is my blog ok?

danng · #1 (**permalink**) 08-30-2008, 02:40 PM

Hi, I have made a blog for people looking for inspirational quotes. I know this is a very heavily written about topic, but I thought I could give it a go.

What else do you think I could improve or offer on my blog to make it stand out among the hundreds of others "quotations" sites out there?

Here's my blog: http://livespeakinspire.blogspot.com

ssmorgan · #2 (**permalink**) 08-31-2008, 01:57 AM

danng,

My only suggestion would be to include labels for topics not just author of the quote. If someone is searching for a quote, he/she usually searches by topic, so it would be helpful to categorize them this way.

Hope this helps.

Sherif

TechieGuy · #3 (**permalink**) 08-31-2008, 07:20 AM

Definitely include labels. You may also want to look into create (or downloading) a new template. Standard Blogger templates are used quite frequently, so your blog will look like many others.

danng · #4 (**permalink**) 08-31-2008, 07:29 AM

Thanks for your advice! I will definitly work on making labels for topics.

And for the template suggestions, I will definitly look into it. Do just about any templates work on Blogger? I'm just afraid I will mess everything up.

But thank you again for taking the time to offer advice!

Rob · #5 (**permalink**) 08-31-2008, 03:14 PM

You can, here are some: that personally have used:

http://themes.blogflux.com/blogger

http://www.free-themes.org/

Look into Wordpress if you have'nt already.

http://www.wordpress.com/

Add some social bookmarking tools these can be extremely helpful in recieving graduate traffic and spreading the word.

http://www.addthis.com

Try to disguise your ads within your content so they blend efficiently, 2 effective ways of carrying out this is to post a an advertising post, or when posting embed the code at the end of a post.

On a design front I would definantly side with the TechieGuy as to look into using a different theme to make your blog that little bit more unique.

All the best with your blog.

TechieGuy · #6 (**permalink**) 08-31-2008, 04:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by danng

And for the template suggestions, I will definitly look into it. Do just about any templates work on Blogger? I'm just afraid I will mess everything up.

Everyone is like that. You have a few options to make template transistion easier with Blogger:

1. Always backup your template first before you make any changes. If you do make a mistake you can simply restore your template and everything will be back the way it was.

2. Create a second blog on Blogger as a development/test blog. Make all the changes you want in the second blog, and then once you are happy, copy the template over to your real blog. I wrote a post about creating a development blog in Blogger.

As a side note, welcome back Rob. Good to hear from you again.

adminranger · #7 (**permalink**) 08-31-2008, 04:31 PM

It is looking a bit better. As been stated before a template may make your site more appealing to the eye.

danng · #8 (**permalink**) 09-01-2008, 10:37 AM

Phew! That wasn't as hard as I thought it would be!

Thank you so much for everyone's advice. And thank you big time, Rob, for suggesting those site. They really helped!

Ok, I changed the template. What do you guys think?

Great Elephant · #9 (**permalink**) 09-01-2008, 02:10 PM

I think the template looks great. I'm getting the feeling that something is missing but I can't put my finger on it. Is there a way maybe you can better distinguish your Title from the rest of your blog?

meanne2007 · #10 (**permalink**) 09-14-2008, 09:39 PM

your blog is very plain, you should improve more on the color of your site

Nora · #11 (**permalink**) 09-14-2008, 11:49 PM

I like it

Not sure about the community feature you have there though. When users search for quotes, they want nothing more so the little chat box might distract them from the content they're expecting. I'd also recommend splitting the sidebar up in quote categories instead of archives.

If you really want to make your site stand out, you should start by buying a domain name. It's something you won't regret.

Is switching to Joomla an option? I think content based scripts are better for a quotes site than blogs.

jazzguy · #12 (**permalink**) 09-15-2008, 11:23 AM

Hi danng. It's getting there. I agree with Nora about he chat box...I would dump that in a second...And, if you want to make your blog stand out from all the others, I would add a short story to go along with each quote. Maybe something personal or topical that reflects the notion behind the quote. It's easy to cut and paste quotes from various sources, but what do they really mean. What is/was the context of that quote. Cite some historical reference and add a link to that document/page/site ie: wikipedia or some similar site. The more you develop the concept, the more I think you'll stand out amongst the rest. But great job so far and hang in there. Remember.."Rome wasn't built in a day"...now there's a quote with a real-life example to go with it...the beginning idea and continuous work that you have put into your site. All the best.

TechieGuy · #13 (**permalink**) 09-15-2008, 11:40 AM

It's coming along nicely.

I agree meanne2007 regarding colours. You could put a picture of the person that said the quote in each post. You should also add an image or some colour to your header to make it stand out a bit more.

I would also lose the "Live Traffic Feed". Most visitors probably won't care much about it, and it will be one less thing that needs to load on your blog.

As Nora suggested, you should look into buying a domain name. Blogger allows you to use a custom domain name with your blog. It will add a more professional tone to your blog.

With regards to your labels, you should list them in your sidebar to provide another method of navigating your site. Since you labels are the person's name, a visitor can just click the name and see all the quotes by that person.

danng · #14 (**permalink**) 09-15-2008, 01:51 PM

Thank you everyone for making such awesome suggestions!

I will definitly lose the chat thing. (I guess I got stuck with the idea of how cool a chat thing would be that I never really came to see its actual importance)

I don't think I will be changing my domain name unfortunately. I know it's definitly something worth it, but I'm very cheap, what can I say.

(I'm actually mainly focusing on building an SBI site, so I guess I don't want to spend my efforts and money too much on this blog)

Jazzguy, thanks for your insight. I think that's a great idea!

Techieguy, you are so right about the labels, I will get to them immediately.

Nora, meanne2007 thank you too for being critical yet supportive. Oh, what's joomla?

Anyhoo, I know I'm repeating myself, but thank you all for helping me. You've made a world of a difference!

jazzguy · #15 (**permalink**) 09-15-2008, 07:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by danng

Thank you everyone for making such awesome suggestions!

I will definitly lose the chat thing. (I guess I got stuck with the idea of how cool a chat thing would be that I never really came to see its actual importance)

I don't think I will be changing my domain name unfortunately. I know it's definitly something worth it, but I'm very cheap, what can I say.

(I'm actually mainly focusing on building an SBI site, so I guess I don't want to spend my efforts and money too much on this blog)

Jazzguy, thanks for your insight. I think that's a great idea!

Techieguy, you are so right about the labels, I will get to them immediately.

Nora, meanne2007 thank you too for being critical yet supportive. Oh, what's joomla?

Anyhoo, I know I'm repeating myself, but thank you all for helping me. You've made a world of a difference!

My pleasure danng. I hope all works out. Take care and all the best.

WB Sponsors