10 things: Planet Atul

10 things: Planet Atul

05. Feb, 2009 25 Comments

I’ve mentioned before that I try to walk a fine line between being honest & helpful, and being a . I’m not one to be dainty and sweet, but I also don’t want to be too harsh. That being said, this review may come across as brutal.

First off, with apologies to InfoCreek’s free premium WordPress theme – Aspire, I will not be accepting any further review requests using this theme. As this is the third review request I’ve had using this theme, most of what I have to say has been said.1  I would have actually denied Atul’s request, except there are quite a few more things about his blog that I hate other than just the overused theme.

So, Planet Atul, here are 10 things I hate about your blog:

  1. It’s obvious by now. I have come to really hate this theme.
  2. Pop-up ads.
  3. Ads at the top. Ads at the bottom. Blinking ads. Annoying ads. Google ads. Ads, ads, ads, ads.
  4. Show me the content.
  5. Feedjit strikes again.
  6. Email subscription, but no RSS link at the top of the page.
  7. Page links at the top, and page links in the sidebar.
  8. The sidebar calendar. No one cares on which day of the month you posted.
  9. The green image border.
  10. You all knew it was coming. IF YOUR BLOG WILL NOT VALIDATE, DON’T ADVERTISE IT AS XHTML VALID!

Details

  1. It’s obvious by now. I have come to really hate this theme.2  I understand that I come across more blogs than the average internet user, meaning I’m bound to see the same themes from time to time. Still, while being a great theme that was well-developed, for some reason it becomes abused by the bloggers who use it. And it’s used too much.

    What does this mean? Get a new theme.

  2. Pop-up ads. This would normally have been #1 but it was overshadowed by the excessive use of Aspire. The only thing that pisses me off more than pop-up ads is music that auto-plays. So you want to make a buck with your blog? That’s fine. Just don’t hijack my browser and try to force your ads on me to do it. It’s bad enough I’m being subjected to them all over your blog.

    What does this mean? I’m sure I’m not the only person who is turned off by your pop-up ads. You’re asking for help all over the place on how to gain traffic and brand Planet Atul. Step 2 (after changing your theme) in doing this is to remove the pop-ups.

  3. Ads at the top. Ads at the bottom. Blinking ads. Annoying ads. Google ads. Ads, ads, ads, ads. Are you running a blog or an ad portal? You have pop-up ads; you have ads in multiple posts; you have Google ads in your sidebar; you have ads on your pages. Your blog is all ad and no content.

    What does this mean? If I didn’t click on the Netflix ad in your first two blog posts, and I didn’t click on it when it popped up out of nowhere, I’m not going to click on it in your pages. Be more exclusive, and subtle, about your advertising. Check out Top Ten Blog Tips for an effective and unobtrusive way to incorporate ads on your blog.

  4. Show me the content. Continuing on from my comment in #3, your blog is all ad and no content. It’s not surprising you are asking for help in gaining traffic. Most people who visit your blog will not be back–you have nothing for them to read.

    What does this mean? Change the focus of your blog from advertising to actual content. You’re asking for suggestions on branding, but you have nothing to brand. Determine what your blog’s purpose is and post content that reflects that purpose.

  5. Feedjit strikes again. The traffic widget offered by Feedjit is one of the most useless widgets available. First, there are better ways to show who has visited your blog, assuming people actually care about this. Second, it’s annoying that it shows the same location over and over–you only need to see once in a session that I landed on your blog. Third, it slows down load time.

    What does this mean? I covered this in my review of Only in Silence.

  6. Email subscription, but no RSS link at the top of the page. What if I don’t want to receive email subscriptions, but I wouldn’t mind subscribing to the RSS feed? Many people are going to miss the Entries RSS link under ‘Meta’.

    What does this mean? You’ve gone to the trouble to include an email subscription at the top of your page, go the extra mile and include the RSS feed link.

  7. Page links at the top, and page links in the sidebar. Very simply, this is redundant. It’s one thing to have redundancy to allow readers to choose from a variety of posts. Pages, however, are static and don’t need to be referred to twice above the scroll.

    What does this mean? Remove the pages widget from your sidebar. Or, move it so it’s at the bottom of the sidebar and will appear below the scroll.

  8. The sidebar calendar. No one cares on which day of the month you posted. The sidebar calendar is pretty obsolete.

    What does this mean? Get rid of the calendar. Your archives reflect how many posts you have per month, and this is what people care about.

  9. The green image border. My apologies to Willem on this one. It appears that this is part of the theme, which is confusing. Aspire is so strong, design-wise. The border itself is not the problem. The color is the fail. I don’t know why this green color was chosen, but it just doesn’t work with the theme color palette.

    What does this mean? If you want to keep the border, change the color. Or, you could follow Willem’s lead and lose the border altogether.3

  10. You all knew it was coming. IF YOUR BLOG WILL NOT VALIDATE, DON’T ADVERTISE IT AS XHTML VALID!

    What does this mean? Remove the valid badge from the bottom of your blog.4

In Summary

I know this is one of my harshest reviews. I really don’t know what is up with this blog–it has no discernable purpose but to provide bad ad space. There is no solid content and no direction. If I were to come across this blog in my normal surfing I would click out of it as quickly as possible. This is the type of blog readers avoid. At the end of the day, we want to READ something. Planet Atul does not give me anything to read.

  1. Enter the term ‘aspire’ in the search function at the bottom of my sidebar to find the related posts. [↩]
  2. Sorry Willem, Abelle, and Dragonblogger. That won’t, however, keep me from visiting. [↩]
  3. If you need help with this, just let me know and I can tell you how to make these changes. [↩]
  4. As with the green border, if you need help with this, let me know. [↩]
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25 Responses to “10 things: Planet Atul”

  1. Ben Barden - Blog Tips Reply 05. Feb, 2009 at 10:35 pm

    Wow, that was pretty harsh… but I don’t disagree. It makes me think the owner of the blog didn’t submit to get constructive criticism, they just wanted a link to their blog. Or they’re very new to blogging and would do best to read some blogging tips before requesting a review.

    Oh, and thanks for the link to my blog! :)

    Ben Barden – Blog Tipss last blog post..10 types of blog: Can you spot yours?

    • Web-Betty Reply 05. Feb, 2009 at 10:44 pm

      I thought the exact same thing–this person is looking for some “link love.” While that may be the case, this blog is still a good example of what NOT to do if you want to be a serious blogger. :)

      They may get a little traffic from my readers, however, they won’t get any repeat business.

      I don’t think they are very new to blogging (or at least the blogging world) since the archives start almost a year ago. I’d like to think that this blogger really wanted my feedback, however, I reviewed this blog knowing that it was probably a “marketing ploy.”

    • Will Reply 09. Feb, 2009 at 10:31 am

      I to hate with a passion blogs that don’t use ads correctly. I don’t mind ads as it is perfectly normal for a blogger to make some money. Only, ads on the content and pop-ups? Way to go at losing your readers.

      Wills last blog post..In the News #1

  2. Atul Punjani Reply 06. Feb, 2009 at 12:50 am

    Hi Ben and Web-Betty,

    Thanks for the comments and the review. It has been really appreciated. Definitely I am a new blogger.

    Thing first I didn’t did that for traffic. I wanted to improve and in few days it will be improved. I will make all the changes as suggested and then I will prove you wrong that it was for mere back links.

    I love negative review because they are genuine feedback which should be taken in constructive ways.

    At the time of writing the thanks note, I have removed Calender, Pages link from Side Bar and Power.com Ads. This is a free website from Hyperwebenable.com so I have to bear with their ads.

    Any suggestions which theme I can use.

    • Web-Betty Reply 06. Feb, 2009 at 8:30 am

      Hi Atul,

      I’m glad to hear the review really is to improve your internet presence and not for a few hits. I apologize for this negative assumption, and I hope you did find my critique constructive.

      I see that you have implemented a few of my suggestions already–you work fast! ;) It is unfortunate that you have to live with the overbearing ads, however, I can understand since I do have one blog “hosted” by someone else and have to put up with their ads.

      I’m still getting a pop-up ad. Is this one of Hyperwebenable.com’s ads? If not, I strongly suggest you remove it. People really don’t like pop-ups, whether they have a blocker or not.

      Let me give your theme question some thought. First, however, I need to know if you can you use any free theme or are you limited to themes available from your host?

  3. Lyndi Reply 06. Feb, 2009 at 2:47 am

    hehehe, not harsh, savage I would say. I love it when a reviewer says it as it should be said but still manages to get some constructive advice across.

    I have just visited the site, some of your recommendations have already been implemented. This, in my opinion, means you have done your job well. I congratulate the owner on being prepared to make the changes.

    I have noticed the same overused type of scenario with a few themes. It seems that those themes that are advertised as ‘free PREMIUM themes’ are the ones that tend to be overused pretty quickly.

    Lyndis last blog post..My SEO Efforts

    • Web-Betty Reply 06. Feb, 2009 at 8:34 am

      I agree, Lyndi. On The Web-Betty blog I was using an awesome theme some time back and I truly loved it. After a few weeks though, more and more blogs cropped up with the same theme. Even though I had personalized it, I still stopped using it. :)

      One thing I didn’t mention but should have, is the validation. Even though the blog doesn’t validate, there were far fewer errors returned on this blog than on Willem’s and Abelle’s. 37 as of this morning. That’s pretty darn good!

  4. Atul Punjani Reply 06. Feb, 2009 at 3:03 am

    Thanks Lyndi for the pat on my back.

    Am here to get branded.. And I really need harsh n genuine comments for me to change the way world looks upto me..

    Please suggest me some themes.

    One of the themes which i think can be good which is on nanu.planetatul.com

    Please suggest.

    • Web-Betty Reply 06. Feb, 2009 at 8:37 am

      You have an eye for excellent themes, Atul. :) the theme you are using for nanu.planetatul.com is also a good but overused theme.

      I would recommend one of Lyndi’s themes, however, I don’t know how comfortable you are with tweaking a theme (or if your “host” lets you). I’m guessing you need a theme you can use “right out of the box.”

      • Atul Punjani Reply 06. Feb, 2009 at 2:50 pm

        Hi,

        I am really gona work hard to make this as brand. I can use any theme provided it is free.

        As I don’t have any work to generate income from internet.

        Please suggest with work if you have I am ready for any changes to make.

        Till the time I get positive review. I am counting on you.

        Thanks for taking time :)

  5. Margaret Reply 06. Feb, 2009 at 2:36 pm

    Yuk — that old paper look is just yuk. And I have lost count of the number of blogs I’ve seen it used on. I don’t see how you could have been any kinder, though.

    Atul, my dear fellow — you need to write about SOMETHING. You write about nothing. No one wants to read about how little traffic your website has and how much you didn’t make on adsense.
    I think you half-heartedly are trying to emulate John Chow, but obviously even you aren’t interested in your subjects as you don’t write enough to keep a gnat interested. Find a topic you are interested in talking about and write about it.

    You do have some cute graphics, though.

    ê¿ê

    Margarets last blog post..Another Passion of Mine — Photography

  6. Atul Punjani Reply 06. Feb, 2009 at 2:48 pm

    Hey Margaret,
    Thanks for the suggestion, I will certainly write but promise me, You will one day appreciate me.

    I will repost some of my own articles..

    I am loving it…

    Negativism all around :)

    • Web-Betty Reply 09. Feb, 2009 at 8:19 am

      Hi Atul,

      While the comments and feedback may seem negative, remember that you did ask for review. :) It sounds like you really want to improve your web presence–the feedback received so far should help you with that goal.

      Margaret has not minced words and does speak the truth about your content. No one wants to read about your adsense earnings, nor your troubles gaining traffic (unless you can write about them in a funny way, or provide something of SUBSTANCE).

      I would start with your content. Post some actual article that people want to read. Then you can tackle the theme.

  7. Willem Kossen Reply 08. Feb, 2009 at 5:44 am

    Hmmm. The harshness of the review was felt here in the Netherlands as well (and probably more since some of the feedback is very recognizable.)

    But why wouldn’t you create a nice generic post about the Infocreek Aspire theme and why it’s wrong to use it anymore. You could add some generic advice on how to change things if someone still wants to use it (i have some pointers probably). That way you ‘don’t have to review these sites, but give the advice anyway’. In fact, that would be a very good starter for a ‘teach-me-how-to-tweak-my-theme’ site…

    Certain things you mentioned (again) are part of that theme like the green border and the validation info. In fact, this would be good feedback to Infocreek as well. If they update their theme to solve some of these issues, it would be less annoying to look at.

    We could even start an Aspire-users-support-group, maybe even start a blog. (oh, am I just passing the threshold of common sense here?)

    Cheers.

    • Web-Betty Reply 09. Feb, 2009 at 8:29 am

      Hi Willem,

      Could that chill you felt just be the weather? ;)

      I could definitely do a “theme” post and make it fit here, and it’s something I might consider, although I have written about finding suitable themes at Web Substance Meets Style (http://www.websubstancemeetsstyle.today.com).

      To be fair to InfoCreek and their theme, I did mention in my reviews that the actual theme validates perfectly. The problem arises when content is not valid, and/or when they add widgets and sidebar items that don’t validate. Admittedly, the latter cannot not always be helped by the blogger–this can be a dilemma if you care about validation.

      Couple that with most bloggers who are simply writers and not developers and don’t know how to code valid content. My challenge is not necessarily that the blog(s) don’t validate, it’s the advertising that the blog validates. Perhaps InfoCreek should change this “badge” to reflect that ONLY the theme validates. That would clear everything up. ;)

  8. Atul Punjani Reply 10. Feb, 2009 at 6:15 pm

    So much to learn from you guys, I hv made some changes will update you soon on them. Do keep an eye on it.

    With ur guidance I will climb up the ladder..

  9. lisa ( kystorms) Reply 11. Feb, 2009 at 7:46 pm

    After the last few weeks I have had, I felt the need to come here and see if my public execution was nearing. Has the queue been changed or did I miss my chance?

    :-)

    just excited is all, so forgive me if I seem a bit over bearing with this post.

  10. Deimos Tel`Arin Reply 15. Feb, 2009 at 11:30 pm

    Harsh this review may be, but all are good points to follow. ;)

    So what does one have to do to get one’s site review by Betty? :D

    Deimos Tel`Arins last blog post..Cell Warfare – Download

    • Web-Betty Reply 17. Feb, 2009 at 10:02 pm

      Hi Deimos,

      If you’d like a review, please use the Contact form, at the top of the page. This helps me keep track of the requests. :)

      I look forward to hearing from you.

  11. Atul Punjani Reply 28. Feb, 2009 at 6:00 am

    Every one is looking for Betty… I hear everyone calling Betty Betty.. Betty..

    he hee hee..

  12. Natz Reply 12. Mar, 2009 at 1:34 am

    Though I hate to part with my feedjit.. I guess I have to part with it.. So, good bye feedjit :)

  13. Natz Reply 12. Mar, 2009 at 4:15 am

    Now I’m completely blind.. I don’t know where my visitors are coming from… I miss my feedjit already.. It helps me keep track of visitors and where they are coming from (Google searches, websites, what countries, and etc…)

    Any good plugin/app suggestions for feedjit replacement?

    :)

    • Web-Betty Reply 13. Mar, 2009 at 11:56 am

      Hi Natz,

      I’m sure there are quite a few great plugins out there for tracking your visitors. You might want to to a Google search. :)

      If I get a chance, I’ll see if I can find some recommendations for you.