Hey DPers! I am so excited about the new look of my blog. A little background: I've been marketing my blog for the last couple of weeks pretty heavily. I had a jump in my traffic and I was really excited to see the work paying off. During that time, I was rocking blogger with a canned template. I had quite a few widgets that made it look pretty cool, but it was just missing that custom edge. I priced layouts at Unique Blog Designs (They did Shoemoney.com and JohnChow.com). Their prices aren't that bad and they have free setup, etc. The thing was that it would require a move to WordPress, and I researched that and just couldn't see a feasible way of making the switch with my limited skills and budget. So...today, quite by accident, I found a template that I liked and just gave it a try. I had to put a lot of my widgets back in, but it wasn't too big of a deal. The site still had this huge black space at the top for a header, so I came home and tried my hand at throwing something together. I am really pleased with the result. This overhaul set me back exactly $0. Please tell me what you think honestly. Thanks for reading!!!
Hi I've had a quick look and in my view the site name on the header is spoiling it. It could do with being re-designed and made slicker. The backgrounds ok, just the text. Maybe add on that header what your sites about, as some people can't be bothered to look. The content beneath the "Sponsors" heading looks a little hit and miss and untidy. The posts you've got on your site I found interesting, so others will too. Best of luck with it.
I updated it...I'm not sure if I pinpointed what you guys were trying to say, but I like it better since I took a little more time with it. The ads were an easy fix...just had to change one color code in each. Thanks again.
Design is allright - what is the purpose for the blog? It seems like it is purely set up for site reviews that link back to the reviewed site.
The blog is about internet marketing...and an amateur's journey on learning to make money online. I have done a lot of reviews recently, but the sites I've reviewed aren't crap. I also review tools and other resources...and interlace that with posts about what I am learning personally. All of my reviews are either sites that I use personally, or sites from friends here at DP. I do use backlinks...especially if I charge someone for a review on my blog...it's only right that they should get something from it as well. I think my design is kickass compared to what I had just a few days ago: - no custom header...or header of any kind for that matter - a standard Blogger template - 2 columns - no affiliate linkage Small steps...and ones that are improvements are all I'm striving for here. I am a writer by profession...my content is quality and original. I'm happy with it.
a) Not sure if that's WordPress, but it doesn't look (or feel) like it. Get onto WordPress, and choose a sexier theme. Let me know if you want recommendations b) Get a favicon. Read the third last post on my site for details how c) Change the page title - waxingpoetic75 to Make Money Online, Blogging Tips or whatnot d) Remove the vast array of feed options (Blog Hub, LS Blogs, Blog Ranking etc)... way too confusing. e) Remove the ads. Not good for something just starting up; wait a couple weeks f) Replace BloggerSwap with Entrecard g) Something wrong with your comments box - doesn't show in Firefox. Same for the subscribe via email and latest comments. Other than that, I like the content - especially the reviews . Good luck, hope I helped
Dude...those are the directories I submitted to. I will put them someplace else though...if everyone thinks they are feeds, that would be a problem. Thanks for the awesome tips! I am terribly intimidated by WordPress. I do have a free account, and I import my posts from Blogger to it just in case one of those random deletions happens to me. I like my new theme, but it seems the general opinion is "get a new one", and since I'm trying to get readers and it needs to appeal to them...well, I will have to work on it. Page topper is not a problem...I can fix that. Whew...blogging is freaking complicated, and it's evidently not all about content. It's just a huge work in progress. Anyway...thanks again for the tips. They are much appreciated.
I actually re-titled them...hope this is less confusing. This blog is actually a year and a half old. I just recently started actually developing and marketing it.
It's a blog. It does what it does. I don't really understand the confusion. I've moved the Navigation and Categories up closer to the top of the sidebar, so you can clearly see what's been written about. I admit there a few random categories like Autism and Las Vegas. I live in Las Vegas and advocate Autism Awareness. Out of the website reviews that I've done, only a few of them were sponsored. The others are sites with tools that I found useful as a blogger and webmaster. The site is still very much a work in progress...so I am hoping the internet marketing makes it way to the forefront and readers find the information useful.
Can you guys tell me what's wrong with my design? I've had it less than a week. I made the pagetop myself...it's custom. I love the layout...it's so much better than the canned template Dots crap I had before, so it looks great to me, but I can see the larger picture. Help. Thanks for the feedback.