Yay! My first blog critique! I’ve decided to add this feature just recently and my first “victim” has volunteered:) I will post a critique twice weekly which will consist of 10 great things, 10 not so great things, and 10 suggestions. If you would like to volunteer please feel free to contact me and I’ll let you know when you’re up!

Blog Name: Waterstone: exploring creativity one idea at a time
Url: waterstonejewelry.blogspot.com
Blog Platform: blogger.com
Screenshot:

My initial impression:

Man its gonna be HARD to find anything I don’t like about this blog. But I’m going to try anyway:)

10 Great Things

1. Beautiful, Simple, Easy to read template.
2. Lots of goodies to read and very consistent posting. Love the tutorials.
3. I’m loving how clean and neat the sidebar looks. Its formatted uniquely and easy to follow.
4. I can read more about you in your blogger profile. We love the “Abouts”!
5. No Google Ads! Yes!!
6. If you HAVE to have the blogger navbar up top its great that its not so obtrusive.
7. Header takes me back to “home” when clicked. I cannot get lost on this blog.
8. I always love seeing Etsy Minis:)
9. The blog “love” in the sidebar is awesome. Its always great to share with each other. Don’t look at mine though. I’m still working on my link love! LOL!
10. Your posts have dates! This should ALWAYS be the case with a blog. People want to know the age of the content they’re reading.

10 Not So Great Things

1. I want to trade links with you. How?
2. No “title” or “alt” tags for your images – This is important to SEO!
3. I don’t think you need twitter and facebook twice in the sidebar.
4. Flickr slideshow looks like an afterthought. Can this be formatted?
5. The little rectangle above “link within”. Whats that for?
6. The post signature in Scriptina. I happen to despise the font because its so ubiquitous. www.dafont.com has lots of cool, FREE, handwritten fonts.
7. Everything looks so well placed until we get to the footer. “Good to remember” and “Site Meter”. And there is a weird navy blue border around the “keep calm” frame. Can the frame go in the sidebar instead? And maybe smaller?
8. I have to actually EMAIL you to join your email list? A contact form would be nice.
9. The use of courier, serif, AND sans serif fonts. A lot of the content flows with the fonts and then I’m thrown off with the addition of a variety of fonts.
10. I can’t think of anything else. I LOVE this blog!

10 Suggestions

1. Either move your categories (tags) or archives list up to the top. I had to scroll all the way down to find more good stuff to read.
2. You have tons of posts. Try making the archives area a dropdown menu instead of the long list.
3. You have so much great content. Maybe customize the “link within” to include 4 related posts instead of three. This will also fill in some of the blank space to the right of it.
4. It would be nice if your about pic in the sidebar was different than the header pic.
5. Remove that little rectangle! I’m assuming it has no function.
6. Add a contact form directly to the blog either on its own page or in the sidebar. A great option for this is www.wufoo.com. Its the one I personally use. Other options are www.aweber.com, icontact.com, and constantcontact.com.
7. Remove all occurrences of “courier” or “courier new”, especially on the tutorial page. Which is also great by the way! But stick with the other fonts.
8. Add a grab button or a page that explains trading links. For the most part, link reciprocation is always good.
9. The copyright notice is very clear but I think you should head it up with “copyright” or “terms of use” so folks know its coming.
10. I’m not 100% familiar with sitemeter.com but do they offer an option to NOT have the little web ad credit necessary? If it has to be there try going with Google Analytics instead. Which I noticed you already use.

My Final Impression:

Overall, I’m so glad my first blog critique is one that I really, really like:) I guess I’ll spend the extra time and EMAIL you to join your mailing list. LOL!

There’s not much I would change about the blog. Just a few tweaks here and there.
The format is so nice but in some areas it needs some work to keep up with that clean look. I guess its more maintenance than anything. But most importantly work on that SEO!

Please remember that these are my own opionions and I understand that everyone’s views might not be the same as mine. If anyone else has thoughts, please feel free to chime in!