Archive for December, 2007
Previous Entries
Posted by Bloggeries in Charities
If you are a parent then this next blog Bloggeries is looking at will make you want to stop for a quick read. The blog is called Watchful Eye Foundation. The blog is about ways that parents can keep more watchful eyes on their children. The header for example asks ‘Is it obvious my son or daughter is in a gang?’ and appeals to parents that the children of today are the future of tomorrow. This header speaks to the nature of the blog as a resource for helping children from the harms in today’s world and society. The Watchful Eye Foundation itself began due to the need to inform and educate the public in regards to sex offenders, gangs, and the harmful effects that these tough to talk about issues have on children. In essence, the Watchful Eye Foundation teaches children and their parents how to stay safe. Take a look at exactly how they are doing this through any of their most recent bloggeries: Is my Son or Daughter in a Gang??, Petition for the Hershey Company, Boycott continues against Hershey Company, and Boycott Hershey This Christmas.
The blog is found on blogspot, so this offers some already built in blog features which make the blog fairly simple to navigate. Bloggeries are white text on dark green background with a lighter green bordering around it. Bloggeries are left marginalized and there is a right sided navigation bar. In the navigation bar you will find a Menu for list of Hershey products to boycott, Poll on Hershey’s latest PAC candy, About Page, Live Traffic Feed, Blog widgets and advertising, Watchful Eye Foundation in the News Menu, Archive Menu, and link list. There currently is no set Categories Menu though I do see labels on some posts. Labels for this blog include categories such as police, polls, sex offenders, sexual abuse, and watchful eye. Most bloggeries are accompanied by relevant pictures which makes the blog a little easier and more efficient to read.
I am going with a 2.8/5 for this blog as it just needs a little tweaking to give it a more professional and credible appeal. Right now the blog will need more activity and content if it wants to see a larger readership. Currently there are only four posts in December and more content is needed to see growth on this blog. Navigation is fairly simple on this blog, but I would change the Hershey boycott menu around with the About Page so that the About the Watchful Eye Foundation is the first thing in the menu that readers have access to. This will give the blog some credibility and link the personal voice with the message for the readership. I also think adding a Categories Menu to the navigation system will make the blog a little easier to work with. The blog definitely has a unique concept and its topics and writing certainly earn it points there. Overall this is a good blog with an excellent concept that has the potential to reach a large audience. With more frequent content and more navigation features, both this blog and its message could be a tremendous success. I did just notice when I visited the blog seems to be converted to MySpace and Your Child. Not sure what is going on. 
-Chrissie
Posted by Bloggeries in Personal Blogs
Bloggeries is looking at another personal blog today, and this one is a little bit of everything in a world that is ‘Delightfully Deranged’. The owner of this blog is Kathleen who is self-descrbed as ‘rather insane’. She views the world differently and has some rather strange experiences. Her blog is a medium to talk about these experiences and ramble on about nothingness. Get a feel for all that is delightfully deranged in Kathleen’s world by checking out some of her most recent bloggeries: There is Nothing Wrong with Windows Vista; Tundra Gear: Hats Brought to You by the Winner of Survivor Exile Island!; Do the Batty-Bat with Your Friend, The Count!; Men and Cars: Why do They Love Them?; Race a Psycho Chick and WIN!; Have a Good Night with $44 and a White Flag; Down with the Democrats – Why No colbert?!, and Reality T.V. Shows: Retreating From Oblivion, or Deranging our Society.
The blog is only a few months old and thus with little content it makes it very easy to navigate at this point. Bloggeries are in dark green text on a beige background and the blog is bordered in a forest green “Delightfully Deranged” motif. Bloggeries are left marginalized and there is a right-sided navigation bar. In the navigation bar you will find a Featured Presentation that is a cute little widget containing the blog’s goals and objectives, such as to reach 3000 hits and to increase in traffic by 20%. The navigation bar also contains a Recent Posts Menu titled “Yada Yada Yada” and a bit of advertising. Most bloggeries are accompanied by relevant pictures which makes the blog easier and more interesting to read. I currently do not see a Categories Menu or even labels or tags on the posts and I would strongly recommend the blogger begin doing this as this will definitely help to bring in some search engine traffic if effective keywords are used for labeling.
Overall I am giving this blog a 3.0 and this is largely due to the youth of the blog. With such a young blog some essential blog meat is missing, and with time and growth the blog would probably see a better mark. Navigation scores are fine and that is due to the bare bones nature of the blog. To enhance navigation as the blog grows, I suggest adding categories and labels to the blog. I would also suggest moving the About Page from the footer of the blog to a top position in the right navigation bar. This will give the blog some credibility to the readers, and new readers will be able to attach meaning to the personal voice of the blog. Content is well written and in an effective personal voice, but the activity is lacking. Currently there are no bloggeries for December, and November only saw about 13 posts. If the blogger wishes to reach her goals in the featured presentation, she will definitely have to maintain the blog content on a more regular basis. The blog itself however is unique enough to sustain a readership if the content becomes more regular. As a new blog it looks like an interesting read and could do very well with just a few minor changes and regular addition to content.
-Chrissie
Posted by Bloggeries in Celebrities
Bloggeries is going to look at another fashion blog. This blog is called the Daily Fashion and/or beauty tip blog and is a blog that is full of the beaty and fashion tips that your mother may or may not have told you. The blogger is Cluny Grey, a former instructor of college English and Humanities who also happens to be a jewelry designer. Cluny recommends that you visit the blog every day to get information to match whatever your current look is. Every fashionista can get a taste for what sort of fashion love she offers through any of her recent bloggeries: Lips are In!, Uh oh, Fashion Faux Pas on the Celebrity Scene, Dressing Slim: The Tops that Work, It’s After Labor Day!, Shoes for Fall: The Do’s and Don’ts, Get Ready for Fall!!, Discontinued Products, Wrinkles? A Temporary Fix, Just Say No! Good, good, Water, and Beauty Food.
The site is lacking a little in content, and while this is never good for a blog, for the moment it is helping with its navigation. Bloggeries are left marginalized and are black text on white background and there is a right sided navigation bar. In the navigation bar, you will find an about page, AdSense, Blog Widgets, more AdSense, Previous Posts Menu, Archives Menu going back to January 2006, and some Shopping links. There are labels attached to posts but there are currently no categories menus. Labels are what you would expect for a fashion blog and are keyword friendly for the search engines: Beauty, Beauty Tips, Fall Clothes, Fall Fashion Trends, Fashion, Shopping, and so on. Each bloggery is accompanied by at least one relevant picture, and in most cases more which makes the blog a little easier to read, and definitely more interesting for the topic. The blog also has a steady readership at the time of the last posting, which was in October, so the keyword labels are obviously working very well for it.
I am going with 2.4 for this one however, and this is almost entirely due to its lack of content and activity. The blog has not been updated since October, and this is making the blog look very sparse. Even when it was being updated regularly, the blog was not nearly offering a daily fashion tip as its title suggests, so the blog credibility for the readership more than likely suffered. I also think the appearance scores of the blog is hurt a little by the excessive advertising found in the navigation bar. To tone these down and compliment the graphics with the theme of the blog would more than likely serve the blogger much better. I also might suggest that the Recent Posts Menu be moved a little higher so that readers can see it as one of the first items of the blog, and this may attract a stronger readership. Otherwise, the uniqueness of the blog works well with the strong personal voice of the blogger, so with a few tweaks and some more regular blogging, this blog could do very well.
- Chrissie
Are you a Blogger? Join us at the Blog Forum!
Posted by Bloggeries in Technology, Parenting
Here is a blog that will spark the interest of both the techie lover and anyone looking for parenting tips. It is called Geek Parenting. The blog is primarily a blog for pop culture junkies who have spawned but refuse to give up their geeky obsessions, and at the same time, it offers parenting tips and aids to help make the joys of parenting just a little bit easier. The blogger is Amy Cottrell and she is the creator and author of Geek parenting. She is a mother, wife, and a self-professed full-time geek. Amy is also a professional writer and works in content producing for the Internet, as well as search engine optimization. As a full time mom and wife however, her preference for coffee chats is focused on babies and her other geeky love, comic books. Get to know Amy a little better as well as pick up some useful techie tips from some of her recent bloggeries: Top 10 Gadgets and Gizmos to Help Keep Your Little Geek Safe, Lil’ Geek of the Week, Fisher-Price Recalls Dangerous Toy…Only in Illinois?, Welcome to the World, Baby S!, Pretend to be a Time Traveller Day, Roswell is for Lovers (And Other Geek Vacations), Hobby Horse Memories, The Favorite of Girls and Boys, and More Geeky Goodness for the Holidays.
The blog is fairly new and just getting some of its blog meat, so thus at this point it is very easy to navigate. It has a clean template and organized design with a left navigation bar and bloggeries being right marginalized. Bloggeries are in black text on white background with a dark green border and links highlighted in green. In the left navigation menu you will find a Back to the Main Page link, About Geek Parenting information, Sponsors, Subscription information, What I’m Reading Menu, Contact Information, and an Archives Menu. All bloggeries are also accompanied by relevant pictures, and more than one in most cases which adds to the interest and appeal of the blog. There are however no categories yet listed on the blog, and the bloggeries do not contain tags or labels, so this may be something the blogger wants to look into as the blog grows to attract search engine traffic and help its readers find older posts.
I am going with a 3.6/5 for this blog, and this is primarily because the blog is in very early stages and still going through some growth spurts. Right now the blogger is doing very well for activity and keeping regular bloggeries that attract and interest an already growing readership. Navigation scores are hurting a little bit, but I suspect these would grow as the blog does. There are currently not very many standard navigation menus associated with the blog such as Recent Posts, Recent Comments, or as previously mentioned a Categories Menu. Adding these elements may make the blog a little easier to move around, and if the blogger keeps up with her current rate of activity, they will be a necessity as more content is added to the blog. The blog also scores well for uniqueness and appearance as this blog is not only cleanly laid out and thus easy to read, but also comes in a unique niche that attracts a healthy readership. Judging by the current comment tabulations with each bloggery, this blog is already doing very well in sustaining an excellent readership and thus with time, should experience even more growth and success.
-Chrissie
Previous Entries
