What Do Visitors Learn In Just 10 Seconds On Your Blog?
This is a guest post by CreativeBlogger
Be sure to read the entire post to learn how you can get free feedback about your blog.
As our expectation of the web rises, our attention span on the web falls.
With the ability to find the answer to just about anything, pin-point your exact location on the fly, calculate accurately, socialize with friends, share media, discover apps, and even publish content either on our desktop, laptop, or mobile devices, it’s no wonder our attention spans have waned.
The web is full of great content just waiting to be discovered; unfortunately, we’re not exactly willing to discover it if it requires an investment of our time.
It’s about instant-gratification and accomplishing something in the least amount of time possible.
Many web publishers across the grid, including bloggers, have changed their strategy and presentation in order to satisfy this demanding attention span of ours … and many haven’t.
Ignoring this won’t make it go away … it will simply prevent you from attracting subscribers and building your readership.
So, are you wondering how your blog lives up to such a demanding attention span? If so, you’re in luck, because I’d like to help you find out right here … right now.
In the last workshop post, I asked everyone here whether or not you were giving your readers a reason to revisit your blog, but today I’d like to ask you another question …
What do visitors learn in just 10 seconds on your blog?
Again, this is something I’d like to workshop with you guys because I think we can go beyond what any analytics has to offer and achieve a better knowledge of how our blogs work on an actual visitors.
If your blog doesn’t compel your visitor to learn more about you, read your content, check out your social profiles, or even act upon a call of action within the first 10 seconds, chances are they’re going to bounce.
Don’t let your potential readership slip away!
Submit a link to your blog in the comment section to receive FREE feedback from me regarding what a visitor might learn in just 10 seconds.
I’m going to be visiting each blog personally, timing my visit, and providing a brief bit of feedback covering exactly what I learned from your blog in just 10 seconds.
The feedback will include a wide range of concentration, including some of the following:
- The initial impression the presentation of your blog made
- What posts attracted my attention
- What pages I attracted my attention
- What social profiles I discovered
- Where my attention gravitated
- What I learned about you
- What I learned about your blog
- Whether or not I was interested in subscribing (impressive if you can land this one!)
I had a lot of fun last time, so I hope we can do it again here.
By the way, last time we did this, I ended up subscribing to a handful of the blogs submitted and following a heap of bloggers on twitter!
Submit your blog below – thanks for participating!
photo credit: Eric Kilby
Christopher is the editor of FuelYourBlogging & FuelYourVenture. He’s an abstract painter striving to make full-time living from his creative work by the time he’s 30, and shares his journey at CreativeBlogger … Subscribe | Twitter | Facebook
I welcome your input
Hey Scott,
I just checked out your blog – nice work! The initial impression the presentation of your blog made on me was positive.
That said, I was momentarily distracted by your choice of color combination at your blog. While this tends to veer into personal preference zone, I wanted to bring it up because I DID notice it as a first time visitor … it has something to do with the raw umber text and dark olive green text against the sandstone background … I think there just isn’t enough contrast. However, the bold accent on “strong” works quite well, as it was one of the first things that caught my attention.
In terms of where my attention was drawn in the first few seconds, I remember it bouncing from corner to corner … like in pong … collecting bits of information as I went. Some of that information included the name of your actual blog, the tag line, the emphasis on “strong,” your focus on life coaching, keywords found in your featured post, “burnout” and ministry,” the image of the broken bulb (nice – people are always drawn to disorder), your social icons on the left, the link to your about page, the image on your about page, and the lower left hand widget below the post on the front page – not so much what you were tweeting, but that you were indeed active. Overall, you’ve managed to relay a bunch of information about your blog in the first 10 seconds.
One thing I’d like to talk about though is what I might have seen had I jumped directly onto the actual stream of posts on your blog.
I first noticed your post about noise – more specifically, the repetitious content of that post –and ask myself, “what the?” then noticed it had 5 comments. Good attention grabber, but I was quick to move along. Next, my attention was caught by the post about surviving the holidays – nice timely post for first-time readers. Moving along, I really, really, really wanted to check out the Marcel the Shell video … hilarious!
There you have it, the first 10 seconds on your front page and another first 10 seconds on the page where your actual stream of posts lives.
Keep up the great work, Scott! Your blog is organized well and presents some very important elements to new readers within the first 10 seconds, including your social profiles and your focus.
Thanks for sharing your blog – looking forward to seeing what you come up with next.
Christopher,
Thanks so much for your input. I am grateful for the valuable information you shared.
It’s very easy to do what seems good to me. However, your interest in my website has inspired me to always keep my readers in mind as I go forward.
God bless!
Your welcome, Scott! Glad to be of some help.
Hope you either had (depending on your local) or have a happy Christmas.
I am just getting started but I would be interested in your first impressions. I know I leave plenty of sites after visiting for just a few seconds.
Hey Rosemary, thanks for sharing your blog – on congrats on starting it!
Your blog made a positive first impression! It’s simple and clean and offers fun and humor for readers.
That said, there was one thing that I saw might boggle some visitors: the minimalist design, which is simple and clean, sure, but it lacks one major element that makes it easy for visitors to assess your content … anchor points. Anchor points give the theme structure, which in turn, readers have come to depend on to skim the page. For example, because there isn’t a clear divider between the header and body of your blog, I wasn’t able to snap back up to the top as easily as I might if there were a menu bar or logo.
Though it’s that big of a deal, you should know that I wasn’t able to discover anything about you within those first 10 seconds. However, I did notice the picture of the cat in the upper right hand corner. I’d think about replacing this with a picture of yourself and a short bio right in the sidebar. That way people will be able to see who wrote what their reading … an important aspect considering it’s presented as a personal blog. This will enable people to learn more about you immediately, which in turn will help them connect with you and encourage them to return.
Another way to provide more info upfront is to create a few links to some prominent posts you’d like to promote to first-time readers – these posts should represent your blog, your writing style, tone, and everything in-between if possible. If you haven’t really created your core content yet, or it just doesn’t seem like the way for you and your blog, consider bumping up the categories section so people can see what you’re blogging about regularly.
Overall, your blog is solid – I’d think about the theme and how it affects your visitors’ readability, creating a list of posts that represent your blog fully, and adding more information about yourself upfront.
Keep up the good work, Rosemary – you’re on to a really cool idea I’m sure a lot of people will find helpful and fun.
Christopher,
Thank you for taking the time to review my blog.
I understand the points you’ve made about the anchor points and the profile. I put this blog together in very little time last week and did not want to mess around with a complicated theme. This was simple and clean, so I chose it, but I am looking around for something else. The theme has too many limitations.
My cat stays as my profile picture for now, but I did add a page letting people know why I started the blog and also took your advice about the sidebar and moved things up. If they click on the picture hoping for a profile, they will get my feature post.
Thank you for the positive comments, at least I know I’m on the right track, and thank you for your constructive review. I’ve already tried to implement a few of them in my own way and will continue my search for a theme that will add some spice to it.
Thanks again for taking the time.
Merry Christmas
Rosemary
My pleasure, Rosemary. Starting with a simple theme and focusing on the content of your blog is exactly what I would do as well.
Keep it up, and have a Happy Christmas. :D
Hi Scott,
I am still trying to improve my blog but I just wanted to let you know that the Featured Post I added with your suggestions is now the most popular page besides the home page that is.
Thanks again for your advice, it was great!!
No problem, Becky!
;)
I like name-switch day!
Christopher, sorry about that. Got you confused with Scott who’s handling the WordPress PostADay Challenge.
No problem at all – it happens rather frequently, which is kinda strange.
Hope all is well!
Hey Chris,
Great post! And thanks for offering your time to provide some constructive feedback. Network Marketing Classroom is a newly launched blog and your opinions will be greatly appreciated.
Hey Andrew,
Thanks for sharing your blog – looks like it’s coming along nicely! In the first 10 seconds on your blog, I first noticed the clean design and clear organization of your content … definitely one of the first ways to impress a reader positively.
Once I saw that your presentation was solid, I bounced around from your title, signup form, and post, to your tweet button, social icons, and graphic. The first post was attractive due to the video preview box – always a good idea to provide something really compelling at the top of your post stream while attracting new visitors to your blog.
Your social icons informed me you were probably active across various social networks, but you’re still going to have to find a way to get me to connect.
Overall, your blog is solid and my attention tended to gravitate toward your content. Thanks for sharing your blog, Andrew! Keep it up!
Hey Christopher,
Thanks for the feedback. And congrats on a great post. Much appreciated!
Thanks Andrew!
If you want to spend 12-15 seconds, I won’t tell. Looking forward to your feedback. Your generosity is very welcome.
Hey Bob – thanks for sharing your blog again!
The first thing I noticed about your blog was the timely post at the top of your stream – great way to keep it current and let new visitors know you post regularly.
My attention gravitated over to your right sidebar – where you have your profile image. Using an image here is a great way to pull your reader’s attention to the area you want, however, because of the smaller size of the elements in the sidebar, including your image, links, and text, it’s difficult to collect the information. This may result in visitors skipping over trying to gather the info from you sidebar and try looking elsewhere – if they can’t find what they’re looking for quickly, they may bounce away from your blog. If possible, consider amplifying the size of the elements in your sidebar a bit, in order to drive the eyes of your readers exactly where you want them.
Great job presenting the popular posts to your readers – this is exactly what I was looking for when visiting your blog, because it cuts through the archives and provides a glimpse of what everyone else likes best. From your visitor’s point of view, it’s your best work.
Looks like you’re well on your way to providing real value to those interested in your niche. Keep it up, Bob!
:D
What great focus points in your article. I will be keeping them in mind when I post to my blog which, by the way, I have gone back and forth with – am I saying too much, not enough, is it interesting, and on. Sometimes I go for spells between postings (not good I’m sure) so I can use all the help I can get. Thank you very much for the free advice on my blog and an article that hits home in 10 seconds!
Hey Denise!
In the first 10 seconds on your blog, I took notice of your header image, your first post, and your profile area. Great job here catching your visitors’ attention. That said, I should mention that I bounced from your post to your about area fairly quickly – the reason for this was because the title of the post didn’t really demand my attention. As a personal blog, this may not be important to you, but if you are hoping to build your readership, you may want to work on creating titles that compel both your existing reader and new visitors. You’re sharing a lot of cool stuff on your blog – creating compelling titles will help others find it.
Moving on to the next area, I found your “about” section and tag line a little vague – it doesn’t really say anything about you. While it informed me you were optimistic and happy to be living life, I still wondered who you were, where you came from, what you were going to be sharing on your blog, and so forth.
Overall, the first impression of your blog was a positive one, and I felt there was definitely some value to be had. With a little articulation in sharing a little about yourself and creating interesting titles, there’s no doubt you’ll be able to connect with new visitors and build your readership.
Thanks for sharing your blog, Denise!
Chris, Thank you VERY much for your sincere and refreshing feedback! I will definitely take heed and follow your advice.
Denise
My pleasure, Denise!
Free feedback? Let me have it!
Nice blog, Ayngelina!
The first thing I noticed was your title, “Bacon Is Magic,” which is fun and sets the tone for what visitors can expect from your blog. Next up, my eyes bolted to your upper menu, which created a positive feeling as it made it easy to find out more about you. Your featured post is timely and prominent, it’s clear you’re active on flickr, offer rss subscription, as well as invite people to connect across various social networks … overall, your blog looks like it’s in great shape for first-time visitors.
There’s one thing I noticed might need attention. The first involving the featured section on your about page – is there anyway to exclude this area from pages? At the end of my 10 second visit, I was able to click to your about page, but because of the featured area, I wasn’t able to learn anything about you.
Other than that, your blog looks solid to this first-time visitor. Keep up the awesome work.
Thanks Christopher
I know that featured section is such dead weight. I’m actually working on a new template that will help eliminate the dead space.
I’ve had a lot of mixed reaction about choosing to go with a black background. I think it helps the site stand out and the photos pop but some complain about the readability.
What are your thoughts?
Great posts, as a new blogger the questions you have us ask of ourselves have caused me to stop and think. I’m looking forward to reading more posts from you.
Hey Mark,
Thanks for sharing your blog here at FUEL. I checked out your blog and in the first 10 seconds it made a positive impression on me.
I learned that your blog is the place to go for everything trauma, including both personal teachings and news. I saw you were active on twitter, you offer an email subscription option, and display an ezine expert author badge.
Your topic is interesting and there’s no doubt you’re providing a lot of people in need of help and information regarding PTSD. One thing I noticed after my initial 10 second visit was that your email subscription option was actually for ezine updates … correct? I wonder if you might be able to attract more subscribers by promoting your own blog’s newsletter or email subscription option … that way, visitors can connect with you and your content on your blog directly instead of going to ezine. I’d love to hear how this is working out for your blog is you have the chance to share it here.
Overall, your blog is helpful, well organized, and provides ways for visitors to follow you, both socially and through an outpost, such as ezine. The only thing I guess I might add is that I wish I’d been able to learn more about you right on the front page – for example, where your ezine badge is. You have a compelling story and loads to offer people with your insight – let visitors know upfront who you are, where you came from, and why you’re blogging along with a profile picture, and I’m sure you’ll be able to capture the attention of even more visitors.
Thanks Mark.
Hi Christopher,
Thank you very much for the detailed account of your 10 second impression. Your points are spot on!
Best,
Mark
http://www.ramblingsontrauma.com
Twitter: @mdust
My pleasure, Mark! Thanks for sharing your blog.
Welcome, Mark
I would love to get feed back. All I usually hear is, “that looks great,” and I really could use some constructive criticism. Thanks!
Thanks for submitting your blog, Paul.
The clean design and presentation of your blog helps make a great first impression. Within the first 10 seconds on your blog, I learned I that you blog offers both video content and written content – the latter including several contributors’ voices, you’re active on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and YouTube, and you offer email subscription options.
Your featured area is visual and compelling, but as a first time visitor, I was more interested in learning about you rather than diving into one of the featured posts. This is where I became a little lost in the content on the front page, as there’s quite a bit focusing in on various areas of your blog, so I most of those first 10 seconds were looking for the about content rather than learning more about you. That said, your about link is prominent, so this probably isn’t that big of a deal.
Great job overall – definitely clear you’re providing awesome value. The only thing I’d recommend is to add a profile image of yourself in the about area.
Thanks for sharing your blog, Paul!
I would greatly appreciate your feedback. I am currently in the process of updating my blog to support more call-to-actions and bigger visuals to try to hold more of my visitors’ attention. Thank you for this opportunity!
Hey Herod – thanks for submitting your blog.
Your blog definitely held my attention … those featured images are fantastic – did you replace the standard arthemia featured section with your own code?
Within the first 10 second on your blog, I was very impressed. Your logo is attractive, your featured images are prominent and interesting, and the simple design of your front page made me feel comfortable. I also noticed the community aspect of your blog, which interested me, but I was unsure what the benefit of joining the community was … this might be a good place to start honing your call to actions. Just like any social network, you need to provide your visitors a reason to join. One way to do this might be to highlight the niche aspect your community offers that others, such as Facebook, don’t.
The only thing I found a bit distracting was your category bar – it reveals a focus that doesn’t match your initial description in your tag line, “Graphic Design. Art. Photography. Creative Direction.” As a first-time visitor trying to figure out what you’re writing about, this clash prevented me from learning exactly what it was you were offering at your blog.
Nice job on the blog – arthemia is one of my favorite themes! I’d love to hear how you created that long featured post area!
Thanks, Chris!
I really appreciate your feedback. I have been trying very hard to create my niche, which is something that is quite unique in my field (as you can see.)
I have now added a new custom layout to my website to accommodate for some of the limitations I was having with the Arthemia theme. It still has a few of the elements you liked before. If you have the time, I would love to know if the changes work? Now that the layout is up, I will focus on tightening up my niche.
Do you have any suggestions to help establish a more concrete niche?
Hey!
your feedback’d be great
Hey Maria – nice blog!
I love how timely your header is. It definitely caught my attention and informed me that your blog was current and fun. The next thing I noticed was your title and the tag line, “just a music blog,” which gave me the info I needed to understand what I’d find on your blog.
Within the last few moments of the 10 second first visit, I bounced around your sidebar a bit, noticed your archives were pretty small, but that you were posting multiple times a day.
The only thing I felt your blog lacked was some sort of social presence … a badge or link or share button. Going back, I saw you use the sexy bookmarks plugin at the foot of each post, but you can probably count on most readers not clicking away from your front page. Consider adding a Facebook like box or like button to your sidebar – this will show people your social proof, which will increase over time and ultimately encourage more people to connect with you.
Here’s a link to the Facebook social tools: http://developers.facebook.com/plugins
Overall, your blog looks awesome and it’s clear what your content focus is all about. Keep up the great work, Maria.
Looking forward to your review
Thanks for sharing your blog, Scott.
The first few seconds on your blog, I learned that you’re using blogger as your blogging platform, your brand is called scloho, and you’re blogging about marketing.
The first thing I noticed about your blog was the amount of empty space there was – as prime real estate (especially when presenting your blog to first time visitors), I’m afraid you may be losing potential subscribers because of this. There’s definitely no right or wrong way to go about designing your blog, but based on my first time visiting your blog, I felt a little confused as to what your blog was about in the first few seconds because of this empty space. Even though your header hosts the words “marketing solutions,” I didn’t actually see it until later in the first 10 seconds. Not a big deal, but a good indication that your visitors are probably skipping over your logo and trying to learn what your blog is all about from your content and sidebar. Maybe it’s just me, but I think readers tend to race through content when they first arrive … we just want to know what it’s about as soon as possible. Perhaps I skipped over your header because of the slanted level or smaller font … not sure why, but I did.
It was only after the first 10 seconds that I went back and noticed you have a lot of information in your sidebar below the fold – information that helped me better understand your blog. It’s just an idea, but I’d suggest either moving or removing the first five elements of your sidebar (nominee badge, twitter badge, home page badge, subscription buttons, and search bar), yes even the subscription options, and bump up a few others, including your about me section, your feedburner email subscription box, your friend connect badge, and maybe the links to other blogs within the network of your brand.
Everything else … doesn’t provide your visitors much value. The feed isn’t working on one of your badges anyway, the site meter information and other statistics are a waste of space for your visitors, and, this is just my opinion, the twitter badge is distracting from actual content on your blog. Again just my opinion – the best way to use twitter to attract readers to your blog is to use it as an outpost … in other words, build a one way street to your blog from twitter. This one way street will enable your followers on twitter to hop over to your blog when they see you’ve posted something new, and prevent people on your blog from hoping away from your blog to see what you’re doing on twitter.
Any one have ideas on this – I’d love to hear everyone’s stance on the blog-twitter relationship question.
Overall, your blog provides great value for those interested in marketing, and you’ve got all the information needed to help first time visitors discover what your blog is all about, but I think you may need to think over the focus and order in which you present that information.
Thanks for sharing Scott!
I’ve got a blog for collecting dissertation ideas (which is going well) and for creating dialogue (which isn’t happening at all). Anything I can do?
Multiculturaldiscippleship.Ning.com
Hey Carl – thanks for sharing your work at Fuel.
As a first time visitor, there are three things that I think might help encourage others to jump in and dialogue to your blog:
1. Try creating titles that connect with the reader
As I skimmed through your latest posts, I couldn’t really connect with them. They seemed more like note titles for your own review later. One way to draw your readers’ eyes to a post and get them connected is to create a title that sparks some sort of interest. I find that questions work really well (just look at this post). Another great way to connect with a reader is to provide a list title (I think National Geographic is featuring “10 Most Sacred Places On Earth” on their latest issue ).
2. Write conversational content
Consider approaching your content publishing like you would when you spark up conversation. Its should be accessible to others and encourage them to speak up with their own views or ideas.
3. More forum activity
I noticed your forum only has two entries – while it may be discouraging when no one hops and speaks up with you in the forums, it’s imperative that you spark up all the activity. It takes a lot of work, promoting conversations across your social networks, tying them into your posts, and linking to them from comments you post on other blogs, but it’s absolutely necessary if the forum is going to survive. The two points apply here as well, and you should consider researching keywords and interests people in your niche are searching for and implement them into your forum. This way, you’ll have content that strikes your viewers.
Great design by the way! Let me know if you have any other questions, Carl!
I know that the first thing people might notice about my blog is that I have a lot of adverts. :D
Hey Dean,
I wasn’t distracted so much by your ads as I was by the vagueness of your front page. It took me the majority of the first 10 seconds to learn what your blog was about due to a combination of things – the title isn’t exactly relevant (not a big deal), the links in the navigation didn’t really help (with the exceptional of make money), and the featured content at the header was a bit confusing due to the title, “What Are Other People Talking About?”
The ads aren’t that bad, however, the blue host affiliate link in the featured section of the blog probably isn’t the best in terms of attracting dedicated readers. As a blogger setting out to make a full time income from your blog, you have to ask yourself whether you’d be able to make more through ads and sponsorships and affiliate links or if you’d be able to make more through the direct sale of an ebook, service, or other product. My guess is it involves a combination and balance of them all.
That said, you might want to slash the featured links thing. Cheers!
Thanks for the helpful suggestions. I’d be grateful for your feedback on my blog. Thanks!
Thanks for submitting, Scott.
Within the first 10 seconds of my visit at your blog, I learned that your blog has a rather broad focus (including race, religion, politics, ministry, sports and culture), a little about you, noticed your twitter presence, email subscription box, friend connect badge, your popular post list, and the video in your content.
A solid first few seconds.
Keep up the great work, Scott!
I would welcome some observations about my blog. I’ve just started 2 months ago, and I am amazed at the interest I’ve received according to the analytics. I welcome your comments about where to improve and what to do next. Thanks! I’m enjoying the information you’ve presented. — Paula
Hey Paula – thanks for sharing your blog.
I noticed you have a great introduction right at the top of your blog as well as a little bio section in the sidebar, which makes it easy for people to learn what it’s all about and who’s behind it – Nice job there.
I imagine you’re probably planning on, or at least interested in, using your blog to extend your reach as a teacher – providing both free information and premium information to students. If so, you may want to consider scratching the ads you’ve implemented and focus on promoting your work as a teacher. Whether that includes an ebook, online class, consulting, or whatever, you’ll find it more beneficial and profitable to promote your own services.
It looks like you’re providing helpful information to your readers and building a following – congrats! Keep on doing what you’re doing and I’m sure you’re following will continue to grow.
Thanks, in advance, for the feedback!
Hey Jarrod – my pleasure!
Within the first 10 seconds on your blog, I learned that it was a blog all about encouragement, motivation, and religious inspiration. Your sidebar provides a look into your popular posts and bio, which is definitely helpful.
The one thing I think might help out with this blog – especially because of how dense the front page is with content, – is a few quick links to your most populated categories. But that’s just an idea. Your blog looks great!
Thanks for submitting, Jarrod!
Chris ~
Thanks for taking (more than) 10 seconds to look at my blog! I guess I never thought of having “categories” with my writings, aside from the category of encouragement or motivation.
I also send out a free text of encouragement on Tuesdays called Tuesday’s Text, if you or anyone is interested you can e-mail at ichthus_man@hotmail.com and let me know your name and phone number.
Other website is our church’s – http://www.colbychurch.com
Have a great day!!! And, thanks again for your candid feedback!
No problem!
Oh, wow. I am so interested to see this. And scared :)
Would call myself a beginner so I hope this won’t hurt much!
Hi Brankica,
Thanks for sharing your blog! The first few moments on your blog, I noticed your main topics of interest, including travel, social media, and shooting. Admittedly, I thought that your shooting category was going to be related to either travel photography or photography for the web, but it’s nice to see such an interesting combo of categories on one blog. Also noticed your email subscription box in the sidebar.
The only suggestion I might offer is to bump up your popular posts on your sidebar – they’re popular for a reason! it’s also one of the best ways to get new visitors to dig deeper into your content, which is how readers get hooked and subscribe.
Nice job, Brankica!
Thank you so much.
I keep moving stuff up and down the sidebar cause all the different people keep suggesting different stuff.
I moved the commenting rules up cause not everyone was seeing them and I got so many bad comment made by human spammers.
But I think you are right – they are popular for a reason and I can always delete a bad comment.
Thanks again :)
Ah, the never ending war on spam … hope you’re winning! There’s definitely no right or wrong way to go about your design, I just felt you might be able to connect with visitors faster by presenting your best work asap.
Hope all is well, and thanks for sharing your blog!
Do spend few seconds on mine.. Thanks in advance! :-)
Hey Amit,
In the first 10 seconds of your blog, I was first impressed by the clean presentation and color design – nice job. One thing that might make it easier for visitors to figure out what your blog is all about is to consider revising the wording of the categories you host in your navigation bar. For example, if your reviews are primarily about movies, specifying so might help those interested click through.
Great job here Amit.
Thanks Matt! I will keep your comments in mind
My pleasure, Tom.
blog.ampli.com
Hey Kevin – thanks for sharing the company blog.
The first 10 seconds on your blog were primarily spent observing the name and logo of the company, the products link in your central nav bar, then reading the article about the cruise ship. The article was so interesting, I ended up reading the whole thing … obviously, it took longer than 10 seconds.
A few things I missed on your blog that are placed prominently on the blog:
- Company name and tag “Extend Your Voice With Portable Sound Systems”
- Home | Sitemap | Email Us
- Navigation links at top
- The description below the title “Amplivox Portable Sound Systems Blog”
- Welcome, Products, and Poll area of the sidebar.
The areas I missed didn’t really impact my experience even when I went back and saw them, so I’d consider scratching them all together. Especially the areas that describe where the visitor is – a mere title should do the trick of letting them know they’re on the official blog of Amplivox.
Nice to see you’re promoting your social following on facebook and twitter as well – that’s where we want to connect with companies! A good company blog to check out for ideas is the Sharpie blog – one of the best I’ve seen.
http://blog.sharpie.com/
Overall, great job hooking my attention with that first post.
Would love to know what you get from 10 seconds at my blog!
Hey Ashley!
Love how solid your blog is – awesome presentation and overall style. The color design of your upper links and brown background work really well together. I scanned the entire row of links, which never happens!
The only thing I can see might stir a problem for certain visitors is the placement of the actual content. During my initial visit, I didn’t make it to the first post by 10 seconds – I noticed your sponsor section and what seems to be a featured or sticky post (join the challenge) primarily. If there was a way to increase the exposure of your content – either by boosting the popular posts area in the sidebar upward or even bumping your bio area above the sponsor section. This will help hook first time visitors and help build dedicated readers.
Other than that, it looks like you’re on a roll and have quite a solid following. Keep up the awesome work, Ashley.
I’m looking forward to your feedback.
Hey Ian – thanks for sharing your blog here.
The first impression your blog made on me was very positive due to the minimalism – good to see a blog enabling the visitor to focus on the content.
Within the first 10 seconds, I was able to scan your front page, see your ad, your first few posts, and find the “start here” link. Clicking through it, I discovered I was on a personal blog about life and the internet. Next, I saw your favorite articles section, which catapulted me to some of your best articles – thanks for that!
Overall, your blog is well designed, easy to navigate, and inviting. Love the single ad in the sidebar – modest, yet impossible to miss. Also, love that your copyright notice dates back to 1986.
Thanks for sharing your blog here, Ian.
You have a cool blog name.
Thanks! Yours is cool, too!
;)
I would love to hear what you think of my blog!
Hey Karim,
I really love the design of your blog – it’s so simple! It’s clear your primary focus is content, and you’ve made is really easy for people to get social with you or spread the word about your posts.
Great job!
thanks in advance!
Hey Aida,
I’m not sure if it’s just me, but I’m really attracted to the design of your blog – it’s simple and focused on providing the visitor the content. The lack of sidebar enabled me to dig into your content and really see the value you’re providing with your blog, which is a change of pace as most blogs tend to provide too many distractions in the sidebar.
Also great to see you’re implementing the like feature from Facebook at the bottom of your posts as well.
Keep up the great work!
Hey there,
Completely new blogger here, so any tips or advice would be greatly appreciated! Thanks (and sorry to add yet more work to your to-review mountain)
It’s my pleasure, Lauren! I love doing this stuff and connecting with you guys – that’s what the comments section is all about.
Your blog looks like it’s coming along nicely! One suggestion I think you should consider is replacing your Recent Posts with a Popular Posts widget – this will provide first-time visitors with a quick way to find the most popular content on your blog, which is important when attracting new dedicated readers. In addition, and this may be my own personal opinion, the Recent Post widget is a bit redundant at the top of your blog because your reader is most likely going to see your latest posts as they scroll through your blog anyway.
Overall, you’re on the right track – keep up the good work!
Thanks in advance for your feedback -
Hey Gary – thanks for submitting your blog!
I love minimalist your presentation is – makes it easier (for me at least) to approach the subject matter. One thing I think you might benefit from is bumping up that about section in the sidebar – it’s what caught my attention most as a first-time visitor.
And perhaps either in your about section or welcome section, throw in a link to one of the most popular articles you’ve written … let people warp to your best content asap, you know?
I’d love any input. Thanks!
Hey Lynda,
Great blog – definitely nice to see something a little more unique in terms of how the elements of a blog is presented. Your featured image slider is a great way to catch attention from first-timers, and it was easy to learn more about you due to the placement of your bio area.
Keep up the awesome work.
Hi Chris,
Would love to know what you think?
Thanks in advance for your time
Claire Thompson
“Making Social Media Success a Reality for You”
Hey Claire,
First 10 seconds – I learned that you’re Claire Thompson, a social media strategy pro offering businesses the know-how, you offer a free report, and you’re active on twitter.
Looks like you’re a solid source for info! Keep it up!
This is exactly what I’ve been looking for! Love your blog! Would love your input; just checked my analytics and saw that I have a very high percentage of new visitors (nearly 80%), and 10% returning visitors who are really loyal and dig deep into the blog. Would really like to turn more of those new visitors into returning (if not subscribing).
Thanks a lot!
Nice work, Rachel!
Within the first few seconds I understood what your blog was about, that you were open to connection on Facebook, and that I could subscribe to your blog. I also had time to learn a little about you on your about page.
The only thing I can think might help you attract readers back to your blog is to highlight the popular posts you’ve written. I have a feeling this section would work really well in your niche, because it would act as a way for parents to see what other parents found helpful. If you had to place it anywhere, I’d recommend placing it in the right sidebar somewhere … maybe even replacing the recent posts section.
Also, you might be able to connect with your readers a bit more with a profile picture on your about page.
Keep it up!
Thank you so much! I will try and get going on your suggestions today.
No problem!
Be sure to ask your friends on Facebook to support your blog as well by liking it on Facebook. The sooner more than 25 people like your blog, the better – after 25 you’re able to register a custom username for your page … that way you can send people to your page with clean links, such as Facebook.com/TeachingTheFuture.
Hope all is well!
Hi Chris,
Taking you seriously about checking out my blog. I’ve been blogging for about 6 weeks so any suggestions, comments etc would be appreciated. Thanks.
http://hydeparkhookup.blogspot.com
Hey Monique – thanks for sharing your blog here.
It’s nice to see a blog dedicated to such a specific niche.
As a first time visitor outside of the HP-K community, I was drawn to your bio area, where I learned a little about you and what to expect from the blog (news, events, real estate news, property listings, and market trends). One way to provide a quick-glance look into what your blog is all about is to add a categories section in your sidebar. This will help the impatient reader discover whether or not your blog is right for them.
Keep up the good work. Spend time thinking about what you want your blog to be about, and focus on writing posts in those categories (events, property listings, etc.) – the more you build up your categories, the more focused your blog becomes.
Keep up the good work and your blog will be the number one resource for the the HP-K community.
Would love your input. Happy 2011!
Hey Priya, happy 2011!
Your blog is well defined and organized – I knew from the very first second on it that it was a resource for parents. I found the layout of your content easy to browse, so I felt comfortable doing so. The banner for Turnaround in the upper right was both relevant and helpful, so I’m sure you’ll be seeing some good return there as traffic grows.
The one area I might spend time thinking about is the menu – while it’s well organized and helpful, it doesn’t focus on the content of the blog (with the exception of the series tab at the far right). As a result, a first-time visitor like me might find it difficult to learn what your content is all about quickly. For example, you’re posting about School, Health, Activities, and other categories parents will find helpful, but if your front page doesn’t feature the exact category of content they’re interested in, you may just lose that potential reader. You might want to consider adding a tab like the series tab, which focuses on the categories you’re writing about. This will give first-timers a quick way to see what they can read about.
You have a great blog here – and I’m sure your focus toward the community of Indian parents will help diversify your blog and increase your readership.
By the way, how well is your ebook offer working as readers attempt to leave your blog?
Thanks a lot for that awesome feedback, Chris! I have had similar comments from other bloggers about adding categories to the menu on top and did try it but there were too many and the menu became too long. I will find another way to add categories, perhaps via a special page that links from the menu.
About the ebook offer, it works well sometimes, but I know I need to craft a more compelling offer and perhaps add a lightbox like that with Popup Dominator (which I find a tad irritating myself).
I’m targeting Indian parents but have found that my content is also very well appreciated by American parents – in fact the majority of traffic comes from the USA since that’s where a large percentage of internet users are.
I appreciate the feedback greatly and will take your tip on adding categories seriously.
My pleasure!
I know our blog needs help, so your input would be greatly appreciated.
Hey Amy,
I love the layout of your blog – the simplicity makes it inviting and easy to approach, which is needed considering the rather heavy subject matter of the content. After checking out the first few articles, I looked to your about section for more information and discovered exactly what it was all about.
The only thing I might consider is adding social sharing tools to the upper portion of the posts – that way, even if someone isn’t interested in reading the entire article, they won’t miss the social features you’ve made available at the foot of the post.
Other than that, it looks really good.
Keep up the great work!
Thanks so much for the comments and the suggestion! I’ll definitely follow your recommendation. Do you (or anyone else) know of any good sites that have toolbar-type things that have Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, e-mail, print, etc. buttons?
I’d stick with Share This personally.
If you’re still interested I came across this and remembered seeing your comment today.
http://www.widgetbox.com/widgets/
:-)
Thank you for the feedback, Chris!
Hey Scott – thanks so much for sharing your blog with us.
Within the first 10 seconds on your blog I learned a little about you, the subject matter of the content, and that I would be encountering your opinion, which is good considering a lot of content is going soft online and focusing on a more neutral approach.
The most recently post is timely and I learned that your content will most likely be focusing on either race, religion, politics, ministry, sports and culture, so it’s clear what you offer and what I can expect.
Great work, Scott.
I would love a review of my blog! I have heard great things about you! Thank you so much!
Awesome blog, Jaime!
Within the first 10 seconds on your blog, I’d learned a lot. I saw your work (excellent by the way!) in your most recent post, learned you’re active on Facebook, provide a monthly newsletter, offer a few items for sale at your store, and have some impressive social proof in your comments section, including the Facebook likes.
The first link I clicked on in your menu was the Portfolio link, because I was interested in seeing more of your work.
Overall, you’ve got an exceptional blog and provide the first-time visitors with a good experience. Nice to see you’re providing so much extra stuff for your visitors as well – something that I think many artists fall short in accomplishing.
Thanks for sharing your work here!
Awesome! Thank you so much for the kind words!
Thanks for sharing your blog!
My blog is in Dutch, so I’m curious to see what you find
I need a link, Patty!
If I’m not too late, I’d appreciate any feedback. I’m about to redesign my blog & your input would be helpful beforehand.
Many thanks -
Hey Aaron,
The first thing I noticed about your blog was your header image and bio area, which gave me a good idea of who you are and what you’re probably going to be blogging about – family, nostalgia, and retro culture.
Looking a bit further down the sidebar, I noticed your category section, which gave me a chance to see if your content stands up to your promise, which it did. I also noticed you were active on twitter and offered readers some pretty fun extra-features in addition to your content.
Thanks for sharing your blog with us, Aaron.
Hope it’s not too late to critque my blog. I have had it for a few years and I just began updating it and trying to make it user friendly, asethically pleasing but also informative. I’m curious to see what you think~Thank You, Jennifer
Hey Jennifer, thanks for sharing your blog!
I think the looks of your blog matches the name perfectly – great job there. During the first few seconds on your blog, I noticed your popular posts area in your sidebar, which is a great way for first-time visitors to get a taste of what you have to offer in terms of content.
One thing I would consider reworking is the about this blog page. I would remove the first paragraph in which you explain how you don’t know how the blog started and how it strayed over time, and focus on delivering your reader an idea of what they can expect from the blog. Tell them what categories you will be writing about, what posts you recommend they check out first (as you’ve already started to do with the “New Kitchen Witch Basics Series”), and provide them the option to connect with you socially.
Same goes for your personal about page – maybe even combine the two? If possible, add a small profile picture so your readers can see who they read every morning.
Looks like you’ve attracted an awesome following, Jennifer. Keep up the good work.
I don’t know whether you still offer your views on first impressions of blogs, but will appreciate some feedback on the following if you do:
http://alanayu.wordpress.com
Many thanks for your help.
Best regards,
Alan Yu
Hey Alan, thanks for sharing your blog here.
I was immediately impacted by the image you have in the header – it struck me not only as stock image, but also more corporate than personal, so when I read the tagline under your title, “Alan Yu’s views on culture, language, leadership, literature, management, marketing, music and philosophy…” I was a little surprised.
I like the clean layout and sidebar on the left (always nice to see something different from the multitude of other blogs). I noticed you most recent post had a few votes of some sort, leading me to believe that others are enjoying your content, so it must be pretty good!
I didn’t really connect with the title of your most recent post, so I checked out the “about this blog” page. I didn’t quite make it to the other page, but highly recommend you condense them into one about area. This will enable you to focus what you need to say about your blog and self in order to connect with readers. Too much info and they won’t read it … too little info, and they can’t connect.
Overall, your blog is looking good – you’ve got some social proof (voters) for first-timers to see upfront, you’re posting regularly, and your expressing your views in a few niches. One thing I might consider if I were you is the theme of the blog. As it stands, I balked when I first saw the header image and the calendar in the sidebar; the image makes it hard to read your tag line, and the calendar simply isn’t needed. Use that area to post your most popular content or social badge of some sort, so people can either see your best work or connect with you socially right away.
Keep up the good work, Alan!
Hi Chris,
This is my first time to your blog. I am gleaning some great info. I was wondering if you could do the 10 second thing on my blog. I’d appreciate any feedback from a “stranger” that knows nothing about me but stops by my blog.
Thanks,
Mari
Nice Mari!
The first thing I noticed was the images due to the majority of space you give it in the header. The second were your nav links – especially the friends link. Next up I saw your first post, profile picture, and the subscription form in your sidebar.
Looking good – keep up the good work!
Hi Chris,
So much to learn. Tell me what you think? Be frank!
http://blindinglightsetc.blogspot.com/2011/01/dangerous-running-lights-more.html
Warm Regards Ken Perham
Hey Ken,
Without an about section, popular links section, or categories area, I really couldn’t discover what your blog was about in the first 10 seconds.
The first thing I noticed was the generic theme of your blog, which is fine, however, I did think that the light turquoise area with white text was a bit distracting simply because it’s difficult to read – most people aren’t going to take the time to read it, which is where you might describe what your blog is about. If they do see it, they will wonder about the legitimacy of your blog because it makes it look like you simply want to rank for those keywords and drive link juice to your main site.
I’m not sure if it’s available for Blogger, but there’s a plugin for WordPress called All In One SEO, which helps you articulate your title tags, descriptions, and even keywords if you’d like in the actual code, rather than on the face of your actual blog. This provides the user with a much more friendly environment. It looks like you’ve been at it for only a few months, so I’d definitely consider switching to Wordpress if I were you.
Overall, with a bit more time dedicated to discovering what the blog is about, and more importantly what your org is about, it looks like you are on the right track and on your way to helping a lot of people.
I’m with everyone else when I say I hope you are still offering an occasional first impression on blogs. I would really enjoy a review and I look forward to reading more of your posts soon!
Sincerely,
Josh
Nice josh – not sure if it’s best for your niche, but you might find that you’ll gain more readers and subscribers by pointing them to the most popular content on your blog before the most recent. After all, they’ll most likely see the most recently simply by scrolling.
Hope the best!
This is my tech blog..
can you review it..
Hi,
The first thing I noticed about your blog was the actual theme – seemed strange to feature wood planks and foliage in the header of a tech blog. The next thing I noticed was the tag line, because it’s hidden by your follow me on twitter sign.
I didn’t really find out what your blog was about from the menu, so I continued down through the layer of ads into the content to learn what it was all about. Looks like some pretty helpful content, too.
Overall, the blog is very heavy in the sidebar, which is ultimately distracting from the content. Focus in on your content, and your ad conversions may increase – especially if you take one of those ads and place it more directly within the content.
Thanks for sharing your work.
Chris, I am very new at blogging but love writing and sharing my thoughts about education. I would love your feedback.
Hey Chris, thanks for sharing your blog here.
The first thing I noticed about your blog was the header, which is kinda difficult to read due to the dark hue of blue behind the black text. I’d recommend altering this to something that stands out a bit more, such as a bold white – this way first-time visitors will learn straight away what your blog is about.
I skipped down to your profile area and learned a little about you – seems like you’re in a great position to provide readers helpful content. Next, i noticed you have included video content in your post – big plus there as it requires little effort for readers to discover it. Finally, I saw that you have several bookmarking icons available at the foot of your post. I didn’t quite get far enough to see your twitter stream in the sidebar, so if you’re actively promoting your following there I’d recommend adding a short little link at the end of your profile area letting people know you’re active on twitter.
Great job, Chris. Keep it up!
Hi Scott, I see you’re just about done! You’ve already given my blog one review, I was one of the early ones.
Any chance you can do another quick review? I’ve been at this for just over a month now and would love to have you look at it again.
You may remember my cat, it’s still there!
Thanks.
I meant to type Chris, I can’t believe I called you Scott again. :-(
haha, don’t sweat it – I’m the worst when it comes to remembering names.
This is really bad, but I often forget the name of the person I just met before we’re finished shaking hands.
Hey Rosemary, thanks for swinging by again.
That particular theme is one of my favorite wordpress themes ever! Looking good. I especially like the features you’ve included in the comments area, including the ability to like a post and rate it – this makes it easy for people to react even if they’re not sure what to say.
Nice work!
Thanks Chris, I appreciate you taking a second look at it. I’ve been hard at work on it. Still need to finish off my profile, but my cat stays!!
She’s too well known now. I really like this theme too! I think I will stick with this for a while.
Rosemary
No prob!
Chris…I’m learning so much just by reading your comments! Great info.
Thanks Dawn – I’m glad it’s helping out. Have you checked out CreativeBlogger.net yet?
Hope all is well.
Thats the link to my research blog Chris. what you think!?
Hey there,
The first thing I was attracted to on your blog was your sidebar – specifically the contributors and what’s new areas.
The link in the header offering an explanation of what your topic is all about is helpful as well, as it offers readers further a look into what the topic and blog is all about.
Overall, your blog looks good and provides the first-time visitor with a positive experience.
Nice work!
You are so right in what you say here. I’ve just spent ages on the “fuel your” network. It does what it needs to and has meant I’ve subscribed and found out some really insightful stuff already!
So, if you are still checking blogs people post in the comments, you can find mine at http://appaholic.co.uk. Currently on hold, however I’d still be interested to see what you have to say about it. Also can I get you to check my new blog which will be launched mid March? http://techrant.co.uk
I’m actually so glad I’ve found this network of blogs. How do you feel about THIS site within 10 seconds, despite your obvious bias and being objective.
Thanks for reading!
I was a little confused on appaholic during my first visit. I think this was because of the lack of any type of menu, where visitors typically look for the about page, categories, and more. In addition, the main banner in the header, with your actual name and logo, didn’t catch my attention, so I had a hard time discovering where I was you might say.
I like the simplicity, but I think you need to provide more information upfront about your blog in order to hook the visitor. Popular posts in the sidebar, categories or post series somewhere near the header, perhaps a revamp of the header design and an about page will all help the visitor.
Looks like you’re still working on techrant, but the construction page looks awesome in all seriousness. I’d love to check it out when you publish.
To answer your last question as objectively as possible, I think the design of this blog hooks visitors rather quickly. With an attractive design, the display of categories near the header, an easy to find about page, a popular posts section in the sidebar, and awesome social features, I think it’s hard to pass by without a second glance.
That’s just me though … what does everyone else think about FUEL. What struck you in the first 10 seconds during your first visit?
Look like that’s going to do it for this topic – it’s been a lot of fun!
If you enjoyed this post and want more feedback about your blog, be sure to submit a link to your blog over at CreativeBlogger.net, where we’re exploring the question, Will your blog end up like Pluto?
Be sure to subscribe to FUEL to learn about new opportunities for free feedback!
Just stumbled upon ya – any feedback is welcome. I’m doing a free wordpress.com blog format – for about a year now. thanks – enjoying your site so far.
Hey Jack, thanks for sharing your blog with us.
Your blog looks good, and from what I can tell, you’re socially active and engaged with your community both as a listener and an influencer.
I had a little trouble discovering what it was you were actually writing about within those initial 10 seconds, but there’s an easy fix to this. I’d replace the recent posts section with a popular posts section and bump it up toward the top. This way visitors will be able to see some of your best articles upfront, thereby increasing your chances of hooking someone’s interest and building your readership.
Another thing I might consider with your blog is to focus on your content. One way to do this is to minimize your widgets in the sidebar. By keeping it simple, you’ll drive your visitors’ eyes to your content instead of your sidebar, which often leads to people bouncing from your blog elsewhere.
Overall though, you’re doing great stuff. Keep it up and focus on the content.
Hello, I old, slow, and do not see well.
I find much of blogging too difficult for me to understand or use.
Still I’d like to help others to get to my content.
I have some concept of organization and presentation, but virtually no understanding of blogger tools or their use.
It would be encouraging if you could give me one suggestion of how I could make my content more usable and easily available. I would need to know where to find detailed and simple instructions on how to incorporate the tools into my blog. Blogger speaks language alien to me.
I’m glad to have found your blog!
Hey Richard,
First, think of your reader while writing a new article. It’s crucial you use their language not only in the article but in the headline as well. This will help you to attract people through search engines, which is the best way to make your content available to those interested. Focus on the reader. Ask yourself if your headline is compelling. Then make sure your content is as helpful or informative as possible. If it isn’t, people will likely go somewhere else.
Second, engage with the social web (facebook, twitter, youtube) and reach out to people via email. Promote your articles as you publish them. Listen to what others are talking about or asking your community.
Hope you’re well! Glad to have you here with us, Richard.