Archive for the 'Technology' Category
Previous Entries
Posted by Bloggeries in Technology
Bloggeries is going to take a look at a blog now that will take you into the future, sort of. The blog is called Smart Homes. The blogger is Sam, a 21 year old living in England. He studies at the ICT at Nottingham Trent University and blogs to keep himself occupied when he is not studying. The blog itself is a blog about how to make your home more independent, how to make it smarter. Here you will find information that was once spoken about in future tense, but is regarding technology that is in the works right now that will make your home a more efficient place to live. Think of things like, being able to turn your thermostat on via text messaging before you leave for work which you can read about in the bloggery “Text Your Home”. These are the concepts you will read about at Smart Homes. Find out what some of Sam’s recent thoughts are by reading some of his most recent bloggeries: Smart Home forums, Dimmable Flourescent Lighting and Home Automation, x10 problems, Insteon Heading to Europe, Popular Trends in Home Technology, Builders and Home Automation, and A Media Center PC Gives You the Ultimate in Home Automation.
The blog is very simple and almost only contains the niche content which makes the blog very easy to navigate. Bloggeries are left marginalized and there is a right navigation bar. Bloggeries are standard black text on white background with links highlighted in red. In the right navigation system you will find a Categories Menu, Advertising, Technology widget, Blog Directory Links, and Subscription Links. The blog is fairly new so the categories menu is not quite built up yet, but here you will find categories on books, features, Insteon, Smart Home Basics, and x10. Missing from the regular blog meat are an Archives Menu, and a Recent Posts Menu would benefit the blogger as this blog grows. I think adding more detail to the About Page would be good for this blog as frankly, it took me some time and reading to really figure out what the blog was about. This is a niche that is very popular and the blogger could make use of a large demographic if he provided more information to the readership.
The blog is new, and lacks some essential blog materials and so I give this blog a 3/5, but I see a tremendous potential for this blog. The idea is unique enough that once the blog gets rolling it will gain some popularity. For navigation, I suggest the blogger add some more content in his navigation bar, like the ones listed above – Archives, Recent Posts Menu, etc. I also think the blogger should be, if he is not already, working on a blogroll to link back to other blogs in the same niche. This would definitely help to bring in traffic. The content is well done, and written in a user friendly style, so that even though it is discussing technology, it does not overwhelm the reader and is easily understood. The activity is not bad, bloggeries are coming in every few days to a week in between. I think the blogger could pick this up in its early stages and post daily if possible, just to keep feeding the search engines good material. Overall however, this is a popular niche, and I think this blog has an excellent potential to do well. It just needs to grow a little bit, and add more material to its navigation system to look more like a blog.
-Chrissie
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
Posted by Bloggeries in Reviews, Spotlight, Technology, Internet Marketing, SEO, Entrepreneurship, Blogging
If 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.
Did you enjoy this review? Click here to join our forum and get a review!
- Chrissie
If you would like feedback from your blog please make one of our Free Blog Poll’s!
Posted by Bloggeries in Reviews, Technology, Internet Marketing, Copywriting
If you are a girl blogger, you may want to have a look at this site: ChickTech. This site is a technology blog from a woman’s perspective, and it covers topics such as women-oriented tech products, techn news, building websites and blogs, and other tips that will teach you how to make money online. The site was launched in April this year by Jennifer Mattern who is an online business owner, freelance writer, and a former Technology Editor. Added to this site is a wealth of information that Jennifer offers for her radio talk show – Chick Tech Talk. So you can not only get information for chicks via the blog, but also get news on her talk show, or find out how to become a regular listener. If you are new to blogging or marketing online, you will find a lot of useful information in any of her recent posts: How to Become a Professional Blogger – Listen Live July 18th, More Easy to Use Blog headline templates, Chick Tech Talk cancelled for this week, 7 More Easy to Use Blog Headline Templates, 11 Easy to Use Blog Headline Templates, Writing and Marketing E-Books with Dee Power, Good News on the Scraper Front, Run an Online Magazine with Wordpress, and Best Non-Blog/Magazine Style Wordpress Themes.
The site is updated fairly regularly and its navigation and appearance are straightforward in standard blog format. There are both a left and right navigation bar with posts centered down the page. There is also a noted, but not overwhelming pink element to the blog which adds to the appeal of the marketed niche. In the left navigation bar you will find archives menu and the categories menu. The categories you will find there are Best Woman Webmaster Nominees, Blogging, Blogroll, Chick Tech Talk, Chick Tech Blog, Content Creation, Creating Websites, Internet Marketing, Interviews, Jenn’s Whims, Link Building, Making Money Online, Resources, Tech Gadgets, Tech News, and so much more. In the right navigation bar you will find the standard blog calendar and the meta links for the blog.
I am giving this one a 3.5, though, even though it is a clean and well written blog, there are some elements missing that I like to see. The blog is fairly new, so it is hard to determine what the readership is, although it does have a following of some sorts as witnessed by a smattering of comments. I would like to see more pictures included in the blog, just to spice up the main page a little more. There are a few there now, but for all intents and purposes it has the appearance of standard text blog. I also don’t see a recent posts menu, which would be invaluable to the readership if they are looking for something specific. The only other thing I noticed was that the About page sort of marketed this is having some gadget/tech information for women, and the site primarily strikes me as an Internet Marketing blog. Currently there are only 3 posts over the course of its blog life that offer technology/gadget related information. So I wouldn’t mind seeing some more content to that respect. Otherwise however, I think this blog is doing well in its youth, the appearance, navigation, and uniqueness of the blog will certainly ensure it stands out amongst others. The content as well is very well written and user-friendly for the technology challenged woman. I think this concept is a great idea, and with some growth I think this blog has a good enough niche that it will do very well.
Did you enjoy this review? Click here to get your own blog reviewed!
- Chrissie
If you would like feedback from your blog please make one of our Free Blog Poll’s!
Previous Entries
