Note: This article is video-intensive. For the full effect, click here to continue reading and watching.
Yes, watching.
Four months ago, I asked you to volunteer your websites and blogs for a candid critique of its content, layout, and other criteria.
There is no better time than the present to share my thoughts. I decided to devote each website to a different video segment, all of which I recorded earlier today. To the 16 people who asked for my thoughts — and to everyone else who is curious what I am about to say in response — here is a little introduction:
By scrolling below and viewing the short videos I created, you can watch and listen to my critiques. My thanks to the developers of Screenr for creating such a cool application. I hope you enjoy these. If inspired to add any comments below, the floor is yours!
1. Critique for Ricky of Genius Geeks:
2. Critique for Arafat Hossain Piyada of Worthy Tips:
3. Critique for Marko Saric of How To Make My Blog:
4. Critique for Liz Hover of Diary of a Web Gal:
5. Critique for Carlos Velez of Conscious Me:
6. Critique for Glen of Happy and Blue 2:
7. Critique for Jon Buscall of his website:
8. Critique for Lunaticg of Lunaticg Banknote and Coin:
9. Critique for Chris McGill of his blog:
10. Critique for David Bradley of ScienceText:
11. Critique for John Haydon of his blog:
12. Critique for Dennis Edell of his blog:
13. Critique for Kirst of Home Carpet Cleaner:
14. Critique for Meka of Online Money Buzz:
15. Critique for Mason Taylor of a’tris‘ blog:
16. Critique for Udegbunam Chukwudi of StrictlyOnlineBiz.com:
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Thanks Ari, I read a long time ago that it’s a good idea to watch someone explore your website who is unfamiliar with it because it can really help you see what’s well put together and what isn’t. Of course, I never actually did it. This was really helpful to show me what kind of stuff I’m taking for granted that my visitors and readers will know and understand.
From this video I’ve determined that I need to work on:
-My About page. Needs to be one page with solid info about who I am and what the point of my blog is, and also introduce my projects.
-Need to update my “Goals” page. Also needs to be one page.
-Introducing the Pre-Writing Challenge project I am working on so it does not appear to be random information on a personal development blog. (I am developing pre-writing.com, but it is still an issue)
Thanks a lot for doing this Ari. I knew I needed to do some of that, but I did not realize just how ineffective those pages were and how badly it needed done. I’ve been putting this stuff off. This video was really helpful!
.-= From Carlos Velez @ Personal Development Journey to you: Sunday Short: Commit to a Lifetime of Experiences =-.
Glad to help.
Many, many thanks Ari! I’m fixing some of the technical points you raised and musing on the more philosophical aspects, like what on earth the “Geeky” section means and why I don’t get many comments…
Thanks again
Yeah, I didn’t understand the “Geeky” navigational link. I still don’t. What is it?
Thank you so much Ari! Really appreciate this. I agree about the site needing a video. It’s only a podcast there on the speaking page right now. I hope someone films me in Oslo in June.
I do include vlogs and podcasts from time to time so I hope that gives a sense of my personality.
Yes, the dog is mine. It’s Aggie and I have four bassets. Hence the Guarded by Basset Hounds.
Great comments on my sidebar. Will have a look and tweak those.
Again, very many thanks.
You bet. Say hi to Aggie.
Ari, I have bookmarked the page so that I can watch all the 16 of them leisurely. What I understand from these videos is that there are plenty of technical tweaks to be done on my business website. I am also sharing this with my web guy who takes care of all those stuff for me. Thanks for the issues and flags you have raised. Blogs like yours helps novice like us to have a better online presence.
I totally agree.
Umm…sure… but I didn’t review your site above. At least not the one linked to your name here!
Thanks Ari for this very interesting review and probably first time someone review my site. I hope many people do that in future. Yeah! I write lot of content in single day. That just because it’s a tech blog and I want to keep both regular reader and search engine happy. Though my overall blog age is nearly 2 years but worthytips.com is a new domain and I have to gain search engines trust. Will try to write less article and concentrate on more promotion in future as you advised. Thanks again.
.-= From Arafat Hossain Piyada to you: How to lock desktop without effecting running process? =-.
Perhaps you should ask people. Else, you’ll never know!
Hey Ari,
Thanks again for taking the time to review our blog! You have a really great point about simplifying the subscription options. I’m looking forward to seeing how I could it easier for readers to subscribe. I also really like your idea about finding a way to introduce people to a’tris and what we’re doing inside of our articles. We use Wordpress.com and I haven’t found a way to make our sidebar constantly visible. Maybe just a quick blurb at the top would suffice. You’re totally right about people stumbling across the blog through web searches. I continue to get a silly number of hits for a recipe I shared months ago for kicks. How funny is that?
Thanks again for your time! I look forward to sharing your review with our readers and getting their thoughts as well.
Hope this finds you feeling healthy!
-Mason
What was the recipe about?
Thanks for sharing.
Twitter: udegbunamchuks
May 18, 2010 at 1:43 PM
MUCHAS GRACIAS for the review. I’ve always thought that I maybe had quite a lot of info in my navigation area but I just didn’t want to leave any empty space up there. I’ll be looking @ finding a way to fix this for sure. So help me God.
P.S: My name is quite a mouthful and you can just call me Emmanuel or Chewie. lmao. Thanks once again.
.-= From Udegbunam Chukwudi | StrictlyOnlineBiz to you: Quick Note On Payoneer Billing Address Issues =-.
Perhaps I’m biased as my navigational bar is gone and my sidebar is cleaned up, as I try to employ more white space. Nothing wrong with space.
Ari – Awesome review! Thanks. You had me laughing my ass off when you said “What does G stand for?”
You made my day. Now I feel like I’m doing it right.
Take care and don’t get arrested!
John
.-= From John Haydon to you: How to search Facebook status updates (video) =-.
Glad I made you laugh…though I was sincere.
Twitter: kikolani
May 18, 2010 at 2:38 PM
This sounds like a great idea for a series… maybe do a critique once a week. I’ll have to wait till I get home where I have headphones, but I’m looking forward to what you say on a few blogs that use Thesis.
.-= From Kristi@Blogging Tips to you: Manage Your Contacts Easily with WordPress-to-Lead for Salesforce CRM =-.
Oh, I wasn’t even looking at the type of blog or skin it used. But, yeah, a series could work. Maybe a video to add to your Fetching Friday column.
Twitter: kikolani
May 19, 2010 at 4:10 PM
Quite possibly.
.-= From Kristi@Blogging Tips to you: Manage Your Contacts Easily with WordPress-to-Lead for Salesforce CRM =-.
Now I’m gonna have to plug in them new speakers! LOL
I don’t even remember this, should I be nervous?
.-= From Dennis Edell @ Direct Sales Marketing to you: 10 Social Share Sites Chosen – Do You Agree? =-.
Twitter: udegbunamchuks
May 19, 2010 at 10:42 AM
Oh yeah you ought to be nervous. The critiques are blawdy harsh!
LOL. Just kidding
.-= From Udegbunam Chukwudi | StrictlyOnlineBiz to you: Netfirms $3.99 Domain Names Limited Time Offer =-.
Don’t listen to Chewie, Dennis.
I wasn’t planning too. lol
.-= From Dennis Edell @ Direct Sales Marketing to you: Aweber Affiliate Link Contest! – This Is It!! =-.
Jalapeno poppers. Go figure. It’s kind of humorous that people continue to discover our blog because of this recipe. If you like spicy food though and have an hour to spare, I’d highly recommend checking it out. It is pretty fantastic
Very good advice, thanks allot!
Will you be doing this again, as I would love you to do this for my blog (http://www.technology.christopher-roberts.co.uk/).
Thanks very much!
.-= From Christopher Roberts to you: New Technology Blog Domain Name – 24th March 2010 =-.
Wow. First of all thanks a lot for taking the time to analyze my blog. It is really helpful. I downloaded the video to see what I am lacking and what I am good at. I will get back to you soon if I need any help or advice from you.
.-= From Ricky to you: Google TV Is Here: Runs On Andorid And Flash =-.
Hello Ari,
I just checked the video. It looks like you like the content of my website. You were confused with the date of first post. It is a sticky post which drives me lot of traffic (and commission too
). BTW I am still trying to improve the design. I will be up with the new theme soon.
.-= From Ricky to you: Google TV Is Here: Runs On Andorid And Flash =-.
Twitter: udegbunamchuks
May 22, 2010 at 1:02 PM
As you advised, I’ve revamped my navigation system. Fingers crossed I hope it looks better now
.-= From Udegbunam Chukwudi | StrictlyOnlineBiz to you: Domain Name Extensions .com & .net Get Price Hike =-.
Thanks for this gr8 collection..
Appreciate your efforts in putting this together.
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