Reviews

If you are one of those contest junkies that just can’t seem to get enough, you should really take some time to check out Reviewow – pronounced Review Wow. Like many blogs, started off as one thing and ended up as another. The author is very candid about his use of the blog which gives it a personal credible feel right off the start. The original intention of this blog was to post reviews, but this ended up being a blog on contests. The blogger joins contests hosted by other blogs and uses this blog as his ‘contest’ platform, but maintains his own personal blog elsewhere. You can see what kind of contests this blogger has been participating in through his most recent bloggeries: The Link Bait First Contest, blueJar Group Writing Project, Motorola Q Smartphone Giveaway, $250 Contest from NutsandMilk, Won $25 CAD – I Cool File Contest, Are you fooled by Ashwin Khanna?, and Arun’s Golden Egg Contest.

The blog is fairly new and has only been around since May 2007, so this makes it somewhat easy to navigate. In the top navigation bar you will find a Home Link, About Page, and Contact Information. You will find the posts are left marginalized with standard black text on white background and links are highlighted in orange. The header is a cute cow motif which you will see throughout the blog. In the right navigation system you will find an About page, Categories Menu, Archives Menu, Recent Comments Menu, and subscription information. If you go through the archives, you will find them very easy to navigate. This blogger has also added author links to the archive section so if there is a specific author you are looking for, it will be easy to find. Currently there is only one author on the docket, but as the blog grows I am sure you will see more links there. If you do happen to be one of those contest junkies, you can get your fix in any of the categories he offers: Contests, Contests Won, Free Links, Others, ReveiWOW News, Services, Softwares, and Websites.

I will go with a 3.6 for this one, for me it just seemed something was missing to offer it more points. The layout is standard but could probably use some pizzazz to get readers visits a little lengthier. Right now with the standard black text and odd picture, there is really nothing major jumping out at me. The posting is almost daily with a few days in between the odd posts. These updates are usually made up for on other days where sometimes 2 or 3 bloggeries will come in. I am not certain what the readership is here either, as this is a relatively new blog, but the comments menu looks fairly active so I think the blog would do well with some advertising or monetization. I also think adding a blogroll and getting some blog community going on the site would add to the appeal of the blog. The content is well done in a nice personal voice that works well with this type of niche. So I think this blog is definitely starting out on the right path and should see continued growth and success. Best of luck!

-Chrissie

Here is another blog that will have you counting down the days to your next vacation, it is Paradise Philippines. This blog you will find to be an informational resource about the Pearl of the Orient of Asia known as the Republic of the Philippines. The blogger clearly shows the significance of the meaning of the word Paradise in terms of this native country by referring to the paradise of not only the beauty of the environment, but also of the people as well. The blogger is using Paradise Phililppines as a resource for places to visit or stay, information on schools and transportation, as well as dining and vacation get-aways information. The blogger hopes to show you the best of what the Philippines has to offer which you can see through any of the recent bloggeries: Travel to Cebu, Ilocos Norte, Philippine Fiesta, Philippine Travel Guide, Doing Business in the Philippines, Wowowee, Metro Manila Guide, Offshore Retirement – Philippines, and Online Marketing.

The site is very easy to navigate and contains a wealth of information and navigation systems that will make your stay in Paradise Philippines very pleasant. Bloggeries are black text on white background with links highlighted in blue. There is a very simple grey and black geometric print header that contains the blog title. You will find posts right marginalized with a left navigation bar, and you will also find a top navigation bar as well. In the top bar are the links to Home, About, Advertisements, Contact Us, Photo Gallery, Places of Interest, Services, and the Sitemap. In the left navigation system you find a Recent Posts Menu, Blogroll, Archives, and Categories Menu that contains everything on Philippine life that you will want to know. You will find links there to Business, Entertainment, Government, News, Recreation, Society, Events, and so much more.

I will go with a 3 for this blog but think with a few minor changes it could do very well. The blog scores well for navigation and uniqueness criteria but needs some work with content and appearance. I think the blog would benefit from some pictures associated with every post, just to add additional appeal to the bloggeries. The blog does have pictures on most posts from what I can tell, but the bloggeries are fairly lengthy and pictures would break up the blog posts a little bit more and sustain the readers interest for longer periods. The blog is currently updated at about a rate from every couple of days to every couple of weeks and could use some more frequent posting. A suggestion to combat this would be to break down the longer posts into smaller posts and spread them out over a few days. Overall however, this blog provides exactly what it intends to and would be an excellent resource for anyone researching the Philippines.

-Chrissie

If you have never tried a cup of true authentic Darjeeling tea, you may want to stop into the Darjeeling Tea Blog – Darjeeling Cuppa. From the looks of it, it is about as authentic Darjeeling Tea experience you can get without actually trying it. The blogger at Darjeeling Tea is a tea merchant who owns and runs “Thunderbolt Tea” and seemingly consumes more tea than is actually sold. He is an avid tea lover, and this is evident in his most recent bloggeries: Darjeeling, Weather, and Tea; Blowout Offer Repeat!; Some more thoughts and updates; Second Flush teas and my thoughts; My Second Flush Darjeeling Teas 2007; A come back at last; Does tea indulge in politics; One last tea garden venture; First flush Darjeeling Teas 2007 updated; and Second Round Darjeeling Tea Tasting.

Navigation on the site is very simple. Posts are right marginalized and there is a left navigation bar. Posts have the standard black text on white background and the blog opens up with a maroon colored header and an advertisement for the blogger’s store Thunderbolt Tea. I like how the ad is incorporated with the header, I did not even realize at first that it was in fact advertising. The links and remainder of the blog is color co-ordinated with the reddish maroon header. In the left navigation bar you will find a Categories, Archives Menu, AdSense, tea poll, and a menu called Sections. The Sections menu will take you to the About page and you can look at reviews of the teas, copyright information, Site map, and other administrative links for the blog. The categories menu contains the blogroll, Darjeeling Tea Updates on the RSS feed, Miscellaneous Posts, and Travel Updates. There is a Recent Posts menu on this site, you will have to go to the About Page to find it though where it is listed as Latest Articles. You also will find many very pretty pictures on the site with almost every post. The pictures are true representations of authentic Darjeeling Teas and definitely convey an appropriate feel for the blog.

I give this blog a 3/5 for now, there are some issues with the menus I wouldn’t mind seeing changed. The categories menu could be extended to include other categories that are relevant to the bloggeries. The About me page is contained in the categories menu and should be separated to stand on its own as well. I think the Sections menu can be made a little more prominent, perhaps as a top menu bar or even footer menu bar. As these links seem to be strictly administrative they would probably be more appropriately found here to ease navigation a little bit. I think the content needs to be a little more frequent as well. There was some fairly regular content in July but there hasn’t seemed to be much since. The content however when it is there is well written and conveys the true personal voice of the blogger which adds credibility to his tea reviews. I like the pictures and think adding more would only add to the blog’s appeal. Overall I think this is a very interesting blog with a unique concept and unique niche. With a few formatting changes I could see this one doing very well.