Okay! So I’m back after a brief hiatus. My next volunteer has been sooo patient waiting on her review. Thanks for that! If you would like to volunteer to be featured in my (hopefully) twice weekly blog critique please feel free to contact me and I’ll let you know when you’re up!

Blog Name: Hopscotch Dandelions
Url: hopscotchdandelions.blogspot.com/
Blog Platform: blogger.com
Screenshot:

My initial impression:

I soooooooo hope she doesn‘t hate me after this critique. At first sight this blog needs a lot of work. But it looks more like a blank slate with lots of potential instead of just simply …”a hot mess“. This blog is definitely NOT a hot mess but what I think is a good start to something that could be really good. Read on!

10 Great Things

1. I love the salmon-y background color. Actually one of my favorite colors.
2. Nice “About Me“ profile and great pic.
3. Love the Etsy Mini. Especially the custom “my etsy“ title.
4. I am so in love with your photos. So rustic and really adds character to the blog.
5. The Etsy Blogroll is interesting. I think I will join that:)
6. Linkable header to home page. Great!
7. No google ads. You guys are great with that!
8. Good job with adding the Facebook “Like“ icon at the end of each post.
9. Interesting content. This is probably the MOST important. So good job!
10. Nice, consistent serif fonts throughout the blog.

10 Not So Great Things

1. Blog name is way too small. I had to look again at the url to figure out the site name.
2. No “title” or “alt” tags for your images – Post about this still coming..
3. Looks very blogger.com. I could tell right away this was a blogger.com blog by the template layout.
4. Sidebar items aren‘t very neat. Everything should be lined up over there.
5. I think the blog is too wide for the content. If your pics were larger it would make sense to have it so wide.
6. My pet peeve! The blogger nav bar. I‘ll send code on how to remove this for you guys who hate it as much as I do.
7. Posts aren’t very consistent. I‘m one to talk, right! I haven‘t posted in almost two weeksJ.
8. Wish there were more of the custom sidebar titles. I really like the “my etsy“ and “contact me“.
9. Banner seems as if its not wide enough. Maybe if the default blogger borders weren‘t there it wouldn‘t look so odd.
10. Content looks strange being center aligned. Probably because the blog is so wide.

10 Suggestions

1. Add blog name to banner. This pic is very nice but it really needs some wording.
2. Either left align or justify the post text but keeping the photos centered.
3. Remove the blogger nav bar.
4. Remove the double white borders around the header.
5. As I said earlier, I‘m really lovin‘ your pics. I think they could use a thin border though. Maybe the orange in your post titles.
6. Its great you have the “followers” gadget in the sidebar but you should also have an option for a visitor to subscribe to your feed. Try feedburner.com.
7. Because the photos in the posts aren‘t very large I would really think about changing the layout to something not so wide.
8. Add a grab button or a gadget in the sidebar that explains trading links. And this is only of course if you want to trade links.
9. Clean up that sidebar! And you know what I mean:)
10. I think you should title the random photos in the sidebar. Just add a small caption explaining what they are about.

My Final Impression:

Well this is the typical blogger.com blog. No customizations. Very default. Because so many blogger.com blogs look alike I would really take time out to figure out how to make yours unique. Remove that nav bar, get a favicon, add a simple background. Those are some starts. One thing you have going for you are those awesome pics. Maybe bring some of the rustic nature of the images into blog design. Just some quick, final thoughts. Thanks again for volunteering!

Please remember that these are my own opinions 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!

Moving along to my SECOND blog critique! Glad I got someone else to volunteer. LOL! If you missed the first one here it is: Waterstone Jewelry. If you would like to volunteer to be featured in my twice weekly blog critique please feel free to contact me and I’ll let you know when you’re up!

Blog Name: Yes Teacher!
Url: yesteachercrafts.blogspot.com/
Blog Platform: blogger.com
Screenshot:

My initial impression:

Its clean and easy to read buts seems a little sparse. I myself really do like simple, minimalistic sites but this one is missing something. Can’t figure out what it just yet so keep reading!

10 Great Things

1. Easy to read – This is always a plus.
2. I like the subdued color scheme. Very vintage-y (<--is that word? Who cares?)
3. Nice consistent content. I also noticed the blog is quite fresh (new)
4. Great pics.
5. Again, no Google Ads! Yes!! Nothing wrong with google ads but its sometimes nice to not see them:)
6. I love the separation of the sidebar widgets/gadgets in their own “shadowed” box.
7. Header takes me back to “home” when clicked. Lots of folks really forget about this one.
8. Easy navigation at the end of the page. “older”, “home”, and “newer”.
9. Nice set up of your links lists in the sidebar. I will be clicking on all of those later. LOL!
10. Nice, consistent sans-serif fonts throughout the blog.

10 Not So Great Things

1. Your banner doesn’t fill the width of the content area.
2. No “title” or “alt” tags for your images – I’ll blog more on this in the near future.
3. Your named repeated in the header seems redundant.
4. Okay…You knew this one was coming but Whats up with the overlapping ad in the sidebar? “a little etsy love”
5. “Search this site” has no function.
6. This might be just me, but I don’t like the Blogger nav bar up top. Its ugly.
7. I’m not feeling the “site meter” either. Sorry! I know lots of you use it. But why? I need some insight on sitemeter.com
8. Sidebar content doesn’t appear to be cleanly aligned.
9. I think I’m seeing double! Are there two “categories” widgets?
10. Once I started to read I liked your content. But at first sight I wasn’t sure what your blog would be about.

10 Suggestions

1. Reduce the “etsy love” ad to 125px x 94px or have them send you another one no wider than 125px.
2. Redo your banner! Make sure its at least 930px in width or at least centered.
3. Instead of your name twice in the header try adding a tagline in the smaller talk bubble. Something that briefly explains your blog content for first time visitors.
4. I like your blog layout but its missing some simple elements? Maybe add a couple of top and bottom borders in a few places. Or slightly darken some of the dotted borders already in place. I think what you are missing is contrast.
5. Remove the “search” header in the sidebar or add the “search” function underneath it. This one was probably a given.
6. Its great you have the “followers” gadget in the sidebar but you should also have an option for a visitor to subscribe to your feed. Try feedburner.com.
7. Incorporate the site meter in the footer a little better. Maybe center it under the copyright notice?
8. Add a grab button or a gadget in the sidebar that explains trading links. And this is only of course if you want to trade links.
9. Try to center the items in the sidebar. Some looks left aligned while others centered, and then a few look right aligned. And make sure anything you put in the sidebar is no wider than 125px.
10. If you are member of any social networks such as facebook and twitter, you definitely should list those as well.

My Final Impression:

Overall, I think this blog has great potential. I see that it is still new. Work on adding great content, getting the sidebar in order and making sure everything looks cohesive. Start with the top (banner) and work your way down (footer). It would nice to have your header on the same shadowed white background as the sidebar gadgets and main content. Its a simple style but still has some personality which I think is what you blog is lacking. I’ve seen your etsy shop and all those bright colors, so I KNOW you have personality:) Make sure your blog is a reflection of that.

Please remember that these are my own opinions 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!

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!