10 things: Eco-Blogical

It has always been my intention at 10 things to take review requests in the order they are received. This seemed the best and fairest approach and has worked well thus far. I am going to continue this approach, however, I have come to realize that I may receive requests that warrant being moved to the top of the list. I came to this realization after reading the following:

Can I squeeze into line? I really need help even with entrecard I am having miserable results in getting people to my blog!

Can you pleaseeeeee help me?

After such a heartfelt plea, how could I leave her at the bottom of the list? So, Eco-Blogical, here are 10 things I hate about your site:

1. You have the same generic Blogger template as a million other bloggers.
2. While you have the same generic Blogger template, you’re not making the best use of your space.
3. Some of your posts are very articulate and well written, while others are not so great, grammatically speaking.
4. There is a disconnect between some of your post titles and your actual content.
5. Your archives list is ‘week’.
6. If you want to generate more traffic you need to belong to quality communities, display them, and participate in them.
7. I don’t see a consistency in your post schedule.
8. Focus Organic has made some very nice Ecocarder EC banners to accompany the EC widget. You are not using the banner correctly.
9. Who are you? Why won’t you tell me?
10. Why do I want to Stay and Play, and what does it have to do with your blog?

Details

10 things I hate about your site:

1. Haven’t I seen this blog before? Oh, wait. You have the same generic Blogger template as a million other bloggers. In your comments, you are lamenting the fact that you are having trouble getting people to visit your blog. Your template/theme is not helping you. Generally speaking, you will not be taken seriously by serious bloggers if you use the standard Blogger theme. (Disclaimer: As with most things, there are always exceptions to the rule, however, it’s usually not wise to try and be that exception.)

   What does this mean? I STRONGLY suggest you look into swapping out this standard theme with a different one. If you are concerned about the process being difficult, or about losing content, don’t be. I like to practice what I preach, so this morning I took the initiative and updated Don’t Put That In Your Mouth! Even after getting an initial error message that I had to resolve, the entire process took me 45 minutes. (I was using the fun, blue-with-dots template. )

2. While you have the same generic Blogger template, you’re not making the best use of your space. Even if you don’t follow my advice in #1, you need to rethink and restructure your blog elements. I don’t understand why you have widgets gadgets at the bottom, while not making the most of all the empty space on the right side.

   What does this mean? Move the gadgets from the footer of your blog and place them on the right. They’re more visible here, especially if someone doesn’t scroll through all of the displayed posts. Consider using the footer for other, less important types of information.

3. Some of your posts are very articulate and well written, while others are not so great, grammatically speaking. I struggled with this list item, as I understand that quite a few bloggers are not from the U.S., or English is their second language and I certainly don’t want to offend anyone. Since I found some inconsistency in the article writing I decided I was going to list this issue. While reading through a few of your posts (no, I don’t read every post) I had to check the author to see if I was reading articles from the same person. The first two paragraphs of your post “Obama Mc Cain = No Change for the Environment” are awkward, and there are several grammatical errors—poor sentence formation and ‘American’s’ versus ‘Americans’ to name two. Compared to the post “The Tipping Point,” it almost seems like these were written by two different people.

   What does this mean? If you want to be taken seriously, be sure you check, double-check, then triple-check your posts for typos and grammatical mistakes. I don’t recall seeing any spelling errors, which is great, but bad grammar can be just as annoying.

4. There is a disconnect between some of your post titles and your actual content. I don’t know if this is an issue throughout your blog—it might be just this particular post—but the title The Tipping Point doesn’t particularly match the article. You don’t make any correlation between what ‘the tipping point’ is. Instead, the post if about consumption and a comparison between people and locusts.

   What does this mean? You wrote a good post. Give it a good title.

5. Your archives list is ‘week’. I know it’s tempting to stray from the norm and be a “maverick” (sorry, had to throw in some political humor) but some things are best left alone. Archives listings is one of these things. Unless you have some cutting edge way to show your archives (like Lyndi has done at Nice 2 All), just go with the flow.

   What does this mean? Display your archives by month, like most everyone else.

6. If you want to generate more traffic you need to belong to quality communities, display them, and participate in them. I see that you have listed Entrecard, Technorati and Blog Show Off on your blog. Your EC widget is displayed well, however, Technorati and Blog Show Off are down in your footer (see #2).

   What does this mean? As discussed in #2, move your community badges and widgets to your right-hand sidebar. I would also recommend listing your blog with some other popular communities such as Blog Catalog, My Blog Log, Fuel My Blog, etc. These are the communities 10 things belongs to. It is not an exhaustive list and I’m sure there are more great communities. Subscribe to the comments RSS and I’ll bet some other readers will have posted more.

   In addition, if you are going to continue with Entrecard, be sure you develop some good relationships with other bloggers whose blogs you enjoy. Don’t just drop and run. Add blogs to your favorites, drop on them regularly, and post quality comments. Be sure you advertise on quality blogs, even if that means you don’t advertise continuously. Personally, I’d rather save my ECs and post where there are many readers, than waste ECs. Be patient.

7. I don’t see a consistency in your post schedule. There are several huge breaks in your posting. You go from 3/09/08 to 5/11/08, then from 5/18/08 to 8/03/08. This stands out more because you are listing your archives by week. Readers dislike nothing more than finding a blog they enjoy and then coming back repeatedly to find the same post.

   What does this mean? Shit happens. Life gets in the way. There are times when it’s just impossible to post. These chunks of time, however, send up warning signs. Be sure you are posting continuously. While it would be nice to be able to post daily (man that would rock!), it’s not possible for most of us. You still need to make sure you don’t go too long between posts. Blog readers are an unforgiving lot—if they don’t get what they want from you, they will simply move on.

8. Focus Organic has made some very nice Ecocarder EC banners to accompany the EC widget. You are not using the banner correctly. It’s great that you are an Ecocarder. It would be even better if you were using it correctly.

   What does this mean? The Ecocarder banner/link you have in your sidebar is nice, however, it would be more effective if you were using it correctly. Go back to Focus Organic, grab the correct size, and place it directly under the EC widget.

9. Who are you? Why won’t you tell me? People like to know who they are interacting with. It makes us feel connected, and it gives us an opportunity to be voyeurs. While trying to see where you might be from (for #3), I came up blank.

   What does this mean? Use the ‘About Me’ gadget. Let people know who you are.

10. Why do I want to Stay and Play, and what does it have to do with your blog? This widget has nothing to do with your blog, and I can’t imagine that anyone has tried it.

    What does this mean? Lose the widget. Put more meaningful stuff in your sidebar, like reciprocal links from other eco-minded blogs (or 10 things ), more ecology information, etc.

From what I’ve read at your blog, you have some good things to say. While the list above may seem daunting, it’s really not that bad. Focus on finding a good, easy to implement template, involve yourself in some more communities, and write more quality content. Hopefully you’re start getting more readers. I’ve listed some resources below to assist you. Good luck!

Resources

Check out these resources, in addition to the links mentioned above:

• Blogger Themes listed at Web Substance Meets Style
• 100 Ways to Advertise Your site from The Ad Master
• 19 Excellent Footer Examples from SEOmoz.org
• Blogger Tutorials from Theme Lib