Appearance and Style - (Out of 20)
I really like your color scheme. I say that and point that out because I'm not typically too fond of color schemes with black then another dark color. But with your banner and just general look it actually looks really nice.
I can't say too much about your favicon and banner, as both look really nice also. I especially like that little glow on the edge of the banners text. Speaking of things that I like and think look nice, I really like how you have an image for the blog posts then the first bit of the post. It looks really nice and kind of makes me want to read your blog post more.
Something I do not like though is how you have an advertisement as the first widget. I don't have a problem with you having that advertisement, but I think you should make it the
last widget. Simply because if someone who had never seen your blog before may get a bad impression if straight away they see a large advertisement banner. If you have it lower down it doesn't and would not look as bad.
Another thing I am not rather fond of is the font for "Latest Guides" and other titles that use that font. I think that font doesn't really fit well with the theme and blog itself. I think that instead of using that font you're using for the example above you should use the font you use in the text in the blog posts or the text font in the banner.
(Scored 15/20)
Blog Layout and Categorization - (Out of 20)
The layout and general organization of the blog is great; the links in the navigation bar are really helpful. I can easily find where I want to go and the content I'm looking for in the blog. That's great for a new viewer or your blog.
The search feature you have across from the banner just improves how easily people can find things on your blog. I don't have much to say about this regarding your blog, as it is flawless as far as I can see.
Really nice job on that.
(Scored 20/20)
Commenting Activity and Other Interactions - (Out of 20)
"If you’re still unable to get this guide to work for you, or you have any comments or questions, let us know in our FORUMS"
That's at the bottom of your blog posts (or some variation of that telling them to go to the forum if they want to comment or whatever on it). Words cannot describe how much I dislike you doing that. Since the main part of your site is your blog then why should I have to register to ask for help?
If you would rather have a forum then just post your blog posts as topics on the forum instead of having a blog where people can't comment to ask for help or just generally comment on.
I can't even justly guess at your blogs activity because of that.
I would suggest you allow comments. If you don't I would at least suggest you getting rid of the text "| No Comments" at the top of every post under its title, because it doesn't make your activity look good at all (you having "no comments" labeled on top of every post) and may even turn some very picky people away because they think that since no one else goes to your blog then it must not be good.
I'm afraid since this is a
blog review and this is a "commenting and other interactions" portion of the review that I'm going to have to mark this segment of it with a zero. According to the interactions and commenting there is no one on your blog. (I may not be able to say the same about the forum, but this is your blog review)
(Scored 0/20)
Quality and Frequency of Posts - (Out of 20)
The last articles you've posted are on -
"23 December 2010 3:30 PM
23 December 2010 8:24 AM
12 December 2010 10:01 AM
12 December 2010 3:16 AM
11 December 2010 1:23 PM"
I notice a time from the 12th to the 23d where you took an extended period of time away from posting blog posts. I'm not sure if you planned that to take some time off and posted it somewhere, so I'll disregard that. Other than that it looks like you try to post daily or bi-daily. That's good, it keeps guests coming back daily or very often.
The quality of your posts are not amazing - but they're not terrible. They're kind of a happy medium regarding length. I think that the quality of your posts would be much, much better if you spell checked them. Adding some fluff in there (i.e. adding some extra descriptions, personal experiences, extra information that isn't necessarily important but still relates to the topic) to make it lengthier. Many people say that length doesn't matter as long as there's information in there, but I disagree. If I said -
"I ate the cookie with my friend Pete last Tuesday" it wouldn't be
bad but it would sound better and look better if I said -
"I munched on my cookie very slowly, aware that Pete was watching me. Pete had been my best friend since fourth grade, but I worked really hard to get this cookie and even him being my best friend couldn't make me want to give it to him. That was last Tuesday, and.."
(Scored 16/20)
Spelling/Grammar - (Out of 20)
I only checked the most recent post of your, but in that post I found many errors. Some of which being -
"like your computer
personalised right down"
Personalised should be "Personalized"
"to customise the login"
Customise should be "Customize"
I think that both of those are really stupid and tiny mistakes for such a professional looking blog. I would recommend that you paste what you've written and are about to post into a Word document before you post them then spell check them. Word can be a lifesaver, and I think that it would benefit your posts greatly.
Other than the minor mistakes you have in your posts, there are no mistakes in the blog itself (i.e. in the widgets, footer). That's good, but the main point in a
blog are the blog [/i]posts[/i]. If you have mistakes such as the ones I pointed out above it could turn some of the more professional viewers away.
(Scored 8/20)
Total Score - 59/100
Final Remarks:
What was most liked about the blog: The general appearance of it.
What was disliked most about the blog: The errors in the posts, the advertisement on the side of it.
How could I get you (The Reviewer) to read my blog? Just fix or try to control the tiny mistakes that are in your posts.
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