Website Review of: Nothing Of Particular Interest
Getting To Know the website.
What is the purpose of this website?
No real purpose, other than to be a random blog.
Who is the owner of the website?
I searched the website, but I was unable to discover who is the man or women behind this blog. Although I am willing to bet it is a man behind the scenes of the blog. The only sure thing I can say is that the owner of the website is from, Alamosa, CO.
However, after looking at the who is, of the website, I was able to find that the registrant is Kyle Baker, from Alamosa, CO. So in fact the man behind the blog is Kyle Baker, and thats as far as we will know.
It would be nice to have an about page on the Nothing Of Particular Interest website.
Recent Blog Posts
Deal Or No Deal Discrimination? - I actually have never seen, Deal or No Deal, so I cannot comment. Whoever it was that sent the letter, should start their own website, by the words of the reader, I think she could perhaps create a blog, and write about controversies, etc.
These are my gifts, children, to you. Take it. - A link to a youtube video, from youtube comedian AndrewBravener, in the video he talks about how to prevent videos from sucking, and what not to do. He outlines some tips of what not to do on your first video submission to youtube.
Site Review: Designer’s Depot - A very honest review of another blog.
Safety First! - Just another link to a youtube video. Although I believe it is falsely titled 
Gum is the epitome of all that is right with the world. - I suppose after reading this post, I finally get what he means by being random, because certainly the post is very random.
Final Thoughts on Getting to know the website
Unfortunately, I cannot relate to this website. Personally, the content is just way too random for me. I would say though that the content is geared towards younger people. As can be seen by the writings in the Gum is the epitome of all that is right with the world. post.
I will say this though, whenever you link to videos, I think it would be good to add some words to it too. These words can be what your thoughts are on the video, perhaps some extra tips that the videos does not provide. Whatever it is, just provide some text along with the videos. Just the video alone is not good enough. Both your readers and the search engines will prefer some more words from you in the video posts. The post to the video is great for your readers, but not so great for the search engines. Otherwise it is likely that the search engines won’t index the page. In the end though, you should be writing to your readers, and not the search engines, so don’t force yourself to write something that is not natural of you. Just try to keep in mind, that adding a few words might not be a bad idea
Theme / Design Critique
Header
The header image is unique, and speaks its own voice.
Archives Page - When I first arrived on the blog, I wanted to see the history of the posts, but the current setup of the archives page is very vague, and usual of all blogs. I really like the way I have my archive page setup, and I think for you it would be great as well. Especially since your blog is very random. Readers can check out the archive page, very easily, and navigate their way around the archived posts easier.
Pictured below are the settings I am using for the archive plugin, in order to get a clean feel for the page, otherwise the default feels way too spammy.
Sidebar
Not too much going on with the side bar. One thing I would like to note though, is that the sidebar should be organized more. By this, I mean the alignments of the content.
The section of the sidebar that I feel needs the organization work on is the Featured Links section. It is just inconsistent. The Text links are nicely centered, however when you add in the images, they are not so nicely aligned. Although this is not a huge problem, it just has an off feeling to it.
Main Content Area
The title of each posts should be linked to the post. By this I mean… when you first land on the home page, the title of the posts, should be linking to the page of the article. Otherwise, the only way to get to that page is by clicking on the ‘leave comment’ link at the bottom of each post.
On another note, the bottom page of the main content area is missing a previous page button. This means that, when I land on the main page of Nothing Of Particular Interest I am limited to reading the 6 posts on the main page, and I cannot read beyond that, unless I access the archives page. If I were a novice user of the blog platform, it would lead me to think that, there is no more content to be read on the website.
Final Thoughts On Theme Design
Although it is kinda of late to change, the way the permalink structure is setup, the current setup is losing valuable seo. Example… let’s take a look at the Deal Or No Deal Discrimination, post. The destination for it is /index.php?itemid=283#nucleus_cf, now if you had a custom permalink structure, that utilized the title of the post to part of the url address, it would look like this /deal-or-no-deal-discrimination.html which for the search engines would be better, and you would stand a higher chance of getting the post indexed higher. You can change your permalink structure at any time, however due so at your own risk.
Overall the theme, design and look of the blog is good, it is clean and easy to read.
If you liked this review, and you would like me to review your website, then check out my post on how I can write a constructive website review for your website.
Website Review of: Trend Spike
Getting To Know the website.
What is the purpose of this website?
To provide men up to date information in the latest trends in every aspect of a man’s interest.
Who is the owner of the website?
The owner’s name is Jason Bacchetta from Texas, and he is just your average 25 year old male. Jason had previously pursued a career path in Physical therapy, but has recently been considering changing to a firefighting career.
Jason enjoys being the typical male, and so he figures, why not blog about what he is truly passionate about. And that is one of the founding reasons, as to why he started Trend Spike.
Recent Blog Posts
Trend Spike Is Movin’ On Up - Jason talks about the success the blog has seen so far, and believe it or not, there is yet another new theme coming to the website. Personally I think the current theme looks fantastic, and if Jason says the next theme is suppose to be even better, then I can’t wait to see that one.
World Gone Wild - An interesting post about the future of earth’s population with a link to a program to have some fun with.
Are You Sleeping With Lorena Bobbitt? - That website does sound crazy!
World’s Fastest Firefighter - I have seen similar ladder competitions before on youtube once, but never one like this. Let me see if i can find the one I watched….. Oh here it is, http://youtube.com/watch?v=tAzz5GSKPqU , these guys are blazing fast on that ladder!
Who Says You Can’t Splurge? - Jason shares his insights and his beliefs on dieting, eating healthy, and his approach to eating unhealthy foods.
42 Gas Saving Tips - A fantastic article, that should be digged or stumbled. If you read this article, you will pick up at least one great tip, to save on gas. I did stumble it though so, got that done :). Tip number forty one, was the one that I never thought of before, and it makes alot of sense. I wonder how much gas you would save if you filled up from empty to half way, every time at the pump.
World of AddictCraft - 10 Million Lives and Counting - I used to be a heavy gamer myself, but I never did start playing world of warcraft, or should I say Addicraft as Jason suggests. Jason couldn’t be more right though! Blizzard the gaming company that produced world of warcraft, has put out many addicting games in the past, including Diablo 2, Starcraft, to name a few! I guess one of the main reasons why I never personally played world of Warcraft, was because I never wanted to pay monthly to continue playing. Good thing I never did start playing world of warcraft, otherwise I would be just another Addicraft. Still though, I did use to play Diablo 2, a long time ago, when I use to be a hardcore gamer, I would spend most of my summer time playing the game, at times for ever 10-12 hours straight. Thankfully, that is in the past.
Final Thoughts on Getting to know the website
Overall Jason has been providing great content for his users. The content is unique, its his own, and is on target for what he is trying to achieve with his website/blog.
One thing, I did notice though, is that whenever Jason makes reference to a video he found online, like World’s Fastest Firefighter it is just a link to a video, and not much is talked about it. The post to the video is great for your readers, but not so great for the search engines. I would suggest to Jason, for future video posts, for him to share his insight or comments on the video. Otherwise it is likely that the search engines won’t index the page. In the end though, you should be writing to your readers, and not the search engines, so don’t force yourself to write something that is not natural of you. Just try to keep in mind, that adding a few words might not be a bad idea.
Theme / Design Critique
Header
A very clean and attractive header. It really stands out to me as being very unique.
Archives Page - I like the way your current archives page it setup. It’s clean, and easy to navigate. I would suggest one other thing though, one more option for the readers to see for the archives page. Below where you currently have your current archive setup. Why not, have a section like I do on my blog’s archive page. The more options to the readers the better right?
Advertise Page - If I were looking to advertise on your website, it would be a huge turn off, if I did not see information regarding how much Monthly Page Views, Monthly Unique Visitors, and Subscribers your website currently has. Because basically, I would be advertising in the dark.
Sidebar
Poll / POPULAR / COMMENTATORS / Subscribe
I like that you started it off with a Poll in that section. It’s a great way for readers to interact with the website. I already casted my vote, hehe.
Our Flickr Photos - See all photos
Again a great addition to the sidebar, After all everyone loves looking at images!
Final Thoughts on Theme / Design Critique
I think Jason has a real hit here with this website. With a recent post on his website, he is saying that there is a new theme and look that is going to be rolling around for the website. Personally I think this particular design already looks amazing, so I can’t wait to see what Jason rolls out.
There are some people who can write and captivate people on many different subjects. Jason has a great niche here, and if he can be that guy that everyone loves to listen to, then hes going to have a great hit with his website, as he slowly turns people into regular readers of his blog.
Website Review of: Cleveland Ohio Real Estate Blog
Getting To Know the website.
What’s the purpose of this website?
To provide information for any one who is interested in buying, selling, or are interested in the area of real estate in general.
Who is the owner of the website?
Cecilia Sherrard, a full time Realtor with over five years experience in buying, selling and relocation specialist servicing Cuyahoga,
Cecilia takes pride in her customer service, negotiating skills, and her real estate in general. She doesn’t believe that she is just another seller, she does her job to help people achieve the American Dream.
Recent Blog Posts
Get A Grip - Share A Tip - A high quality post, that talks about some of the current issues plaguing the USA economy, the post also provides some very useful tips on how to cut your spending. On a side note, I do agree with the points made on this in regards to the loan problems going on right now in the usa economy.
Cleveland Idol - Auto Show - Great post, about a local event that happened in the Ohio area. Some photos of the event would have spiced the post up, but perhaps there were none allowed to be taken.
Economic Stimulus Package - As you can guess by the title, the post tries to talk about the recent Economic Stimulus package presented by the government as a solution to stimulate growth in the economy. It’s a short post, but if you read it you will understand why its a short post.
Celebrity Housing Problems - I enjoyed this post alot. High quality unique content that is fun tid bits to read. I was surprised to know that Michael Jackson was falling behind in finances, considering his great success in music sales. But then again maybe, he got sued a few too many times
One suggestion though, resize the photos before you upload them. When you resize them on the page, it looks a little funny. Plus if you resize them before hand, they quality of the photo increases, plus the load time of the web site decreases too! So its a win win situation.
Rocky River Videos - Nice post, this was something I was looking for on the blog, its a small promotion for the area of Rocky river, a very professionally done video, that talks bout some of the history of the town, and cool hang out spots, and why a buyer in general would want to live in the area.
We Didn’t Make The Cut - This is such a great post that, it should have been digged! Well, it wasn’t digged, but hey I stumbled it! If you had just one choice to choose out of these 6 posts to read, it would have to be between this one, and the celebrity housing problems post!
I am surprised that no city in New York has made it on a top list, and then California took 3 of the top 10 spots. Still though, It wouldn’t surprise me if, New York does make it to the list. Personally I am hoping New York doesn’t get hit hard like California has.
Final Thoughts on Getting to know the website
Overall I thought the web site content was top notch, very high quality and relevant content to the web site.
One thing though, I found it hard to find a history of the posts, I wanted to see a history of the posts, and wanted to familiarize myself more with the blog. But there was no easy way for me to do that. I would highly recommend adding an archive page to the web site. Similar to the one I am running here at my web site http://www.jeancosta.com/archives.
Pictured below are the settings I am using for the archive plugin, in order to get a clean feel for the page, otherwise the default feels way too spammy.
Theme / Design Critique
Header
Very clean header, it fits perfect for the real estate theme, you can’t go wrong with this one.
I know sometimes when I visit business web sites, at times it can be hard to find the phone number to get in contact with the company, but this web site, makes it so easy for me to contact them. The header even has pictures of some of the workers and you are able to click on the image, and read more about the real estate agents.
Sidebar
Latest Blog Posts - I like this, its a good way to allow the users to easily scope out the posts. The position of the latest blog posts, is positioned fine where it is.
Subscribe To This Blog - I would suggest to Cecilia to put the rss feed subscribe box above the Latest Blog posts. I think there should be a little bit more emphasis on this, and where it is currently located it doesn’t stand out at all, and the subscribe rate is probably low.
Find Your Perfect Home - For someone looking to buy a home, and do some research, this is a fantastic feature. One suggestion, although not highly necessary to change, but it would help if the width was 2-5 pixels more on the right side, of the left side bar. Why? Because it will just make it slightly better looking aesthetically speaking. Is it going to hurt the web site if the change is not made? No, but it doesn’t hurt to make an extra touch up here or there.
Final Thoughts On Theme Design
Overall, I am quite pleased with the design, you can tell that Cecilia has put alot of time and effort into the web site.
If you liked this review, and you would like me to review your web site, then check out my post on how I can write a constructive website review on your web site.
Website Review of: Imp Nerd
Getting To Know the website.
What’s the purpose of this website?
To provide it’s readers the latest developments in internet marketing and to learn about new technologies, and web development.
Who is the owner of the website?
Although, you won’t be able to find the owner of the website listed on impnerd.com, the website is actually owned by Gary R. Hess. Gary has developed, designed, and written several websites. Gary has been a web developer since early 2003. He runs his blog to share his knowledge to others.
Recent Blog Posts
Old Stuff, New Stuff, Internet Stuff - I guess myself and Gary of Imp Nerd have something in common, where Thursday is “link love” in each of our own respective blogs. The difference between mine and his, is that my link love comes by way of reviews of websites. His link love, is linking to useful blog posts, that he finds around the internet. This concept is great, Gary has done all the hard work, and is saving his readers the time, and effort by linking them to the real meat, the really useful content! He also takes the time to give you a glimpse of each article, saving the readers even more time, to decide whether or not they should take their valued time to read the rest of the article.
On a personal side note to Gary, I would say to try and limit the number of links per Thursday link love. That way, its consistent every week, and plus, that allows him to build, save and have a backlog of good article links to share with his readership base. Additionally, by limiting the number of links posted, it will decrease his chances of having, the well of links from eventually drying out, so to speak.
Much like the stock market, some weeks the overall market is up, and some weeks it is down. It’s the same for the content around the web. Some weeks, there might not be as many links to share, while other weeks, the links may be abundant, by limiting it, it also allows for there to be a more stabalized balance, when there may not be many good recently written articles to share.
How to Think of a Blog Post - This blog post, is something many bloggers and webmasters can relate to. Most of us, in the end are in the field of content creation. We constantly try to come up with what to write about next, and creating that new blog post entry that will be enjoyed by the readers. At times it just flows out of us naturally, and at times, it can be downright hard!
I liked the post title, but I felt a little robbed, only 260 words in the post, I was hoping to read more! 
A great topic though!
Digging Deeper into the AdSense Heat Map - I liked this post, its funny the more I read imp nerd’s blog the more I can relate myself to it, since I too am a webmaster. Anyways, this post offers photos, and insights on different adsense ad placement positions. A good read!
5 Green Products to Look Forward to in 2008 - This one was a little different from the other posts, a Comical post, none the less it made me laugh a few times!
The Past, Present and Future of Entrecard - Gary has been with entrecard, since shortly after it’s inception, and he is able to share his insights on how the entrecard system is working. He addresses some of the key issues that have been raised by the complainers, and gives his two cents on it. He also offers his insights on the potential future of entrecard.
Final Thoughts on Getting to know the website
Overall Gary has done a nice job, detailed information, with pictures. No real complaints, except for the “how to think of a blog post” that lacked content in my opinion, the post could have used a little bit more meat.
Theme / Design Critique
Header
Overall the header is good, I can see that Gary is trying to brand his Imp nerd logo. Actually it’s interesting to note that the IMP stands for Internet Marketing Publishing, pretty cool!
Sidebar
Rss Feeds
A nice clean approach to the RSS subscribers. I like the approach of allowing readers to enter their email addresses. I would perhaps change the title to “Subscriber to my blog” as to opposed to just “Subscribe”. It gives it a little bit more flavor.
Top Commentators
I would suggest to Gary to experiment and try out the top commentators plugin. As a way to try and increase the number of comments on blog posts. Theres room for it in the current blog sidebar, so why not?
Final Thoughts On Theme Design
The blog designed looks great, very clean and professional feel.
It’s all on preference, but personally I prefer a center aligned website. To me, it feels strange reading a left aligned website. When I am sitting down, I am looking “straight” and into the center. A left aligned blog, means I have to turn to the left, and my eyes go to the left. Depending on the website, it can be a discomfort, and a centered website, would be better in my opinion.
On another note, being a first time visitor to the website, I wanted to see a history of the posts, and wanted to familiarize myself more with the blog. But there was no easy way for me to do that. I would highly recommend adding an archive page to the website. Similar to the one I am running here at my website http://www.jeancosta.com/archives.
Pictured below are the settings I am using for the archive plugin, in order to get a clean feel for the page, otherwise the default feels way too spammy.
If you liked this review, and you would like me to review your website, then check out my post on how I can write a constructive website review on your website.
As with tradition of the JeanCosta.com blog, Thursday’s is Review Thursdays. If you want me to review your website, then read the post on how you can get a free constructive website review.
Website Review of: http://www.antibarbie.net/
Getting To Know the website.
What’s the purpose of this website?
To entertain readers.
Who is the owner of the website?
Dawn, a thirty year old mother of two little girls. Who’s occupation as she calls it, a tech slave. You can read more about Dawn, by checking out her about page.
Recent Blog Posts
Happy Valentine’s Day! - A really short post, 59 words to be exact. But with 9 comments so far. It’s nice to see that even though it is Valentine’s day, Dawn stays true to her beliefs, as the “anti barbie”. However, I think Dawn could have made a few more words out of the post. Perhaps she could have written about her personal experiences from Valentine’s day. What she was planning on doing for Valentine’s day, etc.
Short Story - Fresh Meat - A nice long post, a story coming straight from the minds of Dawn, the anti Barbie herself!
Poetry - The Winner - A nice poem! At first by reading the title, I thought someone had won a poem contest, but then after reading the post, I found out that the poem was actually called The winner.
My whole family is sick! - It’s always a bad thing when people get sick, and I hope the anti Barbie Dawn, and her family have recovered from their sickness, and that all is well. But similar to the Happy Valentine’s day post, this post had so much potential, but yet was cut short. In the end, the more content you write, the happier the search engines are, and the happier your readers, so its a win-win situation. People love reading personal stories, and I think, Dawn could have went into more details with this one.
QOTW - What Should Your Superpower Be? -A nice little post as part of the Question Of the week, however like most of the other posts above that I addressed, the lack of writing is evident. A count of only 96 personal words.
Final Thoughts on Getting to know the website
Try to put an emphasis on avoiding short blog posts, and to try to think of ways to increase the word count on short blog posts. More times than not, there is always something to talk about. Similar to what I referenced to in some of the posts. And in the end, longer posts suggests to me and others as well, that the owner of the blog or website is really trying hard, giving it their all, going above and beyond!
Theme / Design Critique
Header
The header is not too bad, I like the image of the women, it fits the theme of “anti” Barbie. The only thing I do not like is the font style being used. To me, it feels rather hard to read. For some of the words, it takes me a few seconds more to read what it says. Especially with the changing of colors.
Sidebar
Rss Feeds
A nice big custom made RSS feed button. Which is great for those that know how RSS feeds work, and how powerful they can be. But bad for those who have no clue what RSS feeds are. I would recommend to Dawn, to rework the RSS feed area. Make it easier for those who have no clue about RSS feeds, to sign up to an RSS feed via email.
Top Commentators
It’s great to see dawn using the top commentators plugin. It’s a great way to give back to the commentators, who take their time to leave a well valued comment. She currently has the limit set to the top 5 commentators, and as of right now the top commentator has a total of 13 comments!
Site Meter
From the looks of it, Dawn is using Sitemeter to track her website stats. I haven’t used sitemeter, but by the looks of it, it leaves a nice graphic button on her sidebar, promoting sitemeter. I would suggest to Dawn, to experiment, and try out Google Analytics.
Here is a link to what you can see if you are using Google Analytics, and much more beyond this image!
3D AntiBarbie Avatar
I clicked on the image, so I could visit the website it was linking to, however, as soon as I did, my Firefox browser crashed! This was bad for me, as I lost some of the writing that I am writing right now for this review. Luckily I was able to recover most of what I had typed, but still I lost some of the writing 
Final Thoughts On Theme Design
The biggest thing, is try to look over the rss feeds, and try to make it easier for all users to be able to subscribe to your website.
Being a first time visitor to the website, I wanted to see a history of the posts, and wanted to familiarize myself more with the blog. But there was no easy way for me to do that. I would highly recommend adding an archive page to the website. Similar to the one I am running here at my website http://www.jeancosta.com/archives.
Website Monetization
Currently I do not see the website being monetized, which is not a bad thing. It means that Dawn, values her readers, and puts an emphasis on pleasing it’s readers, before cashing in on the website. I hope Dawn continues on this path, and does not try to monetize too early on. If her blog is getting bigger and bigger, I would then slowly begin monetizing it. If and when Dawn does, start monetizing her blog, I would recommend her not try Google adsense. Because for personal blogs like these, the amount of revenue earned with Google adsense is quite low. She could earn alot more via private advertisement on her website, than using Google adsense.
« Previous Entries Next Entries »
Subscribe to my RSS Feed
