Okay, Rip Apart My Site

I like it. If you could increase your blog posting to 3-4 a week, you should see a substantial increase in traffic after a couple months.

Ty - How many times do you update your blog page per week?

I'd use only partial articles on the frontpage, that people can click on to read the whole article.

I want to see what other articles are available but I have to scroll down all the way through the entire length of each article. Then I get tired and give up and click away.

Hey Ty,
I like the looks of the site.

I think the only suggestion I'd make is to have the home page be just excerpts of posts, with a read more button, rather than the longish posts that are on it right now.

This was you could have 5-10 on the home page without the reader having to scroll so far

Your first page is way too long. You need a first page that is welcoming without all of the info. Let visitors feel glad to be on your site when they first arrive...not be overwhelmed trying to figure out what they are looking at.

Some of the info I saw should be placed on the other empty pages that you have tabbed. Break your info up into categories and keep the pages fairly short. Use links to go into more detail if needed, but keep the info on the main pages fairly concise and to the point.

The floating links are something that many say help conversions...personally I think they are a major distraction. Better to use static buttons and place them in multiple locations on the page if needed.

You have a good start, but try to look at your site as though you were visiting it for the first time. What would make you think it was an informative and easy to use site? That is what you want it to look like.

Hi Ty,

I like the site layout except for a couple of items and I don't have any problem with the longer posts you have on the front page although you could do as others suggest and go with partial posts and a "read more" button, it is really a matter of taste and whether your posts are on different topics, e.g. a diet post, followed by a work tips post, followed by a new type of exercise post. If you have different posts like that you might want to try and put more on the front page.

I also think you should put your name and some other contact info the page--like an email address. I realize your name is in the site but personalize the page a bit with a little chat, like "Hi, this is Ty. Thanks for stopping by my website and I encourage you to leave any comments, good or bad, or ask any questions below. Any and all feedback is encouraged and gratefully received. Have a great day!"

There is no home page button, when I started to look around your site I couldn't easily get back to your home page.

Second, don't underline items unless it is as hyperlink--use all caps, bold or italics or different or re-sized font, to highlight text; on the web, underlining means "click here for a a link."

Third, you have nothing at all under "About me" tab--you should put something there right away--even if you don't have any "formal" fitness training, even if it is just some personal information like your name, age and where you are located in general terms, e.g., "southern California" or "midlands, UK" and how you got into fitness. I tend to shy away from sites where I know nothing about the person behind the site, makes me wonder if it is even a real site or just some kind of a scam or social hacking site, especially if I can pay for something on the site that involves the owner's personal involvement like writing up a fitness or work out plan.

It appears that you know a lot about your subject and are passionate it about it which are the two keys to writing good content so I think if you just keep up the good work you will get traffic. Rome wasn't built in a day and I suspect if Rome had a website it would have taken several years, as the city itself did, to build up.

The one other thing I might suggest is perhaps to start review other fitness products like clothes, equipment, gyms, nutritional supplements as well cross linking with other fitness sites that you enjoy to encourage traffic as well as to brand your site as a place to go to get other good fitness sites.

Hi Ty, I like the look of your site. It's nice, clean and simple.

I'd go for partial posts with a 'read more' button, I prefer this set up as it gets people clicking on links and on my site longer, which is good in Googles eyes. Also makes the home page look cleaner.

You've got no 'home' page button on the top menu bar.

You could interlink your pages from within your blog posts, links to other relevant blog posts and pages.

Your subscribe button is hidden away and gives people no real reason to want to subscribe. You generally want that top right of the tool bar.

I'd add a 'latest post' menu to the right hand tool bar, it will get people clicking on more pages and I'd probably add a 'pages' menu there too. Again just gives people more opportunity to click on other pages.

Dude, you are in right track. See, if you would do it continuously in each of every week then we your blog would get substantial amount of traffic. Just make sure that the content you are writing should be unique and useful. Do not write content just for the sake of content.

The clean and tidy layout looks good on an iPad. The site needs more info about you. People who come to a blog want to know how they can trust you, and they can only do that if you present more about who you are, especially in this niche.

Are you looking for some local traffic?

I've found in some niches that a good ad on Craigslist can consistently bring in 20 to 50 new visitors or more, and you can repost it every 3 days. You can run 2 or 3 different ads every day. That could almost double your traffic. The ad does not need to be too fancy, just make sure it has a simple http link to your website, a good title that attracts attention, and a call-to-action that gets visitors to click the link.

Hi Ty,
If you want people to sign up, make it easy and obvious. Your newsletter subscription area is below the fold and underneath some bright pictures. Try swapping your tag section and your subscription section on the right-hand bar, and making your subscription section stand out with color, font size or a button.
Good luck!

Another idea for your About Me page, include several brief testimonials from clients.

I'm using a small monitor, and when I went to your site, I couldn't see the sidebar. I thought you didn't have one but then I realized I have to scroll over to the right. my suggestion is.. maybe you need to cut the width of the posts. imagine how people on ipads/mobile would view your site...

I definitely like the look of it! Post more frequently and you should do just fine

Ty, I really like the changes you made. Overall, I think your site looks great.

The home page is much more inviting and less overwhelming.

The social buttons are a great improvement from the way they operated before.

Your "About me" page is top notch!

A couple of tweaks I would suggest: (These are just my opinion)
1) Dress up your sign-up box with a little more info (just a very few words) about what they are signing up for and benefits they receive. Not too much detail, just a bit of a teaser.

(2) Part way down the page at the "Just get started" picture, you have a lot of white space next to it. Some type of comment to the right of the picture that would reinforce the "get started" idea and encourage visitors to actually "act now" would be good. Might also be a good spot to offer your newsletter (again) as a "motivational starter".

Excellent job!