Question

Topic: Website Critique

Marriage Blog Needs Redesign- Which Wp Theme?

Posted by Anonymous on 12/21/2008 at 2:03 PM ET 250 Points
Hi, my blog, https://www.thismarriagething.com, launched this February. My audience is married baby boomers although there's a fair amount of gen y folks who read it. The blog is meant to eventually generate traffic for my greeting card/gifts company, Charmed Life Cards.

I chose a revolution theme with a static front page. I know the pears take up too much real estate and the tiles are below the fold- hence the redesign. We're growing nicely (7800 readers) but the comments are low, despite using comment luv and relish widgets and asking questions.

Please review my blog with these thoughts in mind:

1. What is your overall impression re: color, navigation, content?

2. What would be a better theme to encourage commenting yet adapt to advertising? (I'm considering Thesis)

3. What else would improve TMT?

I appreciate your feedback. I'm way too close to be objective. Thanks, and happy holidays! Dina
To continue reading this question and the solution, sign up ... it's free!
SUBSCRIBE
Or, SIGN IN

RESPONSES

  • Posted by Jay Hamilton-Roth on 12/21/2008 at 5:16 PM Accepted
    Given your goal is about marriage, I'd make the imagery reflect your demographic. The pears don't build on your goal. Nor does your logo.

    The home page has too much text on it. If you want to feature your recent posts, use an XML feeder to display posts (instead of making it look like a regular article).

    Subscribers don't mean # of active readers (are you measuring open rates of your newsletters?). To get comments, you need to post provocative information (something that will help polarize the group or create an emotional connection). Many of your recent posts didn't seem well thought out - just some quick jottings. The difference between a blogger and a journalist/writer is that the latter spends a lot of time picking an angle, researching it well, and telling a story. If you're writing simply what you're thinking about, your blog is interesting if people care about what you say (rather than the general subject matter).
  • Posted on 12/22/2008 at 11:48 AM Author
    Thanks, Jay. I appreciate your thoughts. I think opening up my topics beyond marriage to some of the pitfalls of midlife will give me more to play with.

    I realize the common advise is to be provocative, but that doesn't appeal to me unless there is real controversy. I'm more about self-reflection. I'll try to write more evocative posts (and spend more time doing it).

    Working on the logos, but didn't quite understand the post vs article distinction and use of XML reader. You're right about subscribers. How would you tract actual readers?

    Many thanks, and happy holidays

    Dina
    Charmed Life Cards
  • Posted by jarcher on 12/22/2008 at 12:58 PM Accepted
    Hi, Dina. I like the concept of your site & the feel of it. Colors are good to me, as it seems like you are trying to stay away from typical "marriage colors" that are on other sites.

    I agree with Jay and think that you need to have pictures that are more marriage-relevant. The pears don't do much for me, nor do any of the fruit on the pages. I do like the wedding picture on your "about us" page. Use more pictures like that.

    I also think that you should reconsider the top banner ad - unless it is bringing in a lot of income for you - I feel like it is a distraction and pushes too much other stuff below the fold.

    The links for your articles : "Blogging Boomers #98..." and "This marriage thing attracts..." didn't work for me. They brought me to the title page w/no body text. Also when I clicked on "blog" in the top menu bar, it only had one entry listed.

    I think with minor tweeks, you can have a really nice interactive site. I guess in my opinion, I felt like it was a bit "empty". Not a ton of info anywhere for me to read/learn about. How about a page with useful information on planning your "second marriage" or marriage info geared towards people getting married later in life? How often do you post to the blog?

    I also agree with Jay regarding taking a stance and having an opinion... you need to get to your viewer's emotions in order to get them to interact. But just remember who your audience is to avoid turning them off to you though.
  • Posted by Jay Hamilton-Roth on 12/23/2008 at 10:40 AM Member
    Re: XML Feeder. See: https://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/feedlist/
  • Posted by Mikee on 1/3/2009 at 9:44 AM Accepted
    One thing that seemed a little problematic was the blog tab of the menu. When I click on it I get only a couple entries and do not see any way to get to other entries. It would be nice if it were clearer how to get to other entries. This would encourage people to read more and spend more time on the site.

    The suggestions of other articles are nice, but I would like to be able to choose or browse my self. After all, I did not just these first entries, they were just the ones that were there.

    Mike
BACK TO TOP

Post a Comment

Related Discussions

Community Info

Top 25 Experts
(Website Critique)