Feedback requested
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You all are busy churning out wonderful content, infusing your sites with creativity, and making your unique voices resound across the web. But what is creation without continuous evolution? What can truly initiate this evolution is feedback.
Feedback isn’t just an act of pointing out flaws. Instead, it’s a catalyst that triggers growth, innovation, and self-improvement. By opening up our work to the community’s gaze, we can discover a goldmine of ideas and insights. We have the chance to look at our creations through a different lens, from different perspectives, and these invaluable insights can help us grow and evolve.
That leads us to the purpose of this post – Collaborative Critique. This is a chance for each one of us to put our creations under the microscope together and, in return, gain insightful feedback from this wonderful community.
So, how about we start? We encourage you all to select a feature or a page from your website that you’d like to showcase and receive feedback on. Share it on this dedicated thread, and let’s embrace the power of constructive criticism.
From tailored design suggestions to recommendations for more engaging content, the collective wisdom of this diverse community is like a secret ingredient that can elevate our creations to incredible new heights.
Let’s seize this opportunity for growth, improvement, and connection. Looking forward to all your shares, thoughts, and feedback. Remember, every suggestion, every comment carries the potential to inspire leaps of improvement.
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Hello, fellow WordPress users. I finally decided to take a leap of faith and dedicate myself to my Freelancer business 24/7. I created an About me Page. I know that I have a lot to learn, so any recommendation or comment you have will be greatly appreciated.
Have an amazing day.
Best,
Astrid
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Hey @astridhelps
What you have got there is certainly a good description. Lovely tone as well!
To help enhance it, can you share examples of your work? Or, testimonials from people, even if they are friends?
Also, it might help to break up your site into pages with pages like “about me”, “your services”. This would be good for SEO too.
Also, I like the angle about being a biologist. Is there something you could offer specifically to that community? One of the things with proofreading is it’s a very busy market but if you can define yourself as a proofreader who understands biology, academic papers, etc then you could really position yourself well in catering to that market.
The other thing I’d do is think about your brand and get more images that show who you are and what you do. Maybe images of you at work. Testimonials with images of people looking happy. Things like “I couldn’t have done it without Astrid. My paper gained a 100% pass mark”, etc.
It’s a good list of skills and I can see the personality behind it but can you make the website sell you more? I know this is a startup so it may be outside the budget but if you are really going for it, the Built By service might be a useful idea here – https://wordpress.com/website-design-service/?utm_campaign=happiness
But I hope that provides a few points and best of luck!
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Oh great idea @rickswpress! I have two to submit for feedback 😊
First is to draw attention to another post in the forum by a student looking for some performance feedback here: https://wordpress.com/forums/topic/feedback-request-how-does-sundayslicers-com-perform-on-your-device-and-browser/
The second is our very own learning hub here: https://wordpress.com/learn/ — we’d love to hear all the thoughts and suggestions you all might have to make this “the” place to hang out and ramp up your website building knowledge. You’re welcome to include ideas of what’s missing too. We’re setting up a game plan to really fill some gaps in 2024!
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Welcome @astridhelps! I agree with @rickswpress, you’re off to a great start with a terrific voice/tone.
A couple of other ideas that come to mind for me are:
- The Astrid/Maria name bit in the About page is fun, but for throughput the site I would recommend picking one to use consistently. I noticed in one place you use Astrid but in another you use Maria. Consistency on this will help strengthen your credibility.
- Currently, the Home item in your menu has a placeholder link of the hashtag # so it’s not loading your actual homepage of: https://astriddavilabio.wordpress.com/. You can edit the URL of a menu item in the Navigation block in the Site Editor. When you select an item in the Settings sidebar you’ll see the options covered in this support guide: https://wordpress.com/support/wordpress-editor/blocks/navigation-block/#link-settings
- I noticed that the dates and categories on your blog page: https://astriddavilabio.wordpress.com/blog/ are displaying in a different language, so you might want to check some settings for that.
I hope these findings are helpful 😊
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Hello there to you both, @rickswpress and @tanjoymor.
I wanted to thank both of you for your feedback. I made sure to take the simplest steps right away (or so I think).
I haven’t realized about the mix-up of the languages on the dates. I think that my Bilingual brain just read that in automatic mode and failed to spot the issue with the dates.
Most of my experience derives from proofreading and editing scientific articles on Fiverr, so I think that experience is something that I need to highlight (thanks for that advice). Regarding the names, I changed it back to Astrid on the “About me” page.
Also, I had thought about adding photos of myself and doing an introductory video, but where I’m currently working is not as photogenic as I think those images need to be (and it has terrible lighting to take photos, tbh). So, I’ll have to find a workaround for that.
Guys, thank you so much once again for your help. I hope that you have a beautiful day :D
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I’m really glad that helped @astridhelps
When it comes to an introductory video. There’s a lot you can do with just getting the light right.Providing you are facing a window you should be able to get some good light on your face. Then maybe arrange the desk so it looks really organized.
If the room looks really messy :) then get the person taking the photo or video to get in close. Another technique is to use a couple of table lamps pointing at you and the desk and then turn off the lights in the rest of the room. This helps to get rid of the background.
And finally, if all else fails, do a Google for “background image removal online” and there are a variety of tools that could cut you out from the background so it’s just you and the background of the website itself.
Also, the photo app on your phone is likely to have a filter that will lift the light and there are even tools like “Airbrush” that let you touch things up even more.
Hope that helps. Looking forward to hearing more about your progress. -
Hello,
I’m so excited I found this forum. It’s exactly what I’ve been looking for!
I started my blog in August and have been fleshing it out with some content. Setting up my blog was the easy part – am familiar with WP. Now I think I need to fine tune. I have an About me page, but I don’t have a Contact page, need to do that.
My husband and I plan to retire to a liveaboard sailboat in 10 years. In the meantime, we need to learn to sail…. At this point in time, we are OBSESSED with sailing and think about it all the time. Starting this blog is one way to indulge in alla that :) In addition, though, I am hoping I can turn it into something fruitful. I love the idea of not working for someone, just doing my own thing (even though I have zero business sense). I am hoping I can learn business stuff in 10 years too!
In any case, my blog is at sailandsavor.blog
Any and all feedback is welcome!
Thanks in advance!
Becca
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Welcome @clarkbecca Great to see you here. That does sound so appealing. It’s amazing how people are taking to the waves these days.
A few thoughts.
- I love the fact you are clear about what your blog is about. Sailing is a popular topic but you make it clear that this is about sailing “and food and drink”. That makes you stand out instantly as I know as a reader what I’m getting.
- I felt the top picture should be you and your husband looking happy holding shopping bags and wine in front of a boat or eating dinner on a boat with the mast behind you and a beautiful scene. The current header image is a bit low res to be honest. To make the blog stand out I would make the picture tell me what the blog is about visually so it goes along with the words.
- When you write really think about engaging your readers. So as you talk about what you did, ask questions (even if you don’t get answers) or start topics with things like “Do you find you……” It helps to personalize the content.
- I’d make each category clear, so food posts, sailing posts, etc. This allows people to pick the bit they are most interested in but with a featured post at the top, maybe a welcome post.
- And finally, I would add a subscribe button at the top of the page so people see it straight away rather than at the bottom.
A few thoughts, I hope that helps. I think you’ve got a great hook there with sailing, food and drink and could create a strong blog.
Looking forward to hearing your updates!
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@rickswpress Thank you so much for your reply! It’s funny to me how another’s perspective can be extremely helpful! As soon as you mentioned the top picture, I could see exactly what you meant! I have changed it already, to a picture of mine that will be sufficient for now, but in the future I will work toward getting one that is just right (I have a vision in my mind’s eye :)
The category bit you mentioned – #4 – I guess I don’t understand what you mean. When you say, “make each category clear,” what exactly are you envisioning? You are right, I have the categories listed at the bottom of each post and it definitely does not pop out at the reader. They actually have to look for it, tbh. So how to make it more clear? What would be a good, elegant solution to that problem?
I appreciate the other tips too! Thank you so much for your help!!
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@rickswpress I think I figured out what you meant. I changed the template such that the categories and tags appear up at the top of the content rather than the bottom. I also activated the subscription pop-up! Feeling good about where I’m at!
Thanks again for your help!!
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Hello Becca!
I wanted to congratulate you for “parking” a boat with a 25 knot wind. That sounds difficult (even if you nailed it on your first try). Now, as I don’t know anything about sailing (only about food), I find your blog difficult for a beginner to read and understand (at least the first time). I am not sure if this is something doable, but you might consider having a glossary for newbies :)
Also, you might want to add a Contact Us page for people who want to contact you directly instead of waiting for a newsletter to reply.
As a final thought, great images and descriptions. I could imagine both of you sailing the world and sunbathing at sunset, enjoying your retirement :D I wish you both the best!
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@astridhelps Thank you so much for your feedback! I’m totally new at this and it’s thrilling when someone actually takes a look at it, even if it’s in response to a request for feedback! :D
I was considering adding a Contact Us page but was ambivalent about it. I couldn’t imagine that anyone other than my friends and family would even be looking at it! I keep having to remind myself to have a bigger vision than that. Also hadn’t considered that maybe someone would not want to wait for the newsletter! So, add a Contact Me page it is! Thank you for that feedback!!
As for the nautical lingo, I can see how that would be difficult. To be perfectly honest, my audience is probably not going to be versed in the language. It’s an excellent point. I like your idea of a glossary for non-sailors. I wonder if there is a way to add tooltips using WP. That would be a nice way to solve that problem. In the absence of tooltips, I could just define the terminology in line, or, I could add a graphic, a boat diagraph perhaps, to posts that could use it. The most practical thing to do would probably be to simply not use the jargon!
Thank you again for your feedback! You’ve helped me a lot!! Much gratitude :)
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Hi again, Becca!
I think that it’s a good idea to create content for beginners. After all, they might be the primary audience for your blog. You can add all required sailing terms and a nice short description to your post.
Jargon is frowned upon many times, but sometimes it is needed! Most importantly, you focus your blog on your likely readers (and, of course, add what you like).
I’m glad I was able to help you :) I hope other bloggers and WordPress users also jump in to share more tips with you.
My best wishes to you and your husband.
PS: I think that it’s better to mention you… so, Hi there, @clarkbecca :D I sent you a response.
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Hi there,
I have been blogging almost daily since the beginning of June, predominantly with the daily writing prompts. I am getting a really good response. I actually just reached 500 followers today, but I feel like the website design part of it is something I could really use some feedback on. I am pretty open to constructive criticism so don’t be shy. I would like to eventually have this be a source of income when I retire from teaching 10 or 12 years from now. For now, though, I would be content to have a site that looks right and functions like a blog. My blog address is bunchiesblog777.com …. looking forward to some feedback!
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Hello,
I’ve been using the WP platform since 2018. I started my first blog as a diary to chronicle a trip to NYC to visit relatives. That year and the following, my posts were predominantly related to shared meals with family and travel by boat and train.
Starting in 2021 I began writing short guides to completing offers and deals from a “get paid to” site. Many of the offers were mobile games and I noticed a big shift in traffic to these game-related posts. This became my primary focus for the blog.
My external traffic jumped considerably after setting up Google Search Console, and the Bing and Yandex Webmaster Tools. I also found traction for my content on Reddit and select communities.
View Count by Year:
- 2018: 320
- 2019: 245
- 2020: 523
- 2021: 25,257
- 2022: 244,133
- 2023: 85,282
In 2022 I actually ran out of space for Media. I played around with using outside hosting and URLs for images, but it was ungainly and a bit overwhelming with all of my posts. I eventually made a second blog and moved about 40% of my media over to the new blog. I used links in the original posts to direct users to the new blog if they wanted to access the media.
There was just enough space to fit everything from 2021-2023. I was able to save a considerable amount of space by converting all of the media files from PNG to JPG. In 2022 the new blog traffic was almost entirely from links on the main blog. In 2023 I saw a shift with a 50/50 split between Search Engines and Redirects.
View Count New Blog:
- 2022: 180,540
- 2023: 252,879
An unforeseen issue for me has been that my two sites have become entrenched in their niches. Attempts to shift the focus or make general blog posts on non-gaming topics have all failed.
I decided what I needed to do was create another blog that doesn’t cater to any niche. Somewhere I can safely be obscure, off-topic, and spontaneous. I have enjoyed reading the Daily Writing Prompts that show on the dashboard. I am looking forward to being able to respond to those openly.
My new blog is called The Errant Literary (http://errantliterary.news.blog/)
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Hi, Im Ken, Im an open heart surgery nurse and Ive had this blog page for over a decade I believe and upon recently decided start to blog a little bit more as a means of therapy, which is why i blog anyway, i have some friends who read my content and love reading my previous crazy stories they slowly began to tell me that i should write them down, so i did per suggested my success and professional friends who read my content they asked “are you writing an autobiography” I replied no, and they told me, from the looks of it you should so it, it is wonderful reading you to now, and so i began this process with you guys and im loving my page, I do plan on starting up a podcast from the things you guys have on here, i have all the equipment but just need to get some down time from work to do so. I love it here, its my safe space.
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Hello @mbunch888!
I took a look at some of your posts. I noticed that you have different formats. For example, some are short posts (answers to the daily prompts or sharing an article from another blog), while others are longer (as the one of the relationships between pets and owners). I think that’s good and increases your variety of posts. I would just suggest that posts that share other articles might briefly explain what the post is for.
Also, nice images :) The blog looks beautiful.
If you could share some Feedback about my blog, I would really appreciate it. You can click here to open it.
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Hi Ken ( @balanceproblems).
Could you please share your blog’s link? I would love to take a look at it :) I am curious about the stories you’ve shared.
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Hi @parkdanil.
It’s great that you can pour your mind out in your new blog. It looks nice and welcoming. I hope that it stays as that space where you can freely share your thoughts.
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