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Archive for the ‘Spotlight’ Category

BlissBlogs – Where Blog Learning Meet Teachings – Review

Wednesday, July 25th, 2007

rate5 BlissBlogs   Where Blog Learning Meet Teachings   ReviewIf you are a blogger, and I mean really, if you are reading this chances are good, then you definitely want to visit Blisslogs.  Blisslogs is a little place where you can pick up some blogging tips and learn from the author’s blogging experiences. It did not take me long to really like this blog, or in fact bookmark it. That being said, bloggers need to take note of this site if they want to improve, promote, or start their own blog. The author is all about helping to help you, and is even willing to provide you your own domain through blisslogs as well as some free blogging software. Further, he will not just help you build a blog, but help you work on monetizing that blog for a little extra side income. Have a look at any of his recent posts to see what I am talking about. Here you will find Goo Goo for Google Monday – Google Talk, BlissLogs is a Winner, Improve your Google PageRank in 4 Easy Steps, WordPress Wednesday – Timestamp your Posts, The Face Behind BlissLogs, Market and Analyze your Site for only $5, John Cow Contest, Blog Contests, Create your Blog Posts with a Free Editor, and many more.

One of the first things I noticed that I love about this blog is that within each post you will find a popularity ranking (of the post), a date and author stamp, tags, Digg and Email links, and then a section on Related Posts. I think the popularity rating is a great tool for both the reader and the author in terms of knowing what to write about. It also helps the reader determine the success of a particular post. I also like the Related Posts links. I find this really increases the readability of the blog, so that users spend less time on a blog searching for what they want to read about. I do not see this often on blogs, so needless to say, I was impressed.

Navigation on this site is so easy, it will not take you long to find what you are looking for. Posts are left marginalized with black text on white background. There is a top, right, and bottom navigation bar. In the top bar you can hit the Home link, read the About Me page, and Contact the author. In the right navigation bar you will find a Most Popular Posts Menu, Categories Menu, Recent Posts Menu, Archives, and the Blogroll. In the bottom navigation system you will find very similar menus, recent posts, archives, and etc. I am not seeing any advertising on the blog, so I am not too sure if this one is being monetized, or is one that is ‘all about the love’ of blogging.

I am going with a 5 for this one, which comes rare but deserved. The fact that I spent more time wandering and reading and bookmarking and taking notes (for my own blog) than reviewing was a pretty powerful indication to me that this blog is worth a subscription and bookmark for any blogger. The blog is chock full of information. The content is spectacularly written and extremely user friendly. And the blogger is really all about helping you succeed, you can’t ask for much better. On all accounts of activity, uniqueness, content, navigation, and appearance, it scores beautifully. The only suggestion I would make is the addition of some pictures here and there. I say this because I know what Internet readers are like, and visual is important and ties in well with good content. But as I have already mentioned, the content is fantastic, and the blog is extremely readable and very user friendly. You really need to check it out for yourself.

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- Chrissie

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NFL Football Revealed on Squib Kick – Bloggeries Review

Monday, July 16th, 2007

rate5 NFL Football Revealed on Squib Kick   Bloggeries ReviewIf you are a football fan, get ready to kick it into high gear with the upcoming season. The blog NFL Football Revealed on Squib Kick is ready to help you out with that if you are not sure where to start. This blog is an anything and everything site for football, and if you are an overall sports fan, the blog here can lead you to an outstanding empire of sports related blogs. For football however, you want to check out some of their latest headlines to see what is happening in the world of NFL as we gear up for the season: Dwight Freeney is inked to a long term pork chop with sea salt; Shaun Rogers, Big Baby won’t be charged; NFL Fantasy Football ate my life; Peyton Manning is on tops, but what about Mark Bulger?; NFL Training camps open soon, Finally!; Cheerleaders in captivity and forced to cheer!; and Calvin Johnson in a long line of Lions Receivers. Whatever NFL football tidbit that you are looking for, you are going to find it on this site.

michael vick holding football NFL Football Revealed on Squib Kick   Bloggeries Review The blog is very easy to navigate with menus to the left, right, and bottom of the page. On the right you will notice some advertising and recent comments menu. Then take your time to scroll through the categories menu. Awesome! It has to be the most comprehensive NFL category section I have seen yet. Here you will find specific players including favourites Peyton Manning and Tom Brady, specific coaches, specific teams, and on and on. Anything related to the NFL will be here, and if you have a specific question it should not take you too long to get your answer. Also in the right you will find an Archives menu, find out who is linked to the blog, and visit the Sponsors menu and access ticket information. There is also a very extensive bottom menu where a very healthy sports blogroll is listed, any sport that piques your interest has a blog as well as a listing of all of the top headlines from each of those blogs. A very nice feature that I found added to the overall feel of the blog. Appearance wise the blog is appealing with black text on white background and green (think football field) bordering. There is a touch of distraction with advertising, but not enough to take away from the blog content.

I am going with a 4.5 on this one, as much as I do love this blog and its layout. It is definitely one of the most comprehensive sports blogs I’ve seen yet. However it is missing both an about page and a recent postings menu, both features that I appreciate in a blog, particularly when reviewing. I find these two features give the voice to the blog and would like to see them here. Not that it is not clear what the blog is about, but that personal voice from the Author always adds relevance for me. There is some advertising at the top of the right navigation bar as well I would like to see moved below the other content in the right navigation bar. This will give prospective readers a chance to see blog content before being hit with advertising. Otherwise, the blog’s content is spectacularly written with catchy headlines that make me want to read all of it. There is enough pictures with each post to provide relevance to the content as well, another very appealing feature. Further, the navigation is extremely simple, and the activity is just enough to feed the addiction of fellow NFL fans. This blog is very well done, and with just these few formatting changes it would merit a 5 from me.

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- Chrissie

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Blogging Tips – News and Tutorials – Pure Blogging Review

Friday, July 6th, 2007

rate5 Blogging Tips   News and Tutorials   Pure Blogging Review If you are looking for that little something to mix up your blog a little bit, and really, who isn’t, check out Pure Blogging – Blogging Tips, News and Tutorials. This site is so far the most comprehensive blogging blogs that I have seen yet. This blog is relatively new, but is geared towards publishing blogging news, tips, and tutorials and is intended for anyone interested in learning the secrets of blogging success and monetization. The owner of the blog, David Culpepper, is actually a full time chemist who works this blog in his free time to keep you updated about breaking technology developments, strategies, and the general blogosphere buzz in a user friendly format. Check out any of his recent articles to see what I am talking about: More Blog Contests, Effects of the 1000th Comment Contest, We have a Winner, Pure Blogging Goes Mobile, Contest Update 2 — $200 Cash Giveaway, June Roundup, Weekend Links, AOL Gets a New Look, The Bloglines Train, and Contest Update for the $200 Giveaway.

 Blogging Tips   News and Tutorials   Pure Blogging ReviewNavigation on this site is very straightforward, but if you are a blogger looking for advice, set aside some time for this one. You will want to spend some time here, as David has a LOT to offer you. There are 3 navigation bars, and posts are left marginalized. The first nav bar is on the top and offers the Home page, About page, Subscription Links, Top Posts, Archives, Links, and a Contact Button. I love the Archive link here, wish more blogs had them set up like this. The archives are not only categorized by link and date, but by topic as well. It doesn’t get any easier than that. You will then find two right navigation bars, and I could spend a lot of time telling you exactly what is there, but check it out yourself and you will be glad you did. Top features I will mention are the “Top Commenters” menu, where David offers links to top commenters in his blog in these bars, which I think is an excellent way to recognize and connect with your readers. There is a long list of categories and money makers for your blog each containing a huge amount of resources for your blog. These include but are not limited by blogging tips, blogging news, blogging tools, alexa, monetization, blog promotion etc… You can also read here about featured authors on the site. Oh, and here’s something else I haven’t seen yet, a menu with links to the most recent comments, fresh idea and I love it.

This blog is getting a 5 from me, I have no suggestions FOR this author but will happily take some of his for myself. I am very surprised to find out that this blog has only been around a few months, you would never guess by the layout, content, navigation, or appearance of this blog. The readership of 389 also speaks volumes to the blog success. What I love most about this blog besides its stellar content and user friendly material for the novice blogger, is this blog is dedicated to the reader. This is a lesson learned for all bloggers who spend so much time working on monetization strategies that they forget they are blogging to an audience. I love how readers are recognized through the top commenters menu and that active links are up for these comments. That this may be a result of the 1000 comment contest is irrelevant (though that in itself is an EXCELLENT idea *hint hint*). The blogger has worked very hard at establishing a solid and excellent reader base, and I think has several valuable lessons to teach all of us.

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- Chrissie

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