Written on April 22nd, 2009 at 09:04 pm by Darren Rowse
Watch a First Time Reader Use Your Blog [DAY 17 31DBBB]
This post is an excerpt from the 31 Days to Build a Better Blog Workbook
New readers to your blog are making decisions within seconds of arriving at your blog that will determine how (and if) they’ll use your blog.
In the same way that first impressions can be vital in real life interactions – online they are just as important.
Today’s task in the 31 Days to Build a Better Blog challenge is to do some analysis of what first impressions people have of your blog by doing a First Time Reader Audit on your blog. Here’s how to do it:
What you’ll need:
1. A friend, family member, work colleague or even a blogger that you’ve not had much to do with before. The key is that the person has not seen your blog before. The person will need 10 or so minutes with you so bribe them with a coffee or something else to get their time.
2. A computer in front of your friend. Ideally you’ll be in the same room with the person but you can adapt this and still have a valuable time by doing it ‘virtually’ with someone.
The Process
Load your blog up and let your friend surf it. Get them to spend 4-5 minutes just wondering around your blog.
Don’t talk to them as they do – but watch carefully how they use your blog.
- How do they navigate?
- Where do they click?
- What do they pause to read?
- What do they skip over?
- What areas of the blog do they seem most drawn to
Once they’ve surfed your blog ask them some questions about the experience.
- What were their first impressions?
- What did they first think your blog was about when they arrived at it?
- Did they find it easy to read/navigate/understand?
- What did they ‘feel’ when they first arrived at your blog?
- What suggestions do they have on how you could improve your blog?
- What questions do they have having surfed your blog?
- What words would they use to describe the design?
- What are the main things that they remember about your blog 10 minutes later?
- What suggestions do they have from a user perspective?
It’s amazing to see what you’ll learn by watching someone use your blog.
Once you’ve done your First Time Reader Audit come back to this post and let us know what you learned.
PS: Last time I went through this process I actually got 4 people to do it for me. I chose people of different web savviness (ie from someone who doesn’t use the web much at all through to another experienced blogger). I found getting feedback from across a small group of people to be very valuable.
Update – There are lots of people who joined the challenge that are working together on this 31 DBBB Daily Task over at the forum, you should check it out! Day 17 – First Time Reader Audit
Want More?This task is a sample of one of the tasks in the 31 Days to Build a Better Blog Workbook – a downloadable resource designed to reinvigorate and revitalize blogs. Join over 14,000 other bloggers and Get your Copy Today. |
102 Responses to “Watch a First Time Reader Use Your Blog [DAY 17 31DBBB]” - Add Yours
Samuel McCrohan
April 22nd, 2009 9:19 pm
I LOVE doing this!
I think it’s useful to get people of different IT skill levels to try it out. For example I get IT competent friends to try my website out for technical issues whereas I get my Mother to test out my website for navigation and ‘knowing what to do’ on the site. :)
Great article,
Sam
Samuel McCrohan
April 22nd, 2009 9:23 pm
As another useful link for readers, there is a website called ‘Userfly’ (http://www.userfly.com) that records a video of your ACTUAL visitors that you can watch back to see what they clicked on and how long they spent on each page in real time. I haven’t extensively tested it but it looks very useful for seeing what your actual visitors do on your blog.
Hope it is useful for some of you. :)
Sam
Miracel
April 22nd, 2009 9:28 pm
Great post as usual, Darren! It made me also think of how I try to navigate other people’s sites. Will try to look for someone to audit my site.
Tom - StandOutBlogger.com
April 22nd, 2009 9:33 pm
Wow! That is a brilliant idea! As obvious as it should be, we never really give that much thought to our end user – the reader.
Fred
April 22nd, 2009 9:35 pm
All right – why didn’t I think of that?
Once again Darren, thank you for your insights, guidance and above all, generosity.
Be well,
Fred
Harsh Agrawal
April 22nd, 2009 9:51 pm
Great tip as always. Few days back I attended a bloggers meet organized by one of the top blogger in my country . He asked us to sit with your granny, or someone who has little idea about Internet. let him navigate your blog.
another 2 cents which I would like to add here is understand the F theory. Usually people start reading your first 2 lines, then middle and then comments or either they go away.
Idea here is give them the best shot using F theory and keep them rotating around your blog.
Regards
Harsh
Luke
April 22nd, 2009 9:52 pm
there are a lot of good books around about usability testing it can be quite funny to see what people think or your ideas and if they even get what you are blogging about!
i recently tried this with my gran and it was really funny some of the suggestions she came up with that were really good ideas that i probably never would have thought of!
i would definitely recommend giving this a spin…..
HazardousPaste
April 22nd, 2009 9:53 pm
Hah, I’ll have to brace myself for this one. But it will be an interesting experience for sure.
JustBlogz
April 22nd, 2009 9:55 pm
It is important to get first time readers to come back again and become regular readers of your blog. I will try it out and if i get any interesting feedback i will comment again about it.
Baker @ ManVsDebt
April 22nd, 2009 9:57 pm
Nice!
Using the 31DBBB forums I’ll have to try to find some other bloggers online who might want to do this for me. As long as they haven’t visited the blog this might still be able to work.
Well, at least the questions and such.
Thanks so much!
Sharon Hurley Hall
April 22nd, 2009 9:57 pm
Great idea – just off to the forum now to see who’ll help me with this task.
twe4ked
April 22nd, 2009 10:01 pm
Now to find somebody to do it..
cheers
Faryal Humayun
April 22nd, 2009 10:01 pm
This never came to my mind, but I’ll definitely use this strategy as soon as possible.
Thanx.
adampiro
April 22nd, 2009 10:04 pm
great post…..
In usability testing in the SA Gov i use a similar technique and find that 4 or 5 users is plenty to build a usability report that is almost the same as if you use 10+ testers.
Nikhil
April 22nd, 2009 10:07 pm
Hey Darren,
Nice tips,
Its in case of direct contact but what if we have to ask to the first visitor we dont know via e-mail?
Most of the times they dont reply…..So what to do in that case?
`rolandinsh`
April 22nd, 2009 10:07 pm
As I’m currently rebuilding my Latvian blog ( http://www.rolandinsh.lv/blog/ ), this is exactly what I’m doing.
Experimenting with layout and “plugins” firs imresions were not so good as I expected even if first reviews were good.
Experimental layout: http://rolandinsh.lv/micro/165/black-label-secret-new-wordpress-theme/
James Chartrand - Men with Pens
April 22nd, 2009 10:08 pm
We offer drive-by shooting site critiques that do just this. As first-time visitors to people’s sites, we offer that objective opinion, and we also provide suggestions and recommendations based on our design and usability knowledge to help people make changes and improve.
It’s very, very important to know exactly how your site is perceived and used by someone else beyond you and people who love you that won’t tell you the truth!
Joan Nova
April 22nd, 2009 10:09 pm
Anyone want to do a ‘first time reader’ virtual exchange? I’ve got a food and travel blog and would be happy to do an exchange analysis if someone emails me with their link. info@foodalogue.com
mohan
April 22nd, 2009 10:14 pm
again really great post dareen, this is to good.
so plese visit my blog and tell me. That what i have to change and tell me in comments. I am vating for Your all sugestions.
So plese do that.
Thankr ,take care
Aditya
April 22nd, 2009 10:19 pm
A magnificent tip which has to be applied by each and every blogger. We will really get Real-Time experience from this great idea.
Thanks a lot Darren, God has gifted you with a bloggy brain.
Darren (Green Change)
April 22nd, 2009 10:21 pm
This sounds like a perfect collaboration exercise for the 31DBBB Forum!
Eric D. Greene (artist)
April 22nd, 2009 10:30 pm
I’ve already done this. Ha!
Great idea though. Thanks
Christopher Ross
April 22nd, 2009 10:33 pm
Hi Darren,
This is great advice but one thing I could ad is that when people are being watched they lie. Not on purpose but as a general rule, people lie to usability testers so to avoid this I like to sit people down in front of a laptop screen with a video camera to the side but actually record their eye movements using the built in web cam instead.
Simply tasking them with common requests, recording mouse times etc. will provide you with excellent data for how (and where) they go.
alone
April 22nd, 2009 10:40 pm
oh I see.. yeah.. so we could know what is the strength & weakness of our site.
great idea! thanks! =D
Markus
April 22nd, 2009 10:42 pm
There is an excellent description about this method on a book called Don’t Make Me Think! A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability by Steve Krug. Recommended reading :)
ChristiaanH
April 22nd, 2009 10:43 pm
An interesting idea but where to find someone like that and actually be able to look over their shoulder. Most people in my IRL either don’t care for blogs or already know about my blog..
Oh well, the search continues.
Chris
April 22nd, 2009 10:48 pm
That’s great advice. It runs along the same lines as having someone read through a story or article you’re working on. Having a fresh set of eyes can point out things that you might take for granted
Dean Saliba
April 22nd, 2009 10:50 pm
I don’t normally allow friends and family to view my blogs so this is going to be interesting!
Dominique
April 22nd, 2009 11:01 pm
This is certainly very interesting. Will head over to the forums to see if I can get any one to give me a blog analysis.
Michael Godawski
April 22nd, 2009 11:02 pm
First impression counts.
Darren, I followed all your suggestion till now and I am slowly getting the hang out of it.
Looking forward to your next ideas.
Michael
Eranda
April 22nd, 2009 11:02 pm
I always wanted to do something like this but couldn’t figure out exactly what to do. This should be interesting.
Gina
April 22nd, 2009 11:22 pm
What a great idea! I need to figure out who to ask.
Tim Jack
April 22nd, 2009 11:27 pm
You found someone that hasn’t read your blog Darren? Wow impressive!
fun-da-mental
April 22nd, 2009 11:28 pm
What your visitors think about your site ist the ONLY really important thing to consider.
venkat
April 22nd, 2009 11:38 pm
That’s a great idea never though of it ,I will try this with my friends and I will post that here.
sriraj
April 23rd, 2009 12:01 am
I haven’t tried it yet but sounds very interesting !!
Mike CJ
April 23rd, 2009 12:05 am
A really interesting exercise. I managed to find three people to do it. The first two were all regular web users and it went very well. The third was a very occasional web user and she really struggled. Ended up having no idea where to go, or what the site was all about.
I need to make some changes for sure, but it’s not a total rethink, as my target market is savvy web users.
sen
April 23rd, 2009 12:07 am
Hi All,
I need some one to help me by having a walk through over my blog http://www.catdumps.blogspot.com.
You can mail me your blog url to senthilgct@indiatimes.com
Thanks in advance.
Nicolas Prudhon
April 23rd, 2009 12:14 am
I’m on to do the test as soon as possible!
If anyone is interested in sharing views, like review my blog and I review yours upon the suggestions of Darren, don’t hesitate to contact me np@nicolasprudhon.com
Exposing SEO Techniques
April 23rd, 2009 12:18 am
Maybe I need to conduct a little “focus group” in order to do this. :D
Kern
April 23rd, 2009 12:21 am
I would love to swap some feedback with a fellow blogger, or anyone else for that matter! No hard feelings, just raw data for raw data. Peel back your thick skin, and swap along, look under my names’ link, or copy and paste the type…
http://WWW.AllThingsAboutPhotography.blogspot.com
Hannah
April 23rd, 2009 12:37 am
I actually completed this very exercise last week – with my mum – and it was demoralising. This was the first blog she had ever seen and she did not seem impressed.
I will repeat the exercise with greater rigour over a cross-section of friends, family & work colleagues. I will also go back to my mum and ask her some of the tough questions I should have posed in the first place.
Thanks again for a challenging exercise, Darren!
H :)
Neil Matthews
April 23rd, 2009 12:40 am
Excellent idea, we all too often become too blind to our own blogs.
What do you mean, you cannot find my call to action it’s right the in tiny text under the adsense, next to the email subscribe, to the right of the tweet button, but don’t click on the RSS, I know it looks the same but it’s the one next to it.
Kevin
April 23rd, 2009 12:51 am
A fantastic idea. I often watch over my wife’s shoulder to get an idea about how other people navigate through web pages or even programs. It’s very interesting what you can learn and makes you realize that much of what we take for granted we shouldn’t. Sometimes we aren’t as clever as we think we are!
alafista
April 23rd, 2009 12:56 am
What a good idea …. i shall go grab my co-workers tomorrow. ^^
Kayla
April 23rd, 2009 1:04 am
Very good idea, I’m just not sure who I’ll get to do it. I can see how beneficial it can be though.
Bati
April 23rd, 2009 1:04 am
I think your tips is useful for my blog.I think conmunicate with reader is a good way to make them stay reading your blog .
James Roughton
April 23rd, 2009 1:49 am
Great tip as usually.
mohan
April 23rd, 2009 2:01 am
Dear dareen i am confiused to selection of them for my blog so plese tell me that wich is best for my blog .
Any reader ples sujest me
my blogs url
http://www.Bollywood2masti.Blogspot.Com
Guy Walker
April 23rd, 2009 2:50 am
I did this the other day with an experienced blogger. She gave me some great advice.
Wrap text around images.
result: The reader can see the image and text at the same time. Better layout. post take up less space.
dawnaurora
April 23rd, 2009 2:53 am
This is an invaluable tip for me. Now off to find some people to browse around my blog.
Mike B. Fisher
April 23rd, 2009 3:00 am
Good article. There’s nothing like user testing to uncover site shortcomings. Besides the informal testing you describe here there are a number of services becoming available that can provide other forms of inexpensive user feedback. Two that come to mind are Feedback Army and User Testing (dot com in both cases). I’m not affiliated with either but they look like promising ways to gather additional opinions for consideration.
Maureen
April 23rd, 2009 3:25 am
Excellent list of questions. I’ve already used it this morning with another commenter.. we traded reviews and it was great! Thank you!
Team Nirvana
April 23rd, 2009 4:11 am
As usual, your tips do surprise me a lot. The thought process of any blogger involves around how his/her blog is looking, all the time. Never do we dwell into what the end user thinks about the theme or visual layout of the content.
Now, I have another job to do. Should ask for a layman’s opinion about my blog.
Thanks for the invaluable tip Darren. You are a Pandora’s Box of information and suggestions.
Carrie
April 23rd, 2009 4:21 am
I’d appreciate any constructive criticism anyone can offer.
http://www.itsfrugalbeinggreen.com
contact@itsfrugalbeinggreen.com
opinionatedant
April 23rd, 2009 4:30 am
Great idea, but kinda scary.
Since, I’ve already hounded my friends and family I think that means i’ll have to start knocking on the neighbors door ;)
I’ll be back or in forums with results later.
Claus D Jensen
April 23rd, 2009 4:41 am
Well, this sounds like a great tool to get response to your blog/site!
My challenge is to find the right person (-s) to do it…
greetings,
Claus,
http://www.clausdjensen.com/
Ara
April 23rd, 2009 5:03 am
Nice suggestion Darren! After the break, we will have more sense in growing our blog and the way to communicate with our readers or visitors.
The Lifehack Post
Honza
April 23rd, 2009 5:21 am
This is a great idea. Unfortunately, I won’t manage that today. Tomorrow, I am going to assault one of my friends who hasn’t seen my blog yet. I’ll let you know about the results.
Stan Webb
April 23rd, 2009 5:24 am
Thank you for this great suggestion. I too, am looking for ‘First Read’ input for my blogs:
Like you I am taking Darren Rouse’s 31 Days Blogger Course.
I notice from your comments that many of you would like to have someone review your site, and I would be happy to reciprocate.
My sites are:
Modern Living – Cybercafé, Internet Café, Net Café eMagazine Life “Sometimes On The Edge”© … Modern Living – Cybercafé, Internet Café, Net Café eMagazine Life “Sometimes On The Edge”© … [http://sometimesontheedge.blogspot.com/]
Diet, exercise, computer, medicine, mental health, physical health, best of the internet, photography. People who are passionate about their pursuits are also positive in the rest of their lives. They know that meaningful activities, a positive attitude and a joyful perspective on life makes us healthier, happier, more productive and more fun to be with. Laughter is necessary to a healthy lifestyle.
Email sometimesontheedge@gmail.com
Web [Web 2.0+© (web2u©)] … Web [Web 2.0+© (web2u©)] … [http://web2plus.blogspot.com/]
Blogs, Computers, http//www., Internet, Web Design and Development, Web Pages, The World Wide Web, Web 2.0+. Education and Free Courses about Web 2.0+ Applications. With such heavy topics we try to inject a bit of humor.
Email: web2.0plus@gmail.com
Your comments would be appreciated; and I will respond, in kind. Please also note that I am looking for other blogs to link to in Modern Living – Cybercafé, Internet Café, Net Café eMagazine Life “Sometimes On The Edge”©
Thank you.
Stan Webb
Stan Webb
April 23rd, 2009 5:28 am
Please also note that I am looking for other blogs to link to in Web [Web 2.0+© (web2u©)] … [http://web2plus.blogspot.com/]
Blogs, Computers, http//www., Internet, Web Design and Development, Web Pages, The World Wide Web, Web 2.0+. Education and Free Courses about Web 2.0+ Applications. With such heavy topics we try to inject a bit of humor.
Email: web2.0plus@gmail.com
Angela
April 23rd, 2009 5:39 am
I just bought your book too and it came in yesterday – will be spending a good amount of time today reading up on your many wonderful tips on blogging. :)
By the way, read this WSJ article about bloggers being the next big profession – http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124026415808636575.html
Take care,
Angela
http://www.jiggaroo.com
RC@renegadesystempro
April 23rd, 2009 5:41 am
Thanks for those tips. It’s quite amazing how you put it. I should try doing this experiment.
thanks
RC@
http://renegadesystempro.com/
Make Money Online
April 23rd, 2009 5:46 am
Never thought of this really, but this is one super idea. We would naturally love our blog so wont be able to find defects that easy.
Jason of Internet Business Plan
April 23rd, 2009 5:51 am
The saying must be right even in the internet; “first impression counts because it lasts”. Thank you for the pointers. Trying to do your every lesson…i hope on the last day, i will really be good at this.
thanks again.
Jason
Jamie Lee
April 23rd, 2009 5:56 am
What a great idea – sort of like a focus group of one … unless you do it multiple times with different folks. I love the idea of getting a third-party view of your work. As the creators and writers of our blogs, we can easily get into a place where it’s almost impossible to “see the forest for the trees,” as the old cliche goes.
Sometimes the best person to assess something is the person who knows the least about it and can provide that fresh, unbiased opinion.
Thanks for this simple and genius idea.
:)
Robert Owen
April 23rd, 2009 5:57 am
This is a great idea!!! I’ve had friends tell me they saw something on my site before but, never watched them go through the process. The challange will be finding a few people to do it. Might cost me a dinner or two but it sounds like it’s completely worth it!
I’m a few days behind on tasks… this is alot like school.. haha. This one I might be able to accomplish!!
Thanks Darren!
Destination Infinity
April 23rd, 2009 5:57 am
That’s interesting. But I have found that people who I ask to read my blog, other than my usual readers, find it boring to read even a paragraph! They find it difficult. Maybe as you said earlier, I need to use some pictures and multimedia to grab attention! But people who have a passion for writing and reading definitely do read through!
Destination Infinity
Kristen
April 23rd, 2009 6:30 am
Well, I’ve been trying to get someone to look at my blog all day, and no one is biting. Either they hate it, and feel too bad to tell me, or it just doesn’t seem interesting enough to get them there to look at it.
Everyone I know has already seen it, so I guess I’m outta luck!
It’s a great idea, though. Maybe in the future I’ll get someone to look at it and tell me what they think.
desiree fawn
April 23rd, 2009 7:01 am
Oh this is such a cool idea! Once again, thank you for your brilliance, Darren!
Anne Mai Bertelsen
April 23rd, 2009 7:47 am
Thx – a usability test for a blog. love it!
PuterPrsn
April 23rd, 2009 8:51 am
* What were their first impressions? Easy to read – like the font better on the blog page than the “home” page ’cause it’s bigger & easier to read for old folks like me.
* What did they first think your blog was about when they arrived at it? About blogging – a focused site
* Did they find it easy to read/navigate/understand? Yes except when clicking on “book” link, you go outside the blog site & have to “back” to return
* What did they ‘feel’ when they first arrived at your blog? Breathing easy – large font, nicely spaced paragraphs make it easy to read. Don’t mind scrolling down – scrolling across or squinting to read is a major pain & usually won’t go back to one of those
* What suggestions do they have on how you could improve your blog? Make your “home” page as easy on the eyes as the blog page
* What questions do they have having surfed your blog? None – it’s pretty self-explanatory & easy to understand
* What words would they use to describe the design? uncluttered & relaxing on blog page, in no hurry to move along
* What are the main things that they remember about your blog 10 minutes later? It’s nice to rest your eyes and use your mind to think about what’s being written
* What suggestions do they have from a user perspective? Already said…
Kudos!
Ryan McLean
April 23rd, 2009 9:20 am
I think I would be too nervous to get one of my family members to read my blog while I was there
Barbara Swafford
April 23rd, 2009 10:24 am
Hi Darren,
I agree. Too often we get so hung up on making our blogs the way we want them, we forget about the most important aspect of blogging – gaining a readership.
Elizabeth @ Type A Mommy
April 23rd, 2009 11:57 am
What a super idea! I’m so glad you mentioned this – I just invited a friend to look at my blog for the first time, and I’ve asked her to wait until I can be around to observe now, so I’m excited to see what I learn from the exercise!
Laurie Foley
April 23rd, 2009 12:07 pm
So important and so often not done – thank you!
The primary question I like to ask is “What ACTION do you want to take when you visit this site?”
Those answers are very enlightening indeed.
BTW, Darren, your book is the only blogging book I recommend in my Bootcamp for Baby Bloggers class. They LOVE it.
Stephen Wise
April 23rd, 2009 12:11 pm
I did it today with my friend at my University library computers-
They all say “this looks really clean, and they blog images make it look like it has alot of content” They go to the blogs that have titles as questions, or with pics of something unfimiliar to them.
http://onlivedream.com
if youre a reader from ProBlogger, mention so in a comment under the first blog that first catches your eye.
edwin allen
April 23rd, 2009 1:34 pm
My site is in spanish, the url is
http://www.theiphonetips.com
Please help me doing this task then send you coments to @theiphonetips
Kurt Avish
April 23rd, 2009 1:44 pm
@Samuel: Thanks for sharing this link man. I will be doing a small sets of question about how to improve my blog today evening. Meanwhile I would be glad if anyone here have a look and tell me how I can improve or what part need to be tweaked or removed. The address is HERE. Thanks in advance. You can leave your comment on the latest post there.
Steve Thomas
April 23rd, 2009 2:29 pm
I’m enjoying your 31 days to build a better blog.
Last week we challenged our blog readers to ask their “Aunt Ruby” to do something similar to optimize their online donations. We had great responses and feedback to the strategy. And my Aunt Ruby loved it. http://www.oneicity.com/blog/optimize-online-fundraising/
Thanks for the great information.
elizof
April 23rd, 2009 2:58 pm
Thanks again Darren for the assignment and reprieve!
A number of us have been using the forums to solicit participant website reviews and it has been fantastic…
The feedback has been excellent and people have been both supportive and sincere.
I had my sister and kids do quick reviews for me and the results were astonishing… needless to say, I have lots of work to do.
Have a great day ahead!
Mrs Green
April 23rd, 2009 4:45 pm
Ack; I’ve been away and I’m trying to catch up! This is an excellent idea, Darren. Both Hubby and i can’t be particularly objective when it comes to looking at our own sites, so I’m definitely going to get the coffee in and bribe some people!
The questions you suggest should provide some interesting answers and useful material to work with.
Thanks so much for this idea!
CGabriel
April 23rd, 2009 6:38 pm
This should be a great exercise to try!
The ideal group for me would be my extended family since they view blogs as something akin to medieval torture. They all know that I have a blog but wouldn’t know the first thing about how to find it, what it’s about…some folks just aren’t into blogging, bloggers and blogs like everyone in this challenge.
So, I’m getting this on here late in the game but I’d certainly welcome anyone to take a peek around Blog Harbor and sharing a thought or three. And I’ll be more than happy to peruse your blog.
Christopher
Sudeep
April 23rd, 2009 8:52 pm
Thanks Dareen ,
It was gr8 idea that was provided in this article … would be keeping that in mind
Sudeep
kern
April 24th, 2009 12:01 am
After reading this I solicited a fellow reader to help me. The points she made were eye opening! Thanks so much! Changes have been made, and if anyone wishes to look at the new site, please do and feel free to post.
TammyQuitter
April 24th, 2009 12:40 am
I think this is a great idea. Sometimes, you get so “enmeshed” in your own project that you just can’t see it the way others do.
UserTesting.com looks like a pretty cool (and affordable) service for this. You can also get paid to test websites. Anybody have any experience with them?
PShankar
April 24th, 2009 1:18 am
Excellent Information. I just started blogging for a month and I use google analytics and stat counter statistics to see how my visitors navigate around my blog.
blog4movie
April 24th, 2009 2:02 am
I have ever did it before, but the problem is sometimes my friends don’t want to let me down, so they only say good things about my blog, so I start to ask some opinions from other people who I never meet before (by chat in internet etc), they can say anything that they want, but honestly sometimes I need more than two ears to hear their criticism :D, but it’s okay, I will get used to for it :)
Keith Jenkins
April 24th, 2009 2:14 am
Hi Darren,
That’s a fantastic idea! Will definitely try it out with some friends.
Thanks again!
Nancy
April 24th, 2009 7:33 am
I would love any critiques for any of my blogs:
http://www.abridescookbook.com/blog
http://teachingsundayschool.blogspot.com
http://onlinestoregivitup.blogspot.com
Keith Jenkins
April 24th, 2009 9:54 am
I received an e-mail from a Stan Webb (whose comments are above) asking me to check his blog. He didn’t mention where he got my e-mail address from and his e-mail address stated “Editor Access”. I don’t know what that is. Did anyone else receive such an e-mail? It could be completely innocent but thought I’d check first because I didn’t release my e-mail address on this page.
[Lara Says: You DO have a contact form on your blog, Keith... could that be it?]
delicate flower
April 24th, 2009 8:39 pm
I just the review of my blog… I think my reviewer was probably not my typical reader and a tad put off by my sometimes risque posts.. which was good in that it gave me a different perspective. So, good feedback and then looking at others as I have in the last day or so w/ that same ‘reviewer’ eye has been helpful.
I’d love additional feedback, maybe from more men?
http://www.delicacies.wordpress.com
my email: delicate54flower@yahoo.com
Elena
April 25th, 2009 2:32 am
This is a great idea. It can be hard to find someone who is objective enough to give you feedback but it just takes patience to find the right person. You can’t improve on insight if you only have one opinion. It’s definitely next on my list.
Ark Lady
April 25th, 2009 7:05 am
I had two people give me feedback. Just saying something is nice doesn’t quite help but check out this beauty (and BTW I changed my website over to a blog so it will make sense when you read part of it):
* What were their first impressions?
Interesting, informative and inviting. Nice clean presentation. The videos draw you in like you’re on a Treasure Hunt.
* What did they first think your blog was about when they arrived at it?
No introduction, so I wasn’t sure what to expect
* Did they find it easy to read/navigate/understand?
I wasn’t sure if I had arrived at the Blog when I clicked on the Animal Blog link, until I scrolled down the page, as everything still looked the same as the site’s landing page. I did this twice, from the Blog link at the top of the site and from a category on the right side. I thought I was still on the main web site
Otherwise it was very easy to read, navigate through, and to understand.
* What did they ‘feel’ when they first arrived at your blog?
Easy and inviting, the colored type and photos add alot and the bullet points and references give great added value so that I would want to write this information down or forward it to friends. Oh I am a dummy and here I thought that it was just colored type and now I realize that those are hyperlinks.
* What suggestions do they have on how you could improve your blog?
Have the blog links take a person to an anchor where the actual blog begins so there’s no confusion. Underline the hyperlinks for dummies who don’t know better, or bold the hyperlink type.
* What questions do they have having surfed your blog?
No questions as you have listed action steps as well as resources on the Blog article I looked at.
* What words would they use to describe the design?
Clean attractive, easy on the eyes. Easy to read.
* What are the main things that they remember about your blog 10 minutes later?
What great information was there.
* What suggestions do they have from a user perspective?
Have a title at the top of each Blog entry that identifies this as the Ark Animals Blog. Just for clarity.
Stan Webb
April 25th, 2009 9:44 am
Keith Jenkins:
Ooops, my inquiry to you was totally innocent.
I had used the contact form on your page and I do not have your email address. The default address for our blog is ‘Editor Access’.
Yours truly
Stan Webb
Keith Jenkins
April 25th, 2009 10:09 am
Nope, I added the contact form to my blog just this afternoon, way after I received an e-mail from Stan.
Stan must’ve gotten my address from the bottom of the ‘About’ page on my blog (it was tucked way way down on the page) – good job Stan in finding it! I replaced it with a contact page today.
No worries. Stan, I’ll reply to your e-mail separately.
Cheers,
Keith
Marie
April 26th, 2009 1:06 am
I had a few family member do this for me, but was uncertain if they were being truthful or just being kind.
So, I decided to tweet about it and ask if anyone had he time, could they please just look at the website and give me honest feed back.
A few people came through for me and I’m honored that they took their time to make suggestions.
Great advice! Thanks for helping us to think outside the box.
Steve
April 27th, 2009 12:31 pm
It was weird hearing a guy tell me I did not have enough information to lead people to read more of my articles. He commented that I should link more within the blogs. I had never thought that was a big deal but after this I guess I need to add more linking. Thanks for the article.
ExcitedByLife
May 1st, 2009 9:16 pm
We found this task to be very useful and enjoyable. There is something satisfying when someone reviews your-baby and in anticipating the feedback, also sometimes we are too close to our work to see what is lacking.
We chose not to watch the reviewer, mainly because people tend to behave differently when they are being watched. We also chose a friend to review our site since relatives can be overly-harsh – especially if you appear to spend more time on your blog than with them.
Summary Of Comments
site takes too long to load (we were unaware of this as our computer was caching web sites)
relate stories more to daily life. Make it more personable
domain name is easier to remember (excitedbylife.com)
needs more color
Amy
May 4th, 2009 10:31 pm
This was a very interesting task. I got some great feedback, with the most suprising being that, along with the problem solving and advice I give on my blog, they wanted more real-life stories from me. I thought that was interesting as we always talk about our blogs being a service to others or add value to others. I guess there is a certain balance that is needed. I also need more pictures in my post. I completely agree with that and am currently dealing with technology limitations, but I will be doing that also. The feedback was mostly postive which was good. Also, the person who reviewed my blog decided to feature my blog on one of her post! Yay bonus!
Anna Banana Kruchten
May 13th, 2009 3:56 am
Darren
Thanks so much for you invaluable tools on the 31 day blog challenge. I read day 16. Thought about it and used an experience I had as a broker last week and wrote a blog.
It was a winner. Got my first gold star and I’ve received over 50 comments so far. Best ever!
This stuff works if you do the right stuff!
Anna Banana
Paramendra Bhagat
June 28th, 2009 9:08 am
Solid tip I have not tried yet.
Comments will be closed off on this post 90 days after it is published. Apologies to those this impacts but it's a regrettable and temporary measure to combat a growing comment spam problem. See our most recent posts where you can comment here.