Reviews

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

Bloggeries is going to look at a business blog today, and this is one that attendees of trade shows will be able to appreciate. The blog is called Chicago Trade Show Displays. The blog is exactly what its domain says it is, a trade shows displays blog for the Chicago area, and a trade shows tips blog that just about anyone who frequents trade shows will be able to enjoy. Have a look at any of their recent bloggeries to get an idea for exactly what the blog is about: Trade Show Leads – Make Them Count, Post Trade Show Evaluation and Follow-Up, Unhappy is as Unhappy Does – Dealing with an Unhappy Client, Effective Use of Banner Stands for your Next Event, Trade Show “Chotchkies”, Create a Winning Booth, Shipping May be Ripping you Off!, and What the Heck Does Drayage Mean?

The blog is cleanly laid out with a business style format and this makes it very easy to navigate. Bloggeries are right marginalized and there is a left navigation system as well as a top navigation system. Bloggeries are in black text on white background and there are blue accents and bordering. In the top navigation bar you will find links for Home, Contact Us, Trade Show Program Management, and Tradetec Skyline Displays. In the left navigation system you will find blogroll links menu, Editors Menu, Event Calendars, Trade Show Resources, Pages Menu, and Categories Menu. The Categories menu contains items such as Exhibit Services, New Products Announcement, Trade Show Tips, Trade Show News, and a category called Uncategorized. At present there are no accompanying pictures with the bloggeries as the blog is an information blog.

I will give this blog a 3/5 for now, but I suspect it is new and with some growth the blog should improve. It is difficult to tell at this point how old the blog is as there are no archives listed. The blog needs work in a few areas, but it does show some strength in some as well, so it has a good foundation at this point. Navigation is easy on the blog as there is not much to move around at this point. I would recommend removing the ‘Uncategorized’ category from the category menu, or changing the name of it to something less miscellaneous (such as Trade Show Information) as it makes the blog look a little disorganized. Appearance scores are very good as the blog has a nice clean template that gives it a true business feel. The content is well written and would be readable by an audience seeking this type of information, so as the blog grows, this may be its greatest asset. Activity however is lacking somewhat, with no strong consistency in activity. The last bloggery was run on January 2 and there is a range of one week to a month in between bloggeries. I also recommend adding an about page to the blog so that the bloggers and editors can establish a rapport with their readership by a small information page about the blog. Overall however, the blog has a good start and if it maintains the consistency of its quality content, it should do quite well in serving its niche as it grows.

-Chrissie

Bloggeries is going to look at another blog that is a product review site. The women will really enjoy stopping into Doryn’s Dish as this site reviews products with the woman consumer in mind. Doryn’ Dish is written by a blogger that loves sharing her favorite things with people when she finds something she really loves. She will never endorse anything she doesn’t herself truly believe in, so you know these reviews are coming from the heart. For a look at any of the many product reviews she offers on her site, check out the latest bloggeries on Doryn’s Dish: Hanky Panky, Take the Time to Thank Our Advertisers, Paint vs. Paint, Bottles Stay Up, Psychic to the Stars, Flipping for Flip Video, Incredibly Soft and Snuggly Robe, and Fast Makeup for Busy Women.

The site is fairly new, so there is not a lot of meat to it *yet* though the blogger is working very hard on this. The newness of the blog makes it very easy to navigate. Bloggeries are centralized and there is both a left and right navigation bar. Bloggeries are in black text on white background and links and headlines are highlighted in pink adding a very feminine, but not too much so, touch to the overall theme of the blog. In the left navigation bar you will find an About Page, Categories Menu, Archives Menu, and Recent Comments Menu. The categories menu is comprehensive and covers all of the essentials a woman may be looking for in terms of product review – Accessories, As Seen on TV, Beauty/Health, Clothing, Doryn’s Notes, Food, Stationery, and Technology. The one thing I would suggest about the categories at this point would be for the blogger to separate the Beauty and Health categories into two different categories. Both are relevant keywords and tags that will be picked up easier by the search engines if she has separate categories or labels for her posts. In the right navigation bar you will find links to subscribe, sponsors, Love from my Readers Menu, and more subscriber links. Each bloggery is accompanied by relevant pictures for each product review, and this makes the site very aesthetically pleasing.

Overall I will go with a 4/5 for this blog. I enjoyed the blog on just about every aspect of the blog scoring criteria and have only a few suggestions that would benefit this blog’s growth. The appearance of the blog is clean and organized, and the ads are incorporated well without being distracting, so the blog does well on this count. I also like the feminine appeal of the blog theme which again, is pink but without being overbearing and will definitely appeal to the female readership. The content is well done with a strong personal voice which gives credibility to the product reviews which will serve the blogger well when it comes to monetization. Organization and navigation are excellent as well with this nice, clean template. The only suggestion I have with this is that while the blog is still new, that the blogger move all content from one navigation bar into the other to sustain one full navigation bar until the blog has more meat to it. Doing so will eliminate some of the white space that is bound to be there on a new blog, and will add to the blog’s appeal. Activity wise is great as this dedicated blogger is posting daily, and never seems to run out of content. The suggestion I do have for the activity and content is that the blogger begin to use keyword terms in her headlines. As she is conducting product reviews, naming the product specifically in her headlines will give this blogger a chance to feed the search engines the keyword food they need, and she will likely see more targetted traffic as a result. Otherwise, overall I enjoyed this blog and think as this blog grows it will do very well and sustain a healthy readership as it serves a wide demographic on a multi-purpose level. Well done!

-Chrissie