The Blog Review Connection

[Michele Martin]

I know that a lot of members of the community would love to get feedback on their blogs. I also know that a lot of people here would be willing to give that feedback. I'm setting up this forum to help people connect with one another specifically for a blog audit/review session.

If you're interested in offering your services as a blog reviewer, I'm going to suggest that you leave your name and an email link, along with the time period for when you're willing to do a review.

If you want someone to review your blog, leave your name, a link to your blog and the time frame for doing the review.

Hopefully we can start facilitating the connection process this way.

[Luke]

Okay, I'll be the first then.

I've been personal blogging for years, and gone from blog to blog every now and then.

I guess my current blog is slightly personal, and slightly educational - tough to say. I've never had a lot of readers, only ever friends.

I've joined BBB in an effort to attract new readers. My blog is basically fine-tuned to the way I like it, but might not necessarily be what everyone else likes.

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So anyway, I'll cut to the chase and link: Luke Carbis : It's more complicated than 42.

Please let me know what you think. Thanks!

P.S: Starting the 31 day challenge today.

[Claudia]

Hey Luke,
I'd be glad to look at your blog. I promise I'll look at it over the next few days and get back to you.
Take care,
ClaudiaE

[Luke]

Thanks Claudia!

[Claudia]

Hey Luke,
I'm sorry I'm so slow in getting back to you. I have about 2 free minutes a day to do this. But, I did look at your blog yesterday. I thought it was interesting. I really like your tone of quiet observation. My favorite posts were when you were telling a story--like the time you saw the orange spot on the mountain and then climbed up to find out what it was. Also, the more recent story about having dinner with your friends was good. The more religious pieces have a lot of good information, but they don't seem to fit with the tone of the rest of your blog. You might want to think about putting those in a separate blog more geared to an audience that wants to do religious study. Then focus this blog on the quirky things that happen in your life.

The original 31 Day Challenge assignment had certain questions to answer about what the person did/saw, so here are my answers:
1. How do they navigate?--I found your site easy to navigate. I'd never seen the top-down format like you have. I really like it! It kept me focused on your posts, and then I just scrolled down when I wanted to navigate. I found the site easy to navigate.

2. Where do they click?--When I first came into your site, I have to admit that I was a bit disoriented because the navigation was different from what I'm used to (I think most of the blogs I look at have the 2- or 3-column format). But it only took a minute to get used to it. The first thing I did was click on the Old Testament article on the left-hand side of the page to finish reading that article. When I was done with that, I returned to the Home page, clicked the right-hand article to read about adding the fave icons. Then I scrolled down and just started clicking interesting titles. One thing that I have learned is that an interesting title is key to getting clicks. Until last week, the entry with the most clicks on my blog was: When Skiing Trumps Blogging. There was basically no content there, but I think people saw the title and wanted to find out more.

3. What do you pause to read? As I mentioned above, I tended to read the articles that had the most interesting titles. Same with the categories. I clicked on Weird because that sounded most interesting to me. Also, as I said above, I just LOVED the story about climbing the mountain to find out what the orange spot was. Unfortunately, I couldn't see the photos--just had broken image pictures. But the story was so compelling I was scrolling like a madwoman.

4. What were their first impressions? The text is pretty small, and having the two articles side-by-side like that made the page looked a bit cluttered. But once I figured out where the navigation was, I was fine. Also, as I mentioned above, because the navigation is different from what I'm used to, I was a bit disoriented at first, but not for long.

5. What did they first think your blog was about when they arrived at it? Well, your tag line kind of summed it up. I can't remember what it is right now, but I remember something about God, life, and the universe. I thought you were pondering some of the big questions.

6. Did they find it easy to read/navigate/understand?--Yes, overall. I really like the top-down navigation. Once I figured out where the navigation was, I was glad to have it out of the way until I scrolled to it.

7. What did they "feel" when they first arrived at your blog?--As mentioned above, a bit disoriented at first. But after that, interested.

8. What suggestions do they have on how you could improve your blog?--Put the detailed posts on religious scripture on a separate blog. Keep this one devoted to your quiet and insightful commentary on the nature of life and the universe. You had a good post in there about creating a good blog. Follow that advice and you'll do great.

9. What questions do they have having surfed your blog?--What are your plans for the future of your blog?

10. What words would they use to describe the design?--Clean and neat. I read one of your blog posts where you talked about experimenting with color. If that doesn't suit you, I don't think you need to do it. You use photos frequently--that's enough color. I actually really started liking your "minimalist" design. I think it helps focus people on the content.

11. What are the main things they remember about your blog 10 minutes later?--OK, it's about 24 hours later. I really liked the way you had different photos of yourself randomly display on each page. I would love to learn how to do that. It really helped me get to know you. It was nice seeing you in so many different situations and so many poses. I like the way you write. As you said in one post, you have a quiet tone, but that's OK with me. I found the quiet tone of sincere inquiry very compelling. I also remember that you went to Bali--how cool is that! And you did a lot of shopping there. And as I've said about 300 times now, I just loved the story about climbing the mountain. I love the title of your blog. If I didn't know about you and your blog and just happened to see the title listed somewhere, I would definitely click the link to find out more about it.

I hope this helps. Please let me know if you have any questions.

[Luke]

Hi Claudia,

I'm going to get that Orange Adventure post working again today, so check back soon, if you like.

I really enjoyed your review. I think you're right about the religious stuff, and I know I shouldn't put it there but it's hard for me to let go of it, as it is just the book that my Nonno (grandfather) was writing before he passed away and he never got a chance to publish it. Maybe a new blog is what is needed.

The future of my blog is basically the same, but more of a focus on what you said: personal stories and an insight into life, the universe and everything. I also like throwing a tech or blog related post in there. Like my latest one: How often should you blog?

Thanks again!

[Claudia]

I don't think you have to let go of the religious stuff, but it seems like it might work better on a separate blog. It's actually very interesting.

I will check out your post on How often should you blog? I don't know what happened to this week, but I haven't published a thing! I did write up a bunch of drafts, so hopefully that bodes well for next week.

[Luke]

Okay. Just updated Orange Adventure for everyone. I'm glad you like it. You can see the pictures now.

[Claudia]

LOVE the pics! Even better! Especially the wallaby!

Where do you live?

[Luke]

Sunshine Coast, Australia.

Map Here

It's wonderful here.

[Christine Martell]

Here you are Luke. Hope you find something of value in it.
http://www.screencast.com/t/q1nPAhFCkll

Good luck with the challenge.

[Luke]

AHAHA!

I just love it when people don't get my sense of humour.

Thanks for this review, I will definately take some of what you said on board. I think I will change monthly archives to categories, and maybe add a small 'about' kinda link just under the title.

Thanks again for the review, very entertaining.

[Christine Martell]

Well, lots of humor is very culture specific.... my business partner moved from the East Coast of the US to the West. He has a very dry sense of humor, almost British. No one gets his jokes here. So that may be some of what you are seeing. It's particularly tricky when we all speak English.....yet culturally we are very different. Might be something to consider if you go after a global audience. Might also just be because of the generational differences?