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Advice on / review my site?

by taaron
19 replies
  • WEB DESIGN
    • |
Howdy guys!

I'm about ready to relaunch my blog located at http://www.taaron.org after a mild case of burn-out following getting hacked, and not getting things to re-incorporate how I wanted it to. Right now, it's primary about toy collecting, and would like to expand into other hobbies in the future.

So far I've posted a partial amount of my collection and figure it's enough to re-launch the site, but first I wanted some advice and review over the site before creating a new post going "Hey, I'm open again!"

I haven't done much work on graphics end, mostly due to trying to decide which theme I want to use before I start. (I'm currently using the Twenty Twelve theme.)

I've got it narrowed down to:
Arjuna X by SRS Solutions
raindrops by Tenman
Stark Lite by Nithin K R
Teal by ThemeAlley.com

but can't decide which to use.

Any other advice ya'll can think of and provide, I'd appreciate it.
#advice #review #site
  • Profile picture of the author jay walters
    You might want to delete the "Hello World!" post.

    Just saying
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  • Profile picture of the author taaron
    Hello World! post has been deleted. Anything else?
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  • Profile picture of the author AnkurJaiswal
    Hi,
    You should use proper Meta Title for your site;s homepage. You could also use a Good logo.
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  • Profile picture of the author dgerryd
    Hey Taaron.
    I am no expert but for design I would go to fiverr and have a banner made up to go with the theme a fiverr gig will sort this then I would change the way you have the site's home page set to one long page it will cost you on load time and rankings set it to display one to 4 posts would be better. Also change the adsense block for an optin form or an amazon affiliate product related to your site it would benefit you more you can add the adsense to the site via text links carefully placed where they might be clicked just my 2 cents feel free to contact me if you want any more help.
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  • Profile picture of the author John84
    The wonderful thing about WordPress is the vast amount of inexpensive templates out there. Check out themeforest.net and elegantthemes.com for starters.
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    • Profile picture of the author intellg
      Originally Posted by John84 View Post

      The wonderful thing about WordPress is the vast amount of inexpensive templates out there. Check out themeforest.net and elegantthemes.com for starters.
      Both sites are great resource for new wordpress website setup.
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  • Profile picture of the author run
    There's nothing need to be reviewed there. Because this section is dedicated to web design, I see no design worked on your site.

    Reasons:
    - You're using default Wordpress theme (2012) without any change.
    - You didn't even customize the typography styles or colors.
    - You didn't even make a logo or header.

    It seems that the site is lacking nearly everything in the design mode. I won't dare to review other thing beside web design here because it'll break the rules.

    P.S: Your Adsense Unit in the Sidebar is not suited well on that size.
    Signature
    I just wanna tell you that most of the links in the signature are trash and/or a trap to make you pay!
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  • Profile picture of the author YongC
    1 - Site load slow
    2 - Try to change another light background
    3 - Right column too longer than left column
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    • Profile picture of the author Paul Moss
      Originally Posted by YongC View Post

      1 - Site load slow
      2 - Try to change another light background
      3 - Right column too longer than left column
      Yes, I totally agreed with this one!
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  • Profile picture of the author taaron
    Appreciate the input, guys.

    I've turned off the infinite scroll, and set it to 4 posts per page. Would it better to set the posts to a summary or just leave them as full posts?

    Adsense widget has been resized down to 250 x 250. (This might help me pick out a theme, cause the previous Google Ad would overpower sections of the theme.)
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  • Profile picture of the author taaron
    Site is still slow loading? :/

    Any advice I can get to speed it up a bit?

    Also can I get expanded commentary on:

    the background?

    the issue with the columns? they look the same length to me.
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  • Profile picture of the author bugtrack
    According to me your site is looking very good , i really appreciate your work, its loading ok for me as my net speed is high, I would advice you to use better images for your site
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  • Profile picture of the author Romeo90
    Really, a free wordpress theme would probably make your site look 100 times better.

    I am sorry, but that logo is awful - you need a much better logo than that.

    Also, familiarise yourself with the 'post excerpt' button, so each new post only shows a couple of paragraphs instead of the whole post.

    Good luck
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  • Profile picture of the author Amod Oke
    If this is going to be a site you are going to care for long-term... get a premium theme. Period.
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  • Profile picture of the author taaron
    Where can I find the "post excerpt" button?

    Is it anything like the "Insert More Tag"?
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  • Profile picture of the author joyfulwraps
    Try to improve the product images on the upper half of the page as they are not as good as the ones on the bottom.
    Signature
    CLICKING this link will lead you to learn more about what I have to offer. Have a wonderful day![/B]
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  • Profile picture of the author JonBird
    Hi Taaron, Site loaded OK for me but you definitely need a logo or some kind of header to make the site jump out. Also... I would put more visual elements on the page... some graphics / videos etc. I know it's got content.. but it looks stark... if you know what I mean. Once I click on a post I get a lot more images... but on the front page... nothing, nada, zip.
    Hope that helps.
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  • Profile picture of the author taaron
    Appreciated! Got featured images set for the blog posts, so it's more graphic-y.

    When designing a header, is it better to keep it light and minimum, or packed with a number of things?

    Again, I appreciate the inputs from everyone. Hopefully I'm getting to the point where I can enthusiastically welcome everyone to the version 3 of my site.
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  • Profile picture of the author tskailey
    I do know how you feel about it right now taaron. Choosing a design is really a big problem. The design of your site will be the one who dictates the success of your business. Well, I suggest that you have to consider the basic elements first. Try reading this article: Internet Marketing UK | Basic Design Elements Applied in Web Design: Tips from Birmingham Experts. This might help you.
    Signature

    Tskailey
    Smart Internet Business Solutions

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