Get a Free Clutter-Busting Review of Your Blog or Website

I subscribe to Skelliewag blog  and one of the recent post she offered is 'Get a Free Clutter-Busting Review of Your Blog or Website' she say's

One thing I’ve previously enjoyed doing is giving one-on-one feedback to bloggers and webmasters on how they can simplify and declutter their sites, strengthening their core message. It’s also something I don’t get to do often enough.

In an attempt to change that, I’ve decided to offer personalized email reviews of your blog or website, with a focus on simplicity and clutter removal tailored to you.

They do not expect anything in return because as she says:

This is simply me trying to exercise skill #21 of 101 Essential Blogging Skills: "Give without expecting to receive.

As a new blogger I sure appreciate the comments.  Some of what she recommended are the following.

1. Remove the 'Add to Google' button from beneath your feed icon. There is an option to add the feed to Google when you click on the main icon anyway, so the doubling-up is unnecessary.

2. Remove the second 'Archives' drop-down menu. You have already linked to a dedicated Archives page earlier in your sidebar.

3. I'd remove the 'Registration' element.Registration is only useful if you want any blog reader to be able to write posts on your blog. You can bookmark your login page and do away with it, which will help to unclutter your sidebar.

4. Consider removing inText advertising. I've heard from dozens of people that these ads reduce traffic. A lot of blogs use them which are designed to trick readers into clicking links. Your blog obviously isn't one of those, but readers generally have negative associations with them. They distract from your content and sometimes trick readers into thinking they are normal links. So unless you're making lots of money from these I don't think they're worth the loss.

5. Put the Wordpress and Blog Catalog buttons in your footer. They're a bit distracting where they are now, and you're not really getting anything in return for displaying them there.

I took her constructive criticism and made appropriate changes.  For someone to give a review for a complete stranger and not expect something in return is almost unheard of these days. 

Thank you Skelliewag it meant a lot.  If you have a blog and looking someone elses ideas to help you I would recommend surfing by Skelliewag and check her out.

Have a good evening all.

JB