Thread: I need my Site Reviewed! :)

Jay, I think you're off to a great start! I like the look of your site. I know it's just a skeleton but was wondering if you were planning to hyperlink the Exercise, Healthy Eating and Motivation to actual pages when you're done. I just assumed they were links and I guess others will too.

Also many weight loss sites often emphasize similar tips so in your opening paragraph I would state why your site is going to be different and what it will do to help your readers. What are some of the things teens struggle with when it comes to weight loss (Not knowing what to eat? Teasing? etc.)

Get inside their heads and speak their language. That's the benefit of you actually being a part of the audience you target. Connect with them immediately by letting them know you understand their journey. You did that with your bio over on the side but it would also be great to emphasize that on the homepage.

Originally Posted by lisa

Jay, I think you're off to a great start! I like the look of your site. I know it's just a skeleton but was wondering if you were planning to hyperlink the Exercise, Healthy Eating and Motivation to actual pages when you're done. I just assumed they were links and I guess others will too.

Also many weight loss sites often emphasize similar tips so in your opening paragraph I would state why your site is going to be different and what it will do to help your readers. What are some of the things teens struggle with when it comes to weight loss (Not knowing what to eat? Teasing? etc.)

Get inside their heads and speak their language. That's the benefit of you actually being a part of the audience you target. Connect with them immediately by letting them know you understand their journey. You did that with your bio over on the side but it would also be great to emphasize that on the homepage.

Aha, I'm having a starstruck moment. xD

Thank you for reviewing my site Lisa. Yes, the Food, Exercise, and Motivation boxes will link to the main pages, and they will also have three or four links under them to helpful beginner pages. Also, thanks for the advice! I wanted to make sure my website maintains its feeling of genuinity. I find that a lot of weight loss websites are very impersonal, and some do not even have names connected to the articles that are written. I wasn't sure how I could accomplish this on the homepage where it's most important.

Do you recommend the boxes of the homepage (motivation, food, exercise, etc.) at the top be moved to the bottom of the homepage? It was before but I couldn't decide what would look better.

I'm sorry for bumping, but I did it! I finally did it. I posted my first ever Youtube video and posted it on the front page of the website. I followed Lisa's video advice and I was scared out of my mind. But, after watching myself repeat the same thing over and over again while I was editing the video, it wasn't so bad!

I highly recommend everyone to create a Youtube video for their website. Don't be afraid of your image - I think I'm personally no head-turner at all, but if I can do it so can you.

Hi, very nice site and the video adds so much, it's incredible. I also read the about page, there is more detailled information but the video makes it easy introduction, and then we can click for more if interested. So congratulations on the editing also to remove the pauses.

I use a free app on android maybe you want to talk about it, it is called LIBRA and all it does is for recording your weight, but it is nice because it makes a curve after you've entered a few records, try it for yourself and you'll see that it is very convenient and motivating, I suppose you already use something, but try it if you have an android phone and then you can talk about it on your blog, maybe by reviewing a few similar apps, but that's the one I've found very easy to use each time I weight in and also it is nice graphically and you can set a goal and have expected date, etc.

Good luck on your journey.

Thank you very much for the kind comment!

Unfortunately, I do not have an android so I cannot test out the app. I actually don't have a single smartphone at all. I just use myfitnesspal.com, though, to count my calories and keep track of my weight loss. Thanks for the suggestion, though!

Really good start, Jay. I am sure you will do well.

I agree strongly with the previous tips. They are all on target.

A couple of other things I would also do:

First, I would modify the home page just a bit in this regard. You want to gain a relationship with your readers and to do that it needs to be a two way conversation. You tone is good but just remember that you do not want to ever sound like a lecturer, you are not a doctor or medical center. You know that. So think about how you get people to want to stay with you.

My suggestion is that you include some information on the home page saying something to the effect that you want people to join you in the quest to lose weight. Suggest that they go to the blog and get involved in the conversation. Say something to the effect that "we" can all succeed by supporting each other, that you will appreciate their encouragement and will do your best to support them as well.

Then, in your posts it would help to ask questions often. This is a great way for anyone to encourage comments. In your case it would also help build the community of followers and have the added benefit of giving you good input about the topics that people are interested in so you can focus additional posts on those areas.

Second, there is a bit of design work I would check out. Your page would look better if your type did not get so close to the edge of the space. A little more padding would keep it from looking a little crowded that way. You are always better off having too much than too little space.

myfitnesspal was the app I used orignally, I was entering meals, weight, exercices, etc. But it is too much. Also when entering the weight, after you can see the past records, but LIBRA does everything better regarding the process. Starting with inputing the weight, no need to type in the numbers it is a slider which keeps the position of your previous record, so easy to shift a little and hit save button. And then once you look at the past records there is a smooth curve which is call a trend and that's the more real weight with the fluctuations reduced, and also gives you a prediction date of the goal reaching, updated each time you have a new record and based on the trend curve.
And libra doesn't have anything else, no meals, no exercices, all it can do is export your weight records as CSV so you can import them in another app or website but that's it.
So that's why I recommend it and suggested you recommend it to your readers, because it is specialized in weight recording/displaying and does it very well.
But if you don't have a mobile phone, then it can wait :-)

Jay! The video adds such a nice touch. It's personal and you seem very relaxed in front of the camera! The more you do, the easier it gets. Nice job!

@James: Thanks for the padding tip! I added a padding amount and it looks a lot better. I'll try working on your first suggestion - I'm not sure how I'm going to go about it yet, but it sounds like a great way to get my audience engaged.

@James Colin: That sounds fantastic. I just wish I had a phone! Maybe after I start making money from this website I'll be able to afford one, haha. Does libra have an online version of their app?

@Lisa: I do hope so. After waking up in the morning and watching my video again, I got this overwhelming feeling of dread. I'm sure it's just an initial phase that all people with videos go through initially....

....right?

Though I think it's not that a design-wise website, I must say that those contents are great and well-written. I have little to no knowledge about weight loss websites but I think you've done a great job in optimizing your website. Loading speed is fast, navigation is good, and you described your website briefly.

Just few things about the meta tags:

- I think it would be much better if you will modify your description as it will be fetched by search engines when it appears on the search result. I would rather start with a verb in describing what my website is all about. This is your meta description:

"Weight loss is hard, but it's not impossible! Follow me on my weight loss journey as I give you tips to help you with your weight loss. Make it real, folks!"

It would be much better and compelling if you will make it something like this:

"Follow me on my weight loss journey as I give you tips and solutions that will help you in dealing with your weight problems. Make it real, folks!"

Starting with a verb sometimes encourages users to click your website when they see it on the search results. Leading to a good CTR and search referral traffic.

Note: Don't mind my example since I have little knowledge about weight loss. LOL.

@eurekapsycrille: Thanks for the tips! I tend to create my article and then speed through the SEO part of the article (it bores me to death), so I appreciate you looking at my meta information for me. I agree with what you said and I'll change the info. right away!

[EDIT] I forgot to ask, what do you mean by the following statement:

Originally Posted by eurekapsycrille

Though I think it's not that a design-wise website

I'm thinking you may have left out a word or two in there somewhere, but from what I'm reading I'm guessing it's some important information! Please clarify what you meant Thanks!

I finished a page on my website and it's the longest. Is it organized correctly and do I need to break it up? Is there any alignment problems in your browser? Thanks for the input!

http://www.jaysamsonlife.com/effecti...losing-weight/

I don't know if they have an online version, don't think so it isn't mentionned anywhere in the app:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/d....cachapa.libra

Your home page is a reasonable length and about as short as I would recommend. I didn't see any others that are long enough in my judgment to offer a reasonable amount of content.