Here's what Lightening says about her site:
This blog is a blog about my blogging journey. I am by no means an expert when it comes to the topics covered in this blog. I am however, a real person, learning real things and wanting to share what I'm learning with anyone who'd like to listen. I am also extremely passionate about all things blogging.
She covers similar topics to the kind of posts you'll find on my blog, but we actually don't cross over all that much.
Content
The first thing I noticed with this site was the warm and friendly nature of the posts and the comments alike. Sometimes it's all too easy to get caught up in a subject and write about it in a sort of "mechanical" way, churning out information without putting a lot of personality in your posts.Personality is far from lacking here. Lightening writes in an open and honest way, in fact it sometimes feels more like a personal blog than a blog about blogging.
Focus
The personal feel is not a criticism, it's simply an observation of Lightening's style. Her personal blog allows her to write about things besides blogging, and this means she is not trying to cram every one of her interests into the one blog. This is a definite plus as it means her site is very focused - what you see is definitely what you get.Lightening doesn't just produce plenty of interesting content about blogging, she also manages to maintain a steady flow of posts that fall into a number of categories. Her reviews are particularly good, and were the inspiration for my own series of reviews.
I don't recall seeing a series of posts linked into a common theme, so perhaps this is something to consider for the future.
Design
Overall, I like the balance of colours and especially the rounded edges on Lightening's site. The light-up links aid navigation, the header / content fonts are well matched, and the links stand out particularly well.The ads on the right-hand side look a bit disorganised. I think they could be arranged better. Also, the red link colour doesn't work quite so well in the comment count beside each post - I find this colour contrast very difficult to read.
I can't help wondering if the title of the site would benefit from being in a banner with a nice background. I think the title looks fine, but it doesn't stand out enough.
However, these are minor criticisms as the site is easy to navigate, easy on the eyes, and it lacks clutter (a good thing!).
Summary
Lightening's Blogworld is updated regularly with content that's consistently enjoyable to read. A few minor design tweaks could really help the site to stand out, but great content is the most important thing here.Did you like this post? Subscribe today!
Tags: blog reviews, lightening
Posted by Ben on June 27, 2008 19:00 / Edited: June 27, 2008 19:51
Comments
great review and great site. I gotta learn to write reviews like you. Maybe i'd sell more paid review then. Keep up the good work Ben.
Awww Ben. How cool is that! Thank you. :)
You make some excellent points and I agree with all your constructive criticism. Now I just need to learn how to fix them (except the ads bit - I can fix those, just haven't. Yet).
You get a much better sized screenshot than I do. Does that have to do with the screen size you are using or is there a trick to it?
That was a lovely review. Nothing you couldn't be proud of in there Lightening.
A great review of a great site Ben. And I think that the constructive criticism and suggestions are great. Its good to read reviews to make you see things in a different light. I think we sometimes don't see what we get used to seeing.
I like Lightening's Blogworld, its always worth a read. Plus I think it looks very clean and crisply presented.
This 'review a blog' is an excellent idea.
I didn't know the blog but I will make it my business to revisit it now.
The key to this is - it might not be my blog that's getting reviewed but I know I can learn a lot from looking at a blog myself and then seeing what someone else thinks of it.
So, verrrry interesting!
Thanks everyone for the feedback. :)
If anyone wants to put their site forward for an honest review, please contact me and I'll see what I can do. :)
Why did I always think that lightening was a guy? hehe Sorry Lightening! Great review Ben - as always you're gracious with your criticism!
Hey fragileheart - I'll forgive you. :) Your comment made me giggle. You make an interesting point though. I've made the assumption that most people that read my blogworld also read my personal blog. But that's likely to become and less and less the case (with traffic starting to come in from other places). It's not a name that really makes my gender obvious is it?
Very nice review. I notice you have followed your own advice from a few posts back, the review is not one-sided. You have called it as you see it. Where necessary you mentioned the slightly negative stuff but you accompanied this with advice on how to rectify matters. This is a great site and I feel you gave it a very fair and honest review. I am sure the blog owner is going to be impressed.