Think Vis – Site Clinic
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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.
11 Comments
Lance - http://massforless.com
The link is wrong on the zath part – missing the “.” between www and zath
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Chris
I never comment normally but this piece is great. I think you should do more of these. They are quick to assimilate but can offer real help to people in similar situations, at the very least it makes you question your own site like you may not have done before!!
Thanks!
rishil - http://explicitly.me
Where the link to my Lazy Affiliate site? 😛
Dave J
“No-one cares about Nottingham Forest”
I’ve just lost a lot of respect for you Dave, how could you suggest that no one cares about the Kings of Europe?
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I was not thought about that thank`s for suggestion! 🙂 🙁