DISQUS

dougbelshaw.com: dougbelshaw.com redesign

  • Matt · 1 year ago
    It looks very busy, maybe a bit too busy. Lots of ads, but I kinda understand that.
  • Doug Belshaw · 1 year ago
    Thanks for the feedback, Matt. Fair point about the ads - although there's actually no more than there were originally!

    I've removed one block of them, but I've still got to pay for my web hosting! :-)
  • Nick Dennis · 1 year ago
    I like the avatar on the top but the other stuff will take some time for me to accept - humans don't like change! :)
  • Ewan McIntosh · 1 year ago
    I'd pull the ads altogther - you'll get more readership and better Googlejuice by not having them and make your money in other ways from that increased readership. It looks a bit tacky.

    The tag cloud is good, shows what you're interested in, but it's lost under a plethora of 'related' stuff. If something's related to that blog post, then put it at the top or bottom of the post, not in the sidebar, which should remain a constant during my surf.

    The stats don't help me do anything as a reader (subscribe, find posts) so I'd get rid of them. Show people how good you are in other ways (like your blog posts).

    The different types of post you present - random, recent, related - need cut back. Have a separate page with your best bits, perhaps, and get rid of the random posts. Your other involvements come through in your blog posts, and if they don't they're probably not relevant any more.

    The top link takes me away from this site to the Tumblr. I'll get confused about where I should go, especially since your delicious links are on this page, too.

    The latest images from Flickr don't actually show me images. As a newbie, I'd find this weird.

    I hope the feedback's useful. The content continues to be great, and I do read through a feed reader, so I'm trying to put myself in the position of someone who reads only a few blogs a day or none, and wants to get to your content quickly, not all the rest.

    Cheers, mate. Hope you get better soon!
  • Doug Belshaw · 1 year ago
    @Nick: I never had you down as a reactionary, Nick! ;-)

    @Ewan: Great feedback, Ewan! You're probably right r.e. the ads, so I'll consider getting rid of them... I'll address the other, very apposite, points over the weekend. :-)