keep up todate with the next Think Vis

www.zath.co.uk
• Not included in Google News
• Headlines difficult to read – often containing the keyword (the name of the technology) but no compelling message. Not very ‘clickable’
o ACRyan PlayOn! HD Range Gets Firmware Update – New GUI & HFS+ Support Added
o Firefox 3.6.4 Update Released – Plugin Crash Protection Feature Added
o Amex Digital MP-501 Announced – World’s Smallest & Cheapest 1080p Media Player?
o Front Row Review (Mac OS X Media Centre Software)
• Homepage title is ” Technology Blog (UK), Hi-Tech Gadgets & Games, News & Review – Zath!” Very wishlisty and not very readable. Something like “Zath: UK Technology Blog – the best in hi-tech gadgets, games, news and reviews” would work better.
• The site has a few writers as well as the presence of Simon Barker as owner/editor and this could be played on a bit more with photographs and more informal biographies to make the content more engaging.
• Microformatted star reviews to help reviews stand out
• Lot of links – mainly scrapers… make the site look a little bit generic.
• Lead opinion pieces that use the author’s expertise and insight (“what next for tech in 2011?”) or multiple-viewpoint pieces (all the authors contribute difference views on the iPad) will be more linkworthy
• Use Twitter to engage with people rather than just spitting out an RSS of the new content
• Design is lucklustre and many stories lead in with a chunk of AdSense. Fine for revenue, but makes the experience of the site feel cheap and unlinkworthy.

www.wallglamour.co.uk
• Site ranking pretty well: if you search for something broad like “wall stickers” or something specific like “butterfly wall stickers” the site generally is there or thereabouts.
• Page titles and meta descriptions are bland though: could do with sexing up. Something like
o “Butterfly wall stickers – let your imagination fly: Wall Glamour”“ [page title]
o “These butterfly wall stickers will let you transform your room for just £20. An easy-to-apply way to bring character and personality to your living space” [meta]
• Blog not working
• Text doesn’t talk directly to the visitor: “This collection is a group of our wall stickers that we think would look really good in a boys bedroom, den or playroom.” Needs to speak more directly to people about why they would be interested in buying such things.
• Categories should lead in with imagery from a room to show what they look like in place
• “Home wall” stickers lead in with products that look like kids’ products
• Reassurance. How easy to stick on? Can I remove them if I don’t like their positioning? Probably a major part of the buying decision but hidden under something called “application guides”. Possibly needs an FAQ section.
• Some nice links from the likes of the Telegraph: and Yahooo Answers, suggesting that the brand is pretty well known:
o http://www.telegraph.co.uk/property/propertypicturegalleries/7053098/The-best-wall-stickers.html
o http://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100707091955AAbNTTN
• “As seen on Channel 4” etc… any way to embed still from the shows where they were to reinforce this – should be a massive confidence/reputation thing. Or mention how/when the products were mentioned or covered.

www.eighteensixtyfive.co.uk
• No-one cares about Nottingham Forest – it would be better placed as a blog about Leeds
• Ranks well for “Nottingham Forest Blog” and “Nottingham forest podcast”
• Not in Google News
• Looking at the site you would never know without reading it that it had anything to do with football or Nottingham Forest in particular
• Some nice links from other footballing blogs and even a couple from the Guardian sports pages, so it has some decent equity
• Social media stuff buried right at the bottom of the page so most people probably wouldn’t find it
• Titles of blog posts aren’t search terms – “we’re doomed”, “lethargy”… should include player’s, manager’s names etc
• BIG problem with navigation… how do I get to old articles? Google is indexing them, but there are no category/archive links. They’ll lose equity really fast once off the homepage
• No links to other footballing sites. Would help to foster community and backlinks in return… there’s a tonne of other Forest blogs and general sites like More Than Mind Games which cover football in the same intelligent way.
• The actual content is great – well written, passionate and informed.