Discussions
What Do You Want In A Blog Review?
Posted by DaneMorgan • 6/18/08 • Subscribe to this Discussion [RSS] • Report This Topic
Topics: blog reviews, blogs, reviews
Lets say you are reading a review of a blog. What sorts of information would you like to see included in the review?
Assume that the reviewer will give a 1-10 rating and short description of his reasons for several different aspects of the blog. What do you want to see rated and explained.
What do you want to see as a Blog Writer? Is the list different for you as a Blog Reader?
User Comments
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I agree that doyoudiggit.com does a great review. They described my blog better than I could.
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If you are going to rate my blog/website somewhat negatively I would want the truth to be told.
In other words, if my blog sucked, please tell me where it sucked and how I can improve it.
Some constructive criticism without being an _RSE about it.
Hope you understand what I mean. -
it's important that you place the blog in the right category, i.e. money making, writing, personal, politics, etc. and then you have to compare it to others in its field -
I want to know if the reviewer learned anything from the blog and how they might apply the knowledge. I often find that many reviews focus on design and cosmetics a lot more than content. I'd rather read a meaty blog that's ugly as hell than one with pretty javascript that's as useful as cotton candy. But that's just me...I'm a pretty practical gal.-
Definitely content related info-- is it well-written? Does it have fresh ideas or just stuff that's been rehashed or pulled from other sources? Does it have a unique voice or special regular content features it focuses on? Stuff like that.
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That's a good point helloitsme
Lot 's of people look at my site and fail to realize it's an affiliate website
that will have affiliate banners, affiliate marketing advertisements and affiliate marketing topics.
Sometimes they just look at the design or if I was smart enough to add a Shoutbox
and then they leave me a comment that says "Nice Gadgets". lmao -
Example: Right now I have many 10's for rate/votes seen on my blog
but then last week I wasn't really around to answer many emails and messages
and one person got mad that I didn't reply to his email quick enough
and decided to leave me a 3 for a rate/vote.
His comment didn't tell me why I received a 3 or some constructive criticism,
he just left me a 3 and a comment that says "gr8 blog".
I mean what an @&%^*U*I hole but I expect this here at BC.
Please... I don't mind some constructive criticism or a low rate
but at least let me know what I could of done to improve the rate score.
That is some courteous, constructive, criticism. Thank you. -
Someone that knows what they are talking about. There is nothing worse than seeing a blog review and the people are talking about the look or design of the site when they are using the base template on blogger or something of that nature.
Also if they talk about the writing and content but can't write a coherent review it smacks of idiocy.
I want to read valid points from a valid voice. -
Specifics. If there's a problem with the writing, give us some examples. If the writing is good, give us some examples. The devil is in the details. -
I never read blog reviews. I go to a blog and make my own decision on whether I like it or not. Reviews are so subjective, just like when a critic reviews a movie. Who cares what the critic thinks...go watch the movie if you want. Make your own decision. -
Then again I don't really even know why it's necessary to have rates and awards on blogs.
Usually it's people that you kind of know or have come to somewhat know that would rate the blog
in the 1st place.
It's like advertisement...you pay to get a piece of a page inside a magazine
and then they give you an award that says something like
"Best of Boston, 2008". I mean who cares really?
The only reason why you got the Award is because you paid for it,
or you paid for a piece of the advertising page.
Some go as far as to say they have the best selection of sunglasses
in all of Boston but when you go to see their actual selection,
they only have less 10 sunglasses in the whole shop.
What they basically did was purchase an award and patted themselves on the back about it.
They got "bragging papers" as I like to call it.
I have over 90 pieces of all the top designer brands and I still don't brag
and pay for these kinds of lying and bragging forms advertising.
When people come to my store they are happy with the huge selection I have
and know where to come for sunglasses.
I do my best work from word of mouth, not advertising.
As far as the rates I really could care less if I even have them on my blog.
I blog when I have time and for my own pleasure
and I really don't care what people rate my blog or have to say or add about "my blog". -
Praise, glorification, testament, tribute, plaudits, applause, accolades, acclamation, eulogy.
Nothing more.-
Eulogy?! Have you passed and are blogging from the great beyond?
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Honesty with constructive criticisms. So many reviews I've read for blogs that were utter crap, and the people reviewing them, praised it. That's giving false hope, that ain't cool. -
Okay,
thanks for the replies and the input.
Lets narrow this down a little. I'm not talking about buying a review, or even (necessarily) a blog critique such as a blogging coach might give you.
Think more along the lines of amazon book reviews, but people can be given several specific things about the blog to rate AND give a short review of. This would allow regular blog readers to do reviews of blogs, but at the same time give them a narrowly directed focus for the review as opposed to rambling on in any direction.
So they could be asked to rate AND review things like the theme obviously. The quality of the content, the originality of the content. The navigation of the blog. The writters style. these kinds of things.
What, if your blog were receiiving such reviews by ordinary blog readers, would you want them to review on.
And what, if you were surfing some blog reviews would you want the review to tell you about.-
Well now that you are a little more specific about what you mean.
Yes definitely something like what you just described would definitely make a difference
in the quality of blog reviews. Sure I am for something like this.
It sure would encourage readers to be a little more involved and engaged
in the reviews and/or blogs. -
Great.
So what specific things about a blog would you like to see in reviews like this? Is the list different if it's your blog being reviewed or reviews about other blogs that you are reading?
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For one thing I'd be interested in stats, like where they network.
Which social networks are the blogs showing up on or in?
How many hits to the page it got, # of comments it received,
also something that links or back links or even something similar to a toughgraph. www.touchgraph.com/
Stuff like this you keep you interested in the blog.
Something to keeps you up on your toes and your eyes on the page or blog.
I would want the blog to list specifics about me, my likes and my interests, where I network, who's blogs I visit. Stuff like that.-
And then link my blog to other blogs of similar interest.
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I would want constructive criticism as well as anything that you thought I did well or at least OK with. Any ideas you had on how I could improve would be greatly appreciated. -
Constructive criticism, inspirational thoughts, suggestions, feelings, truthful rating. Basically I would want to know what the reader thinks when they are reading the blog. -
I never read them because the ones I've read are by people who have had a blog for all of two minutes and they are usually laughable.
I think most people prefer to read blogs and judge for themselves.
I do run a should be famous blog but that is a little different.
I will read "best of lists" from people of authority.
Best design blogs from people who actually design, that kind of thing. Those usually have some merit. -
Writing quality. Voice. Informativeness. Quality of documentation, if that's relevant. It's place in the internet landscape, not so much in terms of reputation, though that can be interesting, but whether it offers something new, a new angle on a familiar topic, etc. I would also want to know what kind of posts are covered, and how easy it is to find them. Ease of commenting system might also be relevant. Don't care much if the template is one everyone uses or something original, but readability of the text online matters. Templates can make that harder or easer. Whether or not there is advertising might also be interesting, though it might only need mentioning if it's excessive. Is that enough?
Edited to add: Forgot to say that information about who the blogger is is necessary too. -
Cool. Some of these things are already on the slate, but a couple are new for me. PLEASE, keep it comming.
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Lol..I'd like a review rather than a couple of half hearted sentances about the first 2 paragraphs and then a link to the reviewer's site. That'd be nice.
So many posts on here "I review 5 blogs per day" blah blah blah, that should really say "I'll pop over to your site, read a couple of lines, say something positive to get you to return the favour and then leave a link to my site to drive a bit of opportunity traffic."
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Yeah that "Do You Digg IT" looks good.
Facebook has some cool applications hidden among them like the Touchgraph and FriendsWheel.
They have a "Simply Rss" showing a "my feeds" button in your profile.
"Feedheads" are shared items of your friends, like sites and blog topics.
A Flog blog, "Memorable Web Addresses for Profile, Page or Group" and this one is new to me,
I haven't seen this one before, with this you can choose your profile web address and tell friends.
Also new is "Blog Networks", I uploaded my blog there and it took a snapshot of my blogs
so its right on my main profile page similar to what we have here already in BC.
They also have a "FriendFeed" which shares content from your other friends sites and/or blogs.
"Upcoming" has and shows public events I'm attending or just watching.
A "Profile counter" shows how many people visited your profile page.
"Who's Online?", does just what it say and shows you who's online at the moment.
"Testimonials", people leave some testimonials about what they like about you
and your blogs or website.
"Compare People", changes in ranks, friends voted you ???, the most punctual,
the nicest site, the most creative, the best personality.
Looks like Amazon has a cool "Amazon Wire Podcast".
Amazons book blog presented by Omnivoracious where you can listen to this weeks artist.
Maybe do something similar to this for bloggers.
A "Featured Categories" section featuring different artist weekly or monthly would be cool.
Even a "New and Notable" category featuring different blogs and/or bloggers weekly or monthly. -
If it were me I would like to see...
Is the style easy to read?
How well the blog gets it's message across.
How similar is it to other blogs the reviewer has read.
Did the reviewer learn anything?
Would the reviewer recommend the blog?
Overall rate 1-10 -
The content is first and foremost... is it readable, does it keep the reader interested, can it draw the reader into reading more posts? Does it make the reader want to come back?
Is punctuation used correctly? Spelling? If these things are really bad then it distracts from what the writer is trying to portray.
The design: Does it fit the subject, is it easy to navigate and understand, can the reader easily find the content, is it easy on the eyes, do the colors clash or blend together?
Widgets, are they orderly? Are they distracting and draw your attention away from the content? Do they serve a purpose?
Font: Is it easy to read? Is it a color that can be seen without squinting or straining the eyes?
Links: Do they work? Are they labeled correctly? Are they relevant to the post?
Images: are they clear, are they relevant to the post? Do they fit with the text either around them, or between them? Do they add to the post or distract?
Comments: If there is a comment section, is it easy to leave a comment, or does the reader have to jump through a bunch of hoops to leave feedback? Does the writer interact with comments when they can?
If ads are used, are they relevant to the posts? Do they blend in or are they loud and distracting?
Music: Is there a way for the reader to turn the music on or off? Is it relevant to the post? Is it too distracting?
Would the reader want to recommend it to others? -
people trust the reviews of people they perceive to be like them. so your reviews should be honest straight forward and thorough. your true fan base will understand and appreciate the review.
www.blogcatalog.com/discuss/entry/i-need-a-few-helpers
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