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Free Blog Review – IlianaLola.com

Iliana runs the blog IlianaLola.com, and has requested a free blog review.

Let’s take a look at her blog that deals with internet marketing tips and tricks, and see how it can be improved.

Free Blog Review of IlianaLola.com

Free Blog Review of IlianaLola.com

 

First Impressions

  • The widget displaying the latest posts along with the image is good – it immediately draws attention to the latest blog posts.
  • The logo is completely blending in with the background of the header. Please consider redesigning it so that it has some contrast with the background.
  • Same for the top menu – it blends in with the dark background. Please consider changing the font color to White or some other light color.
  • The Google AdSense ad unit in the header makes your site look unprofessional and spammy. Consider changing it to a image-only ad.

 

Content Sharing Options

You have good content sharing and subscription options in place in the sidebar. These appear on all the pages, so its easy to share your posts.

The sharing buttons at the bottom of the posts see too cramped. Consider reducing these to just 4-5 popular sites, and make them bigger.

 

Social Proof

You do not have any social proof on your blog. Why should people listed to your advice? Give them a reason.

Social ProofConsider placing a Facebook widget which shows your fans and the fan count. Also consider including chicklets showing your RSS subscriber count ad your Twitter follower count.

You also have an ebook for sale – you can place some customer testimonials in the sidebar below the e-book picture.

Have your articles been published in mainstream media or on other blogs? Consider putting their logo / links to them in the sidebar with a heading “This blog has been featured on:“. (You can start by linking to this review!)

 

Capturing Email Address

You are not capturing the email addresses of your visitors – you are leaving a LOT of money on the table. (Please see “Email List – Why Do You Need It For Your Blog?” for more).

Place an email opt-in form above the fold in the sidebar (maybe just above the search box). Offer an ethical bribe to people for providing their name and email ID.

One idea – you can give away first 1 or 2 chapters of your ebook to whoever opts in to your email list. That way, you would get email subscribers. Plus, if they like what they see, they would come back and buy your book!

 

Site Navigation

You have good site navigation – the category menu at the top makes it easy to see what the blog has to offer, and it is easy to reach any section of the blog.

However, the category list in the sidebar seems repetitive and unnecessary. Consider removing it, and having the list of latest or best posts instead of it.

Also, do you really need the “Meta” links in the sidebar? They make your blog look amateurish, so remove it unless you absolutely need it.

 

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

The homepage has a proper title, description and keywords in place, which is good. The posts also have their individual titles, descriptions and keywords.

The posts have good headings ad sub headings, which is good both for SEO and readability. It results in a good user experience, which is good for everyone!

Try to have more descriptive alt text for your images.

 

Monetization

You have only one Google AdSense ad unit, and it is in the header. This is not a position that has been known to perform the best.

Monetizing Your BlogConsider placing ad units within the post – you can have one in the middle of the post, and one at the end. These are the positions that give the maximum clickthroughs, and therefore the maximum earnings.

You have an ebook for sale, but it gets hidden ion the sidebar. You need to highlight it in some way, so that it draws people’s attention to it.

 

Conclusion

I sincerely hope that you benefited from reading this honest blog review and the recommendations. Please treat the advise as constructive criticism that can help you make your blog better.

Do you have any recommendations for Iliana? Have I left out anything? Please let us know through your comments!

If you think you have benefited by this free blog review, please consider buying me a coffee or two. It would make me smile, and would help keep this free review service going!

This review is provided as a part of my free blog review service, and draws from my experience of running 20+ blogs. You can request a free review of your blog here.

 

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