Blog Review
First Impressions
Your blog is very dark, which for me who is reading it on a laptop makes the overall viewing quite difficult. There is a lot going on when I first arrive at the page and there is nothing for my eye to concentrate on. I am bouncing between the top menu, the right side images and the huge ad in the middle of the page. The first area feels loaded with ads, which really doesn’t give that great first impression I am looking for.
The header area is very small and had it not been for the domain name I wouldn’t of known what your blog is actually about. I really feel the title needs to stand out more, a proper logo never hurts. The menu at the top contains many tabs which are obviously different categories, these however don’t tell me much as I am not a gamer myself. Had it not been for your domain name I would of thought your site was about college as that is what the huge advert is telling me. You have given up the most important space on your website for an advert, I hope it’s a very well paid one. The area where the ad is should be used for a featured image or something that is at least related to your site. Many kids play games like battlefield and somehow I don’t feel all of them are at the age where that sort of advert is suitable for them.
(Score: 13/20)
Appearance
As I already mentioned your blog is very dark which I can in some ways understand due to it being a gamin blog. I would like to see a bit more colour or at least shades of grey though. Design wise the theme is completely ok, but I believe you could have a lot more detail on your theme. The top menu is a good example of this. You have boxes around each menu item which brings the buttons out too much from the design and makes them look out of place. A coloured box when hovered over is completely understandable but I don’t feel you need a box of any sort otherwise.
The right sidebar looks very old style coding, HTML like. This is something that appears over the whole blog. I feel a theme that is a lot more Web 2.0 would work better as this would reflect the style and feel of the battlefield games more. Look into using more images from the games to create backgrounds and small icons. With a theme like a game you are supplied with a large amount of content to use when creating your design, it is a real shame that you don’t make better use of the opportunity.
The post system feels a bit odd with a solid grey box inside a solid darker grey box. The inside box isn’t properly aligned either. This is another detail reflected in what I mentioned in the above paragraph. Overall the design has some key styles and elements that work well but I do feel that it needs an update.
(Score: 14/20)
Content
Many of your posts are very short and the content in them consists mostly of quoted information and images. After reading around 12 articles I was no more knowledgeable about the games than before I arrived at your blog. As so much of the information on your blog is taken from other sites I don’t see what it is that makes your blog unique and makes me want to read your blog instead of another battlefield blog.
Your articles are pretty well written with good grammar and spelling. You have a writing style which is very easy to distinguish and is well adapted to your target audience. Writing a blog takes a lot of time and research, something I feel you need to put more time into. Take a couple of hours to research and aim for at least 500 of your own words for each article. This gives your visitors some content to read that they won’t find anywhere else and will keep them coming back. It will also help to generate more discussion on your blog.
(Score: 24/40)
Comments
I was unable to locate any comments on any of the posts on your index, this isn’t a very good sign. To me it looks like you don’t have many readers on your blog. I believe this can be fixed with the pointers given above.
(Score: 0/20)
Total Score
51/100
Final Remarks
I can see that you love the game and this is something you really want to write about. However, I do feel you haven’t put the effort and skill that I know you can put into this. It is a common problem that many blog writers face, they don’t realize how much work and commitment is actually required. Have a fresh go at it, new design, new research and I believe you will do well.
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