Have you taken your blogging evaluation test yet?

I’ve been a little sick during the last few days and didn’t get around to writing anything.  I usually browse around the blogs I follow on Monday or Tuesday when I kind of plan what/when to post on my blogs.

A couple of weeks back I came across a really nice blog full of useful information – and – blame it on the number of autumns I’ve enjoyed – I was quite thrilled to see it was the work of a 17-year-old school guy. Well, as you know, my 13-year-old is also quite an avid blogger – and it amazed me to see what a wonderful job he has done.  Hmm.

Evaluation, obviously, is key to any improvement – and you might really enjoy taking the following test:

Blog Self-Evaluation Checklist (courtesy Blog Marketing Academy)
•
Homepage cleanliness.
No full posts on the homepage (excerpt instead)
No repeating social media buttons
Headlines stand out, noticeably larger than
excerpt text. Preferable H1, H2 tags.
No negative social proof.
•
Logo design
Is there a real logo that is graphical and
stands out?
•
Byline which clearly states what the blog is
about.
No cheeky bylines, or vague bylines. There needs to be ZERO doubt about what the blog is about to a new arrival, within seconds.
•
Email list opt-in box.
Is there a bribe?
Above the fold?
•
Excess garbage in the sidebar.
No monthly archive links, huge blogrolls, huge tag clouds. Just because there’s a widget for it doesn’t mean it is a good idea.
No excess banner ads, or affiliate offers.
No lame award graphics.
Need: Opt-in, relevant ads, links to categories/guides.
•
Posts
Post is written to be scannable. Short paragraphs, bulleted lists (where appropriate), subheadlines.
Meaningful image (s) in the post, with ALT tags.
Opt-in or another call to action below the post?
•
Navigation
The menu is simple, not overloaded with options.
No dropdown sub-menus.
No Dead-end links to “coming soon” pages.
•
About Page.
Starts with what’s in it for the new reader. Clearly states the benefit of the
blog to the reader.
Bullet point benefits.
Opt-in box.
Bio is relevant, doesn’t read like a boring resume. Bio should be relevant
to the reader, because they don’t really care about YOU

Cheers!

Vidya