Blog Critics

[Megan @The Book Babe]

I'm looking for some people to critique my YA book blog, because I would like some constructive criticism. If you have any for me, lay it right down there on the line. (Please don't be harsh.)

http://thebookbabesreads.blogspot.com

[Bri Meets Books]

First impressions:

The header needs some work. The text is a bit blurry.  Is that a copyrighted image?

All caps in the sidebar? Why?  

There's SO much color and the glow of texts etc.. it makes my eyes hurt.  That bright blue on purple.. clashy.

You have book quotes at the end of your reviews, which is a really nice touch, however you don't mark them as quotes, or have them within quotes.

Your menu is good, I know exactly what I'm going to get with the pages. Good job!

Your links aren't really visible. They're there, but it's not until I mouseover them that I see they're links.  You might want to change them to a different color.

So many banners on the sidebar.. so many. 

[Megan @The Book Babe]

I can't actually figure out how to get the text unblurry. I've tried. I don't believe so, but I guess I'll have to look into it.

That was the best font at the time. I changed it to something I like a bit better. :)

Ooops... that was me not thinking about link colors. (and gadget text..etc..) :)

I'll have to work on that. :)

Thanks! I wanted to make sure it was easy to find and clear.

I did. I just don't think about some of this stuff. :)

I try and delete them as often as I can. :)

Thanks for the evaluation. Reevaluate?

:)

[Alison M.]

The font in the sidebar  is still kind of hard to read. I know it looks cool but it's pretty hard on the eyes for any length of time. Unfortunately, boring is the way to go with that.

You're bordering on way too many buttons in the sidebar. It feels really cluttered. Maybe look into a way to have them scroll.

[Bri Meets Books]

The black font is still a bit hard to read on your purple sidebar. 

When you make the banner, are you antialiasing the text?

Still a lot of banners in the sidebar.

[Megan @The Book Babe]

Antialiasing? I'm not sure what that is.

I need to find a banner scroller.

Thanks again. :)

[Shayna Gier]

Here's my tips and suggestions:

1- lose the background image. It's cool, I get that. But it's also very busy and distracting. Plain backgrounds, are your best bet, or something that is muted. Also, this makes your dates hard to read

2- Shorten your "about me" blurb in the sidebar. it has a link to your complete profile, and you can go into depth there. 

"Hi. I'm Megan, and I'll be your hostess today. I have this huge, awesome, amazing love of reading, and I'm going to try and share it with you." is perfect! 

Added bonus of doing this- your rating system explanation gets more visability at first glance! Yay! Perfect ordering there though already.

3- I agree that your sidebar has too many images. Are all those even active currently? I don't know if blogger supports sidebar slideshows- but if it does I'd advise condensing the images down into categories "giveaways" "2012 challeneges" and having them rotate through one space.  

Other than that- looks good!

[Megan @The Book Babe]

Thanks! I really like the background image, so it stays, (I used to have a really dark colored one.)

I shortened my 'About me', though.

Most of them are. I'll check them all today. :)

[Shayna Gier]

MUCH better. :-)

[Megan @The Book Babe]

Thanks. :)