Travel Writers Exchange Forum Home

1. 

   Amandah Blackwell
   Moderator

   Website: ThePlanetd
   Linke: http://theplanetd.com

   What Works:

   1. The website is easy to navigate.
   2. The Featured Content slide show is a nice touch.
   3. Like the Advice and Favorites/Top 10'S
   4. Great content that's up-to-date.

   What Could Be Better:

   1. My eyes immediately went to the right hand side and looked at all of the ads on the website because they stood out. Perhaps you could tone down the ads or rearrange them.

   Suggestions:

   1. Move the Twitter widget to the top. It felt like it was "lost" to me in it's current position.
   2. Move Dave's Photography to the top, either under Connect with Us or below the newsletter subscription sign up box.
   3. The theme color reminded me of Halloween (my favorite holiday). Some readers may prefer a theme that isn't so dark.
   4. Consider moving India Travel Services and Africa Travel Services to the top. They seem lost between the affiliate ads and Twitter widget.
   5. Create a custom logo or make your picture larger. It seems to get lost within the black background of the website.
   6. Consider moving the following to the right hand side or the top: Advertise.Where Are We Now?.Blog Directories.
   7. Make the Contact Us in the top, right hand corner larger or move it.

   Posted 2 years ago #
2. 

   theplanetd
   Member

   These are excellent suggestions that we are going to get to work on this week. thank you so much for taking the time to review our blog. I agree with a lot of what you say and many things I didn't even think about until you pointed them out. We had been discussing lightening up the background a bit and now we know that our instincts were leaning in the right direction.
   Thanks again we have a lot of work to do now that we are home. And we will make sure to take a look at all the other blogs this week as well. Have a great long weekend!

   Posted 2 years ago #
3. 

   Amandah Blackwell
   Moderator

   Your welcome and thanks!

   Posted 2 years ago #
4. 

   TravGirl
   Member

   Nice site!

   What Works:

   * I really love the design and layout - very clean and easy to navigate
   * Your "featured" slide show has some amazing photos! They really draw you in and make you want to know more about them.
   * I like the way the home page is segmented below the featured - nice way to group posts and make them accessible.
   * I like that the subscribe, RSS, and social networking icons are all large and 'above the fold' - makes them easy to find.
   * I have to disagree with Rebecca on the issue of the Ads - I think it's great that they draw the eye, after all that is what they are there for. If you want to make money with a blog, you need to make sure your readers don't overlook your ads. If they are there for the content they'll still find it, but making sure they see the ads is the best way to make sure that the ads work.

   What could be better:
   * The top menu navigation seems a bit overstuffed (the topmost line wraps to a second line on my monitor), and the drop-down menu styles are hard to read - dark grey font on a background that is only slightly lighter grey.

   Suggestions:

   * The right sidebar on the home page extends way down below the content, so I have to wonder how many people will scroll down that far - I'd suggest putting the least important (or least-revenue-producing) sidebar stuff down at the bottom, and make sure any ads are higher up.

   * Consider moving the "Search" box to just above the subscribe box to make more room in your top menu for the pages you need to have there

   Posted 2 years ago #
5. 

   Maria Staal
   Member

   I have been following the Planet D blog for a while now and love it, so it was a bit hard to look at it with a critical eye.

   What works:
   * The niche is great. It's very nice to follow your adventures.
   * Great content.
   * Great pictures.
   * Love the featured content at the top. The pictures draw you in.

   What could be better:
   * The navigation bar is a bit full. Drop-down menus are indeed a bit hard to read.
   * On my screen the 'connect with us' icons in the side bar are not visible without scrolling down.
   * The background colour is indeed a bit dark, but it doesn't really bother me.

   Suggestion:
   * Put the 'connect with us' icons above the recent posts in the side bar.
   * The text of the 'about' page is a bit out of date as you have done so many more things since 2008.
   * I would suggest to put the categories in the navigation bar somewhere else, but I realise that you might not have the space for them somewhere else. So in that light they are probably best where they are.

   Posted 2 years ago #
6. 

   theplanetd
   Member

   Thanks for all your suggestions everyone. We have changed quite a bit of what you said. We are working hard on it all, but I think that it is coming together. I agree with everything that you have to say. Some are difficult to implement because we just don't have the space, but we have gotten rid of the drop down menus, cleaned up our categories in the header and moved some of the side bar widgets around.
   We have changed the colours as well.
   In a week or so, we may just have it the way we like it.
   Thanks again!
   Dave and Deb

   Posted 2 years ago #
7. 

   Amandah Blackwell
   Moderator

   Great job! It feels like it flows better. Love the slide show.

   Posted 2 years ago #

RSS feed for this topic

Reply

You must log in to post.