Blog Critique

1. 82

   SimeyCposted 13 years ago

   I'll be grateful if some hubbers would visit my blog and tell me what the formatting is like - I'm not looking for critique on the content, only on the styling etc.
   
   I used a free template from the web and adapted it for my blog - intrigued to see what people think.
   
   Not sure if I can put a link to the blog in here so you can find the link at the bottom of my profile!
   
   Thanks in advance!

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   1. 59

      pinkdaisyposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      I really like it! I even voted on the right I think polls are great because they encourage the reader to interact.
      
      I will check out your blog again in the future.
      
      Good luck with it!

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   2. 87

      Marisa Wrightposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      I know you're not asking for a critique on content, but I can't resist. 
      
      Can I ask, what's your objective in creating the blog?  If it's just to promote your Hubs, it's fine.  But if you're hoping to make money, writing about writing is one of the worst choices you can make.  The market is saturated.
      
      I'm telling you this because I did the same thing, and got told by a very experienced internet guru that it was a bad idea. I ignored him and ploughed on - and found out he was right!  What a waste of time that was.
      
      You have lots of other interests which would make great blogs and have far more earnings potential - cricket is an obvious one.  I also like your "bucket list" and would love to see you move it to a blog on its own - any subject that needs to be regularly updated and expanded is better suited to a blog than a Hub, and I think your list would strike a chord with other 40 and 50-somethings.
      
      One other point - I read your "About Me" Hub and was alarmed that you've given out so much detail about yourself and your family.  We had a case here recently where a young girl was approached outside her school by an older man.  Her natural instinct was to brush him off, but he said he was the father of another girl and that he'd recognized the surname in a conversation. 
      
      He asked her whether she was the daughter of an old friend - and it was her father's name.  Then he asked "is that the ... from ......(her father's home town)?"  "Did he play soccer for...?", and several similar questions which indicated he knew quite a lot about her Dad.  So she decided he must be genuine and engaged in conversation with him. 
      
      He then offered her a lift home - and tried to abduct and rape her.  Fortunately she opened the door and jumped out of the moving car, and luckily she wasn't badly hurt.
      
      Turns out he had picked her photo from Facebook, then researched online to find out about the rest of her family so he could masquerade as a friend.  You've given so much information about yourself, it would be scarily easy for someone to do that to your daughters or your brother's.  I'd highly recommend you rethink that Hub!

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      1. 82

         SimeyCposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         The blog is actually intended to help other amateur writers on the web - I know it will never make any decent money, but if I can help someone, while adding a few backlinks here and there then I will feel good about it.
         
         As for the 'About me' - good point - same thing for my Hubpages Profile!
         
         Thanks for the critique and the warning - profile to be updated and About Me hub unpublished!!!

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         1. 87

            Marisa Wrightposted 13 years agoin reply to this

            Oh good! It's something that doesn't occur to a lot of people, because there's so much sharing online these days, it starts to feel normal. It's just a pity there are sharks out there willing to take advantage of people's friendliness.
            
            As for the writing blog - I also chose the topic because I felt I had some good experience to share.  However because it's such an over-saturated topic, I hardly got any readers - so I wasn't getting any visitors to help!  See how you go, though - if you're enjoying writing it, then it really doesn't matter anyway.

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2. 83

   WriteAngledposted 13 years ago

   I like it except for the bit on the top left where the pictures and captions keep changing.
   
   I hate it when someone else decides the speed at which I should view something. I also find movement on a web page very distracting.

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   1. 82

      SimeyCposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      So I should keep it stationary and let the user decide to move to the next slide? Hmmm..now I have to delve into the depths of HTML and Script again LOL Thanks for the feedback though!

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