Do you want my "First Impression"?

Abhinav
from Osaka city/Japan
14 years ago

Hi

Here you are with my blog.

Build Muscle Burn Fat

Shrikant Joshi
from Pune
14 years ago

MY first impression about your blog - Build Muscle Burn Fat

1. Layout & Design - impression above & below the foldImpressive first look, above the fold - almost doesn't seem like a blog! Then when I come below the fold, the 'usual aspects' of the blog are revealed. Impressive fotos - I hope you are attibuting them & giving credit appropriately. :)Score: 8/10 
2. Content - freshness and/or intrigue quotient I dunno where you are getting your content from, but the presentation is good, - could be a LOT better. Use formatting tools like Bold, Italic, Underline, Bullet-points, Numbered points. Spend some time on that, too. And there's too much content in one post. Use a pagination WP plugin if you can.Score: 5/10 
3. Writing style - Grammar, Syntax & suchThe content is good, but the grammar needs work. It seems you have transliterated your thoughts from another language into Emglish - GREAT start. Spend some time with a friend who'll help you construct these thoughts into good sentences. IMHO, don't use three sentences where three words can do the job. Score: 4/10
4. Any other factor you wish to name.Since you haven't named any other factors, I'll quickly insert a few thoughts about your AD placement. One set of ads are below the fold - I guess you are trying to keep them non-intrusive; which is ethically good. The other set is on top - right before the post. See if you can integrate them with your post a little better. :)Score: 5/10 

Don't attach any relevance to the score, if you feel my opinion is inaccurate. This is my opinion - nothing more nothing less. :)

Cheers!

Abhinav
from Osaka city/Japan
14 years ago

You are using Istherm theme on your blog yourself. The first impression was to me, normal. Not too good, not bad by any means. But not stiking, do you undeerstand. The eye candy things for readers seems missing.

Build Muscle Burn Fat

Shrikant Joshi
from Pune
14 years ago

Thanks. :)

ARJuna
from Mumbai
14 years ago

Hi there the offer you have made is hard to resist...

So, here is my blog

http://worldofteenager.blogspot.com

Would love to know your first impression!

Thanks

Shrikant Joshi
from Pune
14 years ago

MY first impression of your blog - http://worldofteenager.blogspot.com:

1. Layout & Design - impression above & below the foldSometimes, the best way to get people to focus on your writing is to use a plain blog template. In your case, it has worked perfectly. The eye travels immediately to the latest post & before I knew I was reading away. Good. After reading the first post, I scrolled down to check out a few others, and THEN looked at your sidebar. Accolades on top? Erm, I'd prefer the 'About YOU' or 'Subscribe' section on top. Instead of a Blog archive-by-month, how about a list of recently written blogs? You need to spend some time on the sidebar.Score: 7/10 
2. Content - freshness and/or intrigue quotientThe content is fresh, well-constructed. The idea is well explored & topics presented with the casual ease that only a (twenty-year old) teenager can summon - I mean that on a very positive note, of course! :)Score: 7/10 
3. Writing style - Grammar, Syntax & suchYou need to pu some work into constructing your sentences in a more fluid manner. I don't mean you should write a Vikram Seth or Salman Rushdie, but you could at least avoid writing sentences like: "I was too dumbfounded to reply all my hatred and rationality disappearing into thin air." :(
4. Any other factor you wish to name.Again, since you haven't named a factor, I'll take the liberty of reducing the scroll length. Try using the <!--more--> tag to reduce the length of your homepage; it'll also get readers to explore other areas/posts of the blog as well. :)

Again, the scores are purely my opinions - they become irrelevant if you choose to ignore them. Hope this helps... :)

Cheers!

ARJuna
from Mumbai
14 years ago

Thank you, this is the only good and comprehensive review I have got since the inception of my blog!

Will make some improvements soon and get back to you, :)

Thank you

Mohan
from Bangalore
14 years ago

Sounds good... Let me wait for what you have to say.. Here is my blog http://mohanbn.com/blog/

Shrikant Joshi
from Pune
14 years ago

MY first impression of your blog: http://mohanbn.com/blog/

1. Layout & Design - impression above & below the foldDude, I shouldn't even be writing this - you were WORKING for Yahoo! Bloggin! Clearly, you have already spent considerable time, thinking, drafting, constructing & refining your blog! So I'll just use this space to nit-pick. Longer titles almost 'run into' the date on the homepage. The 'Meet the Author' could be re-named 'The Author' & add some cell-padding to the box. Also, the ad-block & the related posts are too close to each other - I see what you are trying, but it needs some work... BTW, the blogs looks *too* uniform - how about spicing up the look a little bit?Score: 7/10 
2. Content - freshness and/or intrigue quotientI like the fact that you find *something* to write about on a regular basis. Your use of appropriate images (I hope the attributions are in place) in the correct spots adds to the utility of the posts! You provide utility links & narrate your experiences. Your categorization is simple & straight. All in all, a pretty good example to the others on how to find/create content for a blog.Score: 9/10
3. Writing style - Grammar, Syntax & suchThe writing style is very personal, first-person. A lot of professional bloggers would probably sneer at it, but I found it very engaging. You need to do rigorous spell-checks before publishing your posts, though! :(Score: 7/10 
4. Any other factor you wish to name.Again, no factor named - hence I'll use this space to nit-pick a little more. The blog is structured well, but sometimes it feels a little too much. Do you really need the comments section on the right? The headlines need a li'l spicing up - some of them are too bland.Score: 4/10 

Mohan
from Bangalore
14 years ago

That is one of the best reviews in terms of quality observations I must say. Thank you Shrikanth.

1. Spicing up with jazzy stuff is no difficult, but google penalizes for heavy content as it will slow down page speed :)

2. I am flattered!!! Thanks ;)

3. I thought i always did read through the post before hitting that publish button. Sure, I will take it up more religiously :)

4. Well, some people wish to see what the readers are saying often... hence that comments section.. I will continue it there :)

Thank you again for your wonderful review. Appreciate it.

YOGESH SHARMA
from Mumbai
14 years ago

Dear Shrikant..... I am sharing mine with pleasure.

Mine is a Hindi blog...if that is not much of a problem. Thanks for the unconditional offer

http://www.aapkayogeshsharma.blogspot.com/

Shrikant Joshi
from Pune
14 years ago

प्रिय योगेश,

यह सच है कि मैं हिंदी में इतनी सरलता से नहीं लिख पाता, जितनी सरलता से अंग्रेजी में लिखता हूँ. आपके ब्लॉग का विवेचन आपकी ब्लॉग की ही भाषा में करना चाहता था, मगर भाषा पर प्रभुत्व न होने की वजह से विवश हूँ. उम्मीद करता हूँ आप बुरा नहीं मानेंगे. :)

 MY first impression of your blog: http://www.aapkayogeshsharma.blogspot.com/

1. Layout & Design - impression above & below the foldYour blog layout seems to be horizontally broken. I'm guessing it's either due to the Google Ad Unit or due to the Indiblogger badges. Re-arrange them if you can or get a web-savvy friend to help you do it. A broken layout draws my attention away from the meat of the blog - the content.Score: 6/10 
2. Content - freshness and/or intrigue quotientI loved the fact that you've been posting almost everyday! Very few people can find the motivation & inclination to do so. Even if it's a short poem, a few lines, a though - you've posted almost everyday. Almost makes a person want to drop the feed & bookmark your blog in a daily-read tab-set! Good going, there! Just one thought - try & avoid the extra lines separating the paragraphs - kinda breaks the flow! :) Score: 8/10 
3. Writing style - Grammar, Syntax & suchLike I said, I'm not as proficient in Hindi as I consider myself to be in English - so I can't really comment on it. But whatever I did read & understand, I must admit, you do pay attention to the 'nukta's quite closely - and that itself shows the amount of attention you pay to details! :)Score: 7/10 
4. Any other factor you wish to name.Again, since you haven't mentioned a factor, I'll quickly talk about the size of the home-page. The more full-length posts you post on the home page, the longer it takes for the blog to load, and the lesser a person would want to scroll. Instead, you could use the "jump-technique", by keeping half a post visible & a "Read more" link to read the rest of the post. This will also double your ad-impressions, BTW.  Also, the right side-bar has too much content - think of trimming it down? :)

As usual, there isn't any reason why you would want to take my scores seriously - it's just a personal opinion. Hope it helped! Cheers!

Pratyoosha Gurazada
from Dubai, Hyderabad
14 years ago

Hello Shrikant,

I also would love an honest review:)

http://www.thrillingtreats.blogspot.com/

Shrikant Joshi
from Pune
14 years ago

MY first impression of your blog: http://www.thrillingtreats.blogspot.com/

1. Layout & Design - impression above & below the foldBroken layout! The right side bar has disappeared even in my Google Chrome! I dunno how you are formatting your posts, but it seems the Creative Common footer may be the culprit. Did you add it directly to the template-code? Bring it to the right sidebar - and you might want to lose the Archives section. The categories is all I need!Score: 5/10 
2. Content - freshness and/or intrigue quotientFood is one of my fave topics! Although I can't cook to save my life, I'm always on the look-out for easy recipes. And you seem to post with good frequency! (I'm *so* following your blog, now!) The recipes are from different parts of South India mostly, which begs the question - why not North India? Why not the World? :)Score: 7/10 
3. Writing style - Grammar, Syntax & suchThe recipes are quite simply described - in a language that even a cooking-layman like me can understand. That's #WIN right there. You also give a useful little tid-bit explaining why you're posting the chosen recipe for the day - another #WIN.Score: 8/10  
4. Any other factor you wish to name. In your case, I'll go with my layout suggestions. A magazine layout is a natural recommendation for your blog! The featured dish of the day can take a 'sticky-post' space & the rest of the dishes can be teased as (images+headlines) - this will also help you monetize your blog later on, if you wish to do so!

 I really need to try out one of your recipes - maybe that will cure me of my low self-esteem about my own cooking. Meanwhile, you can try out my recipes for your blog - if you like what I said, that is! :)

Cheers!

tys
from Sharjah
14 years ago

arent we all suckers for some sort of validations...here u go :

www.tysonice.blogspot.com

Shrikant Joshi
from Pune
14 years ago

 MY first impression of your blog: www.tysonice.blogspot.com

1. Layout & Design - impression above & below the fold: As with another blog I reviewed a little while before in this thread, your blog too has a simple template - #WIN! It makes me get straight down to the post-reading bit. Although, the "Playing for Change" section has a broken Flash thing, that never gets beyond 'loading' makes things slightly distracting. The right side-bar has a few broken elements, I'd recommend you re-arrange the elements from a reader's perspective. Put the "About me" on top to start with. And the home-page is QUITE long! May I suggest the "jump-technique"? :)Score: 7/10 
2. Content - freshness and/or intrigue quotient: You seem to be an infrequent blogger - but your content sorta makes up for it. Good, casual, writing style - your rants are painfully funny; very unique. Keep it up! Like most of your readers will keep telling you, try & post more often. Here's something I keep telling myself - "Romance the writing software on your PC/Mac for one hour every night; eventually one of you will conceive." :DScore: 8/10 
3. Writing style - Grammar, Syntax & such: Good grammar, good syntax, just a few niggles: The space *follows* the comma/period - it does not precede! MS-Word usually gets it right - try it? (Don't copy paste from MS Word, though - it screws the formatting of the post)Score: 8/10 
4. Any other factor you wish to name - I don't know, you tell me? :)

Good job so far, keep it up & keep at it.

Cheers!

tys
from Sharjah
14 years ago

man, u werent joking when u said that u will give ur impression! wow, a man who walks the talk...iam impressed....i will do something about that link and incorporate the advices u have given me...as for the writing more often part and getting my computer pregnant, i hope my wife is not reading this....

Himanshu
from Delhi
14 years ago

Allright! I am up for it!

http://hshekhar.blogspot.com

Shrikant Joshi
from Pune
14 years ago

MY first impression of your blog: http://hshekhar.blogspot.com

1. Layout & Design - impression above & below the fold - The title "RAGE!" and the dark layout - are they reflective of your mental state? I hope not. The tagline seems a tad longish - shift it to about me or alongside/within the "Bharat" widget, and use a shorter tag line? Lose the hit-counter & the live traffic feed, bring the label-cloud up, use the "more" tag in your posts - it'll reduce the length (& size) of the home page PLUS give you an added ad-impression. And what are those widgets doing in the footer? o_O Score: 6/10 
2. Content - freshness and/or intrigue quotient - Your passion for the subject of your blog comes out quite clearly. However, it seems you are an infrequent writer - as I am. But, the guest posts on your blog are a good idea - how about making it a collaborative blog? WP 3.0 has now has MU capabilities - just a thot. Score: 7/10 
3. Writing style - Grammar, Syntax & such - The writing style immediately comes across as simple, yet passionate. Grammatically sound, syntactically stable & intriguingly straight-forward - your posts are almost hypnotic. Please clean up your design & layout act - that content deserves a cleaner space! :-(Score: 7.5/10 
4. Any other factor you wish to name.No factor, just a suggestion: Find a friend who's a li'l well-versed with WP, look at a few alternative templates. IMHO, a template should bring out the color of a post, rather than overpower it. Think about it. :)

Cheers!

Shrikant Joshi
from Pune
14 years ago

Phew!

I honestly didn't expect this super response! Thanx so much for the unconditional trust, people! I've only reviewed three blogs so far, but trust me I'll do all of them soon! :)

Cheers!

Loganathan
from Chennai
14 years ago

Hey Shrikant,

 

Would like to have my blog reviewed as well..

here is my URL : http://cresloga.wordpress.com/

 

Cheers,

Loganathan

Shrikant Joshi
from Pune
14 years ago

 MY first impression of your blog: http://cresloga.wordpress.com/ 

1. Layout & Design - impression above & below the foldA li'l dark, but spartan & utilitarian - focuses the reader right away to the post. And once the readers start reading, they are inevitably hooked. The blog clearly focusses on your strengths. The spacing is right, the font-size can be a li'l larger, but above the fold - everything's good! Below the fold, there are a few things I observed. Have you displayed the calendar to show the regularity of your posts? Do you *really* need both recent & top posts? Your home page is 7-scrolls long - reduce it, maybe? Use the more tag for your posts? A good estimate of homepage length is your side-bar - try not to keep it empty in a vertical scroll. Score: 7/10 
2. Content - freshness and/or intrigue quotient - You do post regularly, but you might want to consider working on the titles as well. For example: "55 Fiction: She has turned 29E" could be renamed "Sex: Female, Age: 29+E" That it is a '55 fiction,' 'short story' is anyway denoted in the category, right? Score: 7/10 
3. Writing style - Grammar, Syntax & suchNarrative is the word that comes to mind when I read your posts. And it is, most definitely, your strength! Your narrations almost make the reader visualize the topic - keep it up! The grammar is pretty good, but you slip to "transliterated" sentences sometimes. And you seem to have a liking for 'big' paragraphs - or am I wrong, there? o_OScore: 6/10
4. Any other factor you wish to name - One of the many random things I believe, is that your template is often reflective of your current state in life. Mostly, it also works the other way round. Need I say more? :)

Hope this helps. Again, the scores are purely a figment of my imagination - believe it, or not! :D

Cheers!

Loganathan
from Chennai
14 years ago

Hey Shrikant, 

Thanks so much for the detailed review. on your comment on long sentences, yeah most often than not, I type what I speak. I've been working on sorting out this. Regarding the sidebar, While I have the post for the readers, I have the sidebar for myself. As you have mentioned, I have the calendar only to see the frequency of my updates. A long gap there would suggest me write on something. When recent post is for readers, top post is for me to know what readers like reading in my blog. I can get all these from my admin console which is another click away. But still, I have them on my blog.

 

Cheers,

Loga

Ramkumar
from Dindigul
14 years ago

hi  

 

http://www.ramtele.blogspot.com

Shrikant Joshi
from Pune
14 years ago

MY first impression of your blog: http://www.ramtele.blogspot.com

1. Layout & Design - impression above & below the fold: Okay before I say anything, here's a confession: I'm not a huge fan of blue, so I might be a li'l biased. Having said that, you have taken a lot of care to keep (almost) everything on your site pretty blue - good job! Above the fold, the site looks well laid-out - but below the fold it makes me go: o_O There is a lot of clutter in your side-bar!! Why do you need Archives when you have categories? Why do you need to show your how much your site is worth? Why do you need a live traffic feed? Why isn't the "Get in your language widget, right on TOP? Why is there a big blank empty space/box below the search bar? Why do you have so many ads plastered all over? In fact, too many ads makes me NOT want to read anything. Score: 6/10 
2. Content - freshness and/or intrigue quotient - You content is good in terms of freshness & information - grammar & syntax, not so much, but we'll talk about that shortly.  You post VERY frequently, and I hope you're not copy-pasting. I couldn't select any content on your site - I think you have disabled text selection. Fair enough. BTW, the rate at which you post, you could consider using a different kind of template - magazine or newspaper, maybe? Score: 7.5/10 
3. Writing style - Grammar, Syntax & such You need to do some serious work on the grammar & spellings. Not because I am a Grammar ****, but because it is an important part of SEO as well - I'm sure you know that already. Also, a well-written post PLUS good grammar doubles my chances of subscribing/returning to the site. Score: 6/10 
4. Any other factor you wish to name: I'll say just this: CLEAN UP THE SIDEBAR, PLEASE! :(

These thoughts/suggestions/observations are valid only if you want them to be. :)

Cheers!

Addy
from Mumbai
14 years ago

Go for the Brainwave!

http://addyrocks.blogspot.com

Sakhi Shah
from Vadodara
14 years ago

Hmm...

 

If you're not totally overwhelmed yet, I'll add my blog to the list: 

inmybookshelves.blogspot.com

Chandrika Shubham
from Gurugram
14 years ago

Please visit mine.

http://chandrikashubham.blogspot.com

Shweta Wattal
from Delhi
14 years ago

I would love to have an honest first opinion...thnks

http://thehope-life.blogspot.com/

varsha
from New Delhi
14 years ago

Dear Shrikant,

Here are my blogs for your first  look:

http://wholesomeoptions.blogspot.com/

http://poeticbreak.blogspot.com/

varsha

Dr Roshan R
from Kannur
14 years ago

add mine too to the list

 

http://godyears.blogspot.com/

Mag[m]
from Delhi
14 years ago

I m tpp here with ma blog Mag's INsanity

 

www.whitestick-member.blogspot.com

Shrikant Joshi
from Pune
14 years ago

Okay, I seem to have built up a HUGE backlog here. Sorry for the delay people, but I'm kinda tied up at work - internal audits happening... The good news is, I have set myself a deadline to post my first-impression replies to all the blogs you guys have 'submitted' so far BEFORE this week ends. :D

Please don't kill me if I don't manage to do it. :(

Cheers!

Abhishek Bhardwaj
from Meerut
14 years ago

mine is AbhiVyakti

 

http://bhardwajme.blogspot.com/