Cockerill
http://allancockerill.com/

First Impressions: Hello Allan! Your picture is everywhere! I understand why you have a picture in the header, but does it also have to be repeated in each post, and in the about page? Maybe you could put a new picture in the about page so your users don’t get bored of seeing only the one view of you, and remove the every-post picture.

My eye was immediately drawn to… the Australian flag? and the date of Australia Day? I wonder why that is there… huh, clicking it doesn’t help out, maybe there is something in the about section … nope. I am a bit baffled by the appearance of the Australian flag, do you live there? Maybe make a mention of this in your about section. You might want to find a better way to portray your blog in the header, maybe a stylish cup of coffee?

Aesthetics: A very simple theme, it works, but it’s not impressive. A more stylish header would do wonders for the look of the entire theme.

Your two sidebars are a bit cluttered with unnecessary items - cutting down on clutter helps the user find value in your sidebars, and keeps them from distracting from the content. I would suggest removing the large “Affiliate Commando” banner that links to a non-existent URL, the “Meta” section, maybe some of the social networking links, and maybe the profile picture of the woman near the top (which links to a blog about stumble upon?).

If it’s possible, it would be great for you to work a few colors that compliment the blue into your template somewhere - as it is, it’s just a bit too boring in the color department.

Content: I don’t have many suggestions for your content - this seems to be a good mix of personal blogging with some of your hobbies and interests thrown in for good measure. I am not sure what audience you are targeting, but you seem to know what you want to write about. You write well and concisely, keep it up!

Overall: Allan, yours seems to be a pretty solid blog with a defined direction - all it might need is a bit of sprucing up, and a little bit more explanation about the contents of the header, or a new header. I imagine you could take it in many different directions, so keep up the good work.

Blog #2
HiTech Dads
http://www.hitechdads.com/

First Impressions: Nice tag-line, it explains a lot about this blog right up front. You have a few weird color combinations going on here that I notice right away, but more on that later. It’s a little odd that your “About Us” button is above the header - I didn’t see it for quite a while. You could use a header to spice up your first impression.

Aesthetics: Your theme seems to be blue-based, which makes the red text of the sidebar stand out a lot - it’s not necessarily bad, red and blue can work together, but you might want to work it in subtly a few other places as well, so it’s not so obvious that only the text is red.

Also, with a blue/red combo your black and white adsense ads are even more distracting than the red, because they don’t match the theme (that goes for the RSS button as well). I know that some people suggest having a lot of contrast for your ad units, in order to draw attention to them, but in my opinion blending always works better, and lends itself to a better visual experience for your users as well. Consider switching them to a better matching color palette.

I like the fact that your sidebars aren’t cluttered, but they do seem too compact - there is little to no space between any of the separate entities or widgets, making the sidebars have a bit of a crammed feel. Maybe you would benefit from a theme that has only one sidebar, or instead of two sidebars next to each other, one on each side of the content.

Three posts on the front page seems almost too short, you might want to consider lengthening post count to at least 5, so that people have a better chance of getting involved in your content before deciding to head to the next page.

Content: You have done a wonderful job of writing to your niche, and it seems you have found a niche that you are able to write about consistently, so you are in a good place. Some of your posts are off topic, but that seems to work with the relaxed feel of your blog, and I doubt your audience is looking for strict hitech content, so I think you are safe.

A bit more visual variety would do a lot for your posts, so I would suggest if you have a digital camera, try and spice things up with a few home-shot pics.

I like the multi-dad writer idea, I think it adds variety to the writing, and it give you more content - keep it up.

Overall: A good niche with good posts, definitely on the right track - you could use a bit of visual help, to keep readers on the site, and it wouldn’t hurt to have a header image (I have to suggest that every time, don’t I?) - keep hitech blogging!

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