Comment posted on Blog Audit Friday: Crocodile Dundee in the Making by Ana
I definitely think your design works for your personality, Jym.
Red headers? An easy fix. I use maroon color on my blog. I think it will fit your design just fine. As I said, it’s such an easy fix and you know that someone had a problem with it, why not change it just in case?
Ana also commented
- You are so welcome, Jym - glad to hear you are open to changes.
And you are exactly right: sometimes we are simply too close to the project to remain objective. I think between me and my readers, you got some good suggestions to work on.
Look forward to the new and improved JymTarrant.com!
Ana
- Welcome, Mike - and thank you!
Ana
- SEO’s always differ on everything - that’s in their nature.
- You make some good points, Ben.
Overall, I am always in favor of a professional design, but knowing how expensive they are, I usually settle for a well-put together amateur design, and Jym’s is one of those, in my opinion.
Interesting note about red titles - I would change that just based on your comment. You never know how many more people think that.
Ana
- Well, I do think before I say anything, I just don’t sugar-coat my thoughts.
We all need to hear the truth the way it is sometimes, and not the way we would like to hear it.
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Just got back from your blog, Michel.What is your niche? Boots. What kind of a reader do you think your blog will draw? Right now it’s tough for me to say.
I would strongly suggest to change the background - it’s almost impossible to read the posts.
Also, if you are hoping for the traffic to actually stick, you need to make this blog about your readers. Right now it’s all about you - the boot guy.
So I would suggest starting with traffic conversion first, then traffic generation. Otherwise, any traffic you would drive to your blog, would end up quickly leaving.
Ana
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You are right, Michel - traffic generation is always a concern whatever the niche. Thus my blog is doing so well, I suppose.I am sure Tommy will take most of my advice to heart; I know he can do so much better with his blog.
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I am a wife to a great husband of 13 years (here ya go, now I have to make changes to this sentence once a year), a mother to a beautiful and, no doubt, genius little girl, and a successful internet entrepreneur. I also devoted my life to Jesus Christ many years ago, and He remains my true priority, focus, and hope.
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Hi Ana,
as usual a great audit I also can learn from. Jym is a personality who will rise to new heights once he implements your advice.
Thanks for sharing your insights.
Take care
Oliver
Oliver Tausend´s last blog ..A Blog Challenge And Nothing But Excuses
Hi Ana,
Wow, another great review. I love Jym’s blog and I think that it suits him so well. I love the suggestions you’ve given him and I think with a few tweaks here and there, Jym’s blog will be much more attractive to his readers and easier for them to navigate and find his great content. His content is awesome…and with your audit, I’m sure the packaging will match it in quality!
Heather
Heather C Stephens´s last blog ..Beginner Blogger Q and A- Tracking Blog Stats
Good site Jym and Good review Ana.
Re the main navigation: the arrow > shape of the tab makes it look like breadcrumbs, may be worth investigating another design “feature”;
re Heading Tag Structure and the fact that 2 h1′s are not a critical error… glad to see you say this Ana. A lot of SEO “purist” would have said otherwise
.
Re canonicalisation and “all your links seemed to be going that way anyway” - all but one… the one at the top of this audit
Leo @ Net Accountant´s last blog ..Remove Google Maps InfoWindow scrollbars when it only contains an image
Wow!
That’s given me a lot to work with Ana and I’d like to say a very big thanks for casting your eye across my blog. This is enormously valuable .
Sometimes putting together a long term project such as a blog or website really needs an outside eye to come in and identify where changes need to be made, it’s easy to get ‘too close’ to your own work to see it for what it is.
Some issues you brought up were ‘on the list’ and are getting sorted (thought I’d dealt with the canonicalization a long time ago!), others are things I hadn’t thought about, or didn’t yet know how to develop and approach.
The niche and keyword advice is very helpful, I think you gave me just the ‘nudge’ I’ve needed for a while… squashed header? yup, fair point… Sub Magnet? technical problems, Anchor text? achhh… I’ve had my head in the sand on that one!
Thanks Ana, and thanks to all the commentators for your wonderful support & suggestions…
Goodonya!
Jym
Jym Tarrant´s last blog ..MLM Social Media Basics – Share the Wealth!
You are so welcome, Jym - glad to hear you are open to changes.
And you are exactly right: sometimes we are simply too close to the project to remain objective. I think between me and my readers, you got some good suggestions to work on.
Look forward to the new and improved JymTarrant.com!
Ana
This is an amazing post and a blog now that I will be checking out after this stunning review thank you for sharing Ana.
Mike
Mike Sherratt´s last blog ..Easy Tips to Get Marketing Your Network Marketing Business and Create Residual Income
Welcome, Mike - and thank you!
Ana
Awesome as always Ana, especially the header tags. I am amazed at how many supposed SEO’s differ on this issue.
I’m heading over to Jym’s place, he seems like someone to get to know…me being in direct sales and all.
Dennis Edell @ Direct Sales Marketing´s last blog ..Guest Bloggers- Is YOUR Blog Content Good Enough
SEO’s always differ on everything - that’s in their nature.
Even knowing when they’re full of crap, assuming you won’t…
Dennis Edell @ Direct Sales Marketing´s last blog ..WordPress Plugin- Clean SEO Slugs – Double Check Your Permalinks
Hi Ana,
I’m really loving and enjoying your Friday Blog Audits. This one was particularly interesting for me because I use the same theme as Jym, and I know this theme very well.
I find Jym’s blog quite original in the choice of colour. The blog posts themselves with the red headings have a long sale letter look, which might trigger the wrong associations in my brain - “oh not another one trying to sell me something”. It definitely doesn’t have your traditional corporate look, and with the header picture the blog have a “I did this myself” feel.
Overall, I’m going to go and check my site against the things I’ve learnt form you in this post.
Ben Wan
Ben Wan@Wordpress-Support´s last blog ..How Important is it to Connect with Real People Online
You make some good points, Ben.
Overall, I am always in favor of a professional design, but knowing how expensive they are, I usually settle for a well-put together amateur design, and Jym’s is one of those, in my opinion.
Interesting note about red titles - I would change that just based on your comment. You never know how many more people think that.
Ana
An interesting point…
You’ve hit the nail on the head Ben, I’m not going for a traditional corporate look… I do agree with Ana that some tweaking to clean things up a bit is in order though.
In some ways, or should I say for some target markets, a ‘well put together amateur design’ will function better than a professional one. One of my concerns is that the process I have followed is duplicable, and for some, a very slick or corporate looking blog will be a turn off…
Is it the Red in particular? I like to use colored headings to break up the text, both to make it easier to read and aesthetically appealing. Most of my posts are not actually selling anything!
Thanks for your feedback,
Jym
I definitely think your design works for your personality, Jym.
Red headers? An easy fix. I use maroon color on my blog. I think it will fit your design just fine. As I said, it’s such an easy fix and you know that someone had a problem with it, why not change it just in case?
I really like your style of blogging. You never afraid to tell truth but I have noticed that lot of blogger first think before telling anything. Keep it up.
Shailender @ Valentine Vacation´s last blog ..Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays from India Darshan
Well, I do think before I say anything, I just don’t sugar-coat my thoughts.
We all need to hear the truth the way it is sometimes, and not the way we would like to hear it.
you know its funny you mention domain authority in this post and PR in the last. Just before your last post went Live I had finished my final draft on a DA post (should go live in about 10days).
It is probably the one Metric you should pay some attention to.
Donace@Hostgator Coupon´s last blog ..My Everest
Would love to hear what you take on that is, Don - make sure to send me the link when it does live!
Ana,
I also loved the overall look of Jym’s site. Very friendly and the color scheme was comfortable and matched his style. The site is very clean and easy to navigate. I like how the theme worked when I clicked to read the posts.
The only thing I would suggest is a consistency in posting. I find that I do better when I post on a regular basis. Or the same times every week.
As usual I picked up something new….http://validator.w3.org. Thank you.
Sheila Atwood@newbielifeline.com´s last blog ..Is This A Scam Website or Is It Legit
Good point, Sheila - didn’t even occur to be to check on that!
One head is good, two heads are much better.
Good point… Keeping things more regular may help… It’s not particularly my nature but I’m sure that it would make things a little easier for my readers!
Thanks for adding that Sheila
Hey Ana,
Another great blog audit! Wow, I love Fridays!
I bet this audit was a walk in the park for you, Ana… I’m very impressed by Jym’s blog. He has done really well for himself and doesn’t have much to change really. I also love how his blog expresses his personality, one of a kind.
Keep rocking, gal!
All the best,
Mavis
Mavis Nong @ Free Marketing Training´s last blog ..My Second Guest Post- How To Get Your Readers Hooked!
He’s done well; that’s for sure… With a little tweaking, it can be great, and I hope he gets there.
Thanks, Mavis!
Great comments as always, Ana. Your blog audits are a learning experience for everyone, not just the auditee (is that a word?)
Steve Stillwater´s last blog ..Living Green and Healthy- 5 Health Benefits from Going Green
We, bloggers, are famous for making up words, so I’ll take it.
Thanks, Steve!
Hi Ana,
Another helpful breakdown here.
I too like how Jym’s blog oozes individuality. I’m sure his blog will reach new levels after taking your advice to heart.
Thanks for sharing your insight with us.
RB
Ryan Biddulph´s last blog ..Use these 4 Power Verbs to Build a Responsive Mammoth List for Your Home Based Opportunity
You are welcome, Ryan, and as always, I appreciate you coming by!
very blogger starts a blog and only few of them convert it into a success, like jym.
Internal linking + perfect marketing + incoming liks are the things you have to concentrate.
Hope i can get into that list (like jym), as this is 3rd month as a problogger and already get 82 backlinks in 15 days, hope i can get as much as links as jym has by the end of this month.
Other stats are better
Google Page Rank 2
Alexa Rank: 82k
Vivek Parmar´s last blog ..Make Money By Author Advertising WordPress Plugin
Sounds like you are on the right track, Vivek.
One thing I’ve learned though is to focus on the readers and not stats - that’s who will eventually make your blog a true success. But I am sure you already know that.
still a lot more thing i have to know specially how to get incoming links, if you help me then my job gets easier
Vivek Parmar´s last blog ..Make Money By Author Advertising WordPress Plugin
I do write a lot about effective quality link building, Vivek - just do a search on my blog and you’ll find many posts to help you learn more.
Ana:
I think I am beginning to sound like a broken record over here in your comments section! Not a thing I can do about it except shut my trap..and I don’t think I know how to do that. So, again, well done audit.
It appears Jym has a pretty strong site to begn with and now following your tips can take it to rockstar status. Jym Jym:) is a really cool guy and I know this audit will be taken seriously by him. Off to visit Jym now….and these audits just remind me of what a chicken scaredy face I am!!!
Have a wonderful Friday,
Lisa
Lisa@basic marketing tips´s last blog ..Are Your Blog Readers Dumb
Chicken scaredy face? YOU? I’ve got to know more - in what way?
Yes, Jym’s site is fairly solid; he just needs to do some tweaking and it’ll be brilliant.
Yes Ana! I am a chicken scaredy face…:) The idea of an audit by the uncomparable Ana Hoffman??!! Shaky shaky. Seriously, your audits are so informative and thought provoking that anyone can gain valuable insights from them!
Lisa
Lisa@basic marketing tips´s last blog ..Are Your Blog Readers Dumb
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