Momcomm

Each week, I dissect a blog from top to bottom in three areas: design, navigation/functionality and content. The reason? To help the featured blogger meet her blog goals and become even MORE awesome. The goal of a blog critique is to help all of us learn and grow. One suggestion for a particular blog may very well get us all thinking about how we can improve what we do. Here we go!

NOTE: Sorry for the lack of bullets. I’m trying to get that issue resolved but in the meantime, hope it’s not too hard to read.

Blog: Unintentionally Brilliant

Blogger: Roxanne

Platform: WordPress

Roxi’s blog started off as a place for her to record the events in her life. She now writes about a variety of topics, ranging from her life as a single mother and the conversations she has with her son, to book reviews and sneak peeks into the fiction she’s working on, to her battle with depression.

Roxi says her main goal is to write on a regular basis. She’s not looking to make money from blogging, but her blog’s following (via RSS subscriptions and Twitter) has been the primary source of advertising for her freelance editing work at roxannepiskel.com. She’d like to continue to grow her editing business and build a readership for her book if and when she finishes one.

Roxi’s main challenge is converting first-time readers into “returning customers”. She doesn’t just want to build a subscriber base – she wants to engage readers in such a way that they WANT to come back to her blog.

Design & Navigation

Header & Menu

• First of all, I really like your blog name! It has a nice, confident ring to it.
• I like the orange tones that you used in your blog design as well. Fits with the word “brilliant” since that word makes me think of oranges and yellows. You may even want to add some pops of yellow through your design like for some of the letters in “Unintentionally.”
• While I like the idea of books and the ransom-type letters, I think some of the letters are a little hard to read. Some, like the T are due to not having enough contrast between the letter and the background. Others like the first “i” could be larger since the font is rather stylized. Overall, I think it might work to make the books and letters a tad bit larger so it’s easier to read. Then adjust some of the contrast and you should be all set. It’s a fun design.
• The more I see people with social media buttons in their header, the more I want it for myself. I like that they are front and center so nice job.
• Your navigation menu is very focused on books and writing, which is perfect. Two suggestions here. First, even though you have the Contact page under your About page, consider making it its own tab for quick access. Second, you mention your editing services on your contact page but it should be a separate tab with its very own page! Give the reader a few details then encourage them to click through to your other site for full details.
• As for the design of the tabs, perhaps change the black lines in between to white so they match the titles.

Sidebars

• Love that you have your headshot and description right at the top! It’s a nice welcome to people and your bio is fun to read.
• You do a very nice job of having sections for your buttons and links rather than a bunch of random things.
• Overall, I’d love to see your sidebar have some more color and design elements. It could be as simple as making the section titles orange or adding a simple book or pen icon beside them.
• Consider adding a Popular Posts section that highlights your best of the best. Many new readers deciding whether or not to subscribe like to see what their peers think are your best posts. There are plugin options that can make this simple and automated.
• Instead of a word cloud, consider having a drop-down of your categories. Your word cloud has one of the larger words as “uncategorized” so it may be more effective to just have the drop-down (or even a list) of categories so people can find the topics they’re most interested in.

Main Column

• I like that your main column is nice and wide as it makes the paragraphs not run too many lines deep (aka easier to read).
• From a design standpoint, as I mentioned in the sidebar section, I’d love to see some color. Perhaps colored blog post titles. Another thing that would makes this section draw a reader in is to have an image near the top of your blog post. I noticed many of your posts have an image at the bottom instead. By moving it to the top, you’ll giving a reader’s eyes a place to “land” versus seeing a sea of words.
• From a functionality standpoint, I notice that you don’t have any sharing buttons on your posts. No matter how great a post is, few people will take the time to copy the URL, paste it into Twitter, find your Twitter handle, type that in, etc. Make it as easy as possible for your posts to spread!
• Additionally, you mentioned turning first-time readers into subscribers. Consider adding a call to action box like with the plugin What Would Seth Godin Do or WP Greetbox. They let you write a customized message encouraging readers to subscribe.

Content:

• First, I have to say that you’re a great writer! I really enjoyed the post about your mom and the fictional one called Mixed Emotions. You did a nice job in that last one building suspense as to why Matilda was crying.
• In that post about your mom, and many of your other posts, you do a nice job of keeping paragraphs short. This helps add emphasis to your words and keeps readers from getting lost in long paragraphs!
• I love that you write fiction on your blog and think you do a great job at it. At the beginning or end of the posts, it might be nice to have a blurb saying it’s fiction. You DO have a link to read more about your characters but a new reader might not know that those are just characters. Also, I think it’d be great to have landing pages for each of your fictional storylines. While you have category pages for them, it would be nice to introduce things such as the characters and any other background you want to give.
• You mention wanting to finish a book. Consider writing posts from time to time about the process of writing a book. It could be about the things you’re learning about the book writing process or the struggles you’re having with finishing. People like to root for others and support them so it may give readers another reason to come back– to check in and see how you’re coming along. It may also help you stay motivated to finish (if that’s what you need)!
• In reference to growing your business, I think implementing some of the tips I mentioned in the design section around this will help it be more visible on your blog. Also consider creating a button on your sidebar that links to your other site. You may even consider reaching out to some relevant sites and offering their readers a discount for your services.
• As far as building engaged subscribers, I think social media is key. It’s hard to build in time it but in many ways it’s as critical as the writing. Facebook can be an incredible way to drive traffic so start by asking fans engaging, simple questions related to your blog topics. When people comment or like your Facebook post, it shows up in their friends’ new feeds and can potentially draw new people in. Also, take time each week to visit some other blogs and even if you don’t comment, show that you enjoy their post by sharing it somewhere (Twitter, Pinterest, etc.). In addition, as I mentioned in the design section, try a plugin that asks readers to subscribe. Just be sure to customize it to suit your blog and your personality.

So, guys, did you learn anything? Was it helpful? Let me know in the comments below. If you have an extra moment, head over to Unintentionally Brilliant and give Roxanne some comment love.