Blog Critique: Theresa Milstein

In this series I give constructive feedback about the look and function of an author blog from a marketing perspective. As always, I rely on help from graphic designers Tom Barnes (my hubby) and Joe LaRue. To review the blog elements we look at or to submit your own blog for critique, go here.

Oo, this is awkward...see, I love Theresa Milstein. I've been a fan of her's for awhile. She was even one of my first Saturday Savvy Sensations when her blog was still called "Substitute Teacher's Saga".  So now I'm supposed to critique her???

Well, if it's helpful....but just remember, Theresa, that it all comes out of love :) If you haven't already, take a look at Theresa's blog here.

First, a few things that I LOVE about Theresa's blog:

• I know who she is 
• I know what she writes
• I know what her blog is about
• She links to where you can purchase her writing 
• She has contact information posted
• She tells us what is upcoming on her blog (nice touch)
• Her posts are relevant
• Her posts are interactive
• Her sidebar is clearly separated from her main post area
• Her background is simple and doesn't distract
• Oh, and I love alliteration (have you noticed?) so your title makes me smile

Now for the tough love. Most of these suggestions actually have to do with visual appeal, except for the first one. Read on:

• Get your profile up higher in your sidebar, girl! I actually don't mind you putting Fangtales up first because it is your priority - selling that book, I mean - but right under that we should have your profile pic and About Me. Don't make us go looking. Speaking of your sidebar...
• Make sure all your graphics fit in the sidebar space. If they are too big, you can make them smaller. I'm talking about your Fan Box and your Map Loco. You have to do a little more advance editing (go into the html and change the "width" number; experiment until it's the right size). It will really clean your blog up.
• Don't use so much blank space in your posts. Tighten up your paragraphs. Think of people who are reading you on their phones - dead space SUCKS! (and not in a good way:)
• Make your pictures bigger. This will help with some of your dead white space. Joe recommends putting your pics left justified with your words next to them to help with this as well.vAnother of Joe's suggestions...
• Use color, bold, and italics to liven up your helvetica font. Using a contrasting color like yellow/gold in your posts will really look good with your blue/purple background. Visit this site for some fun help.
• Watch the consistency of your font - don't change it up randomly.
• Enlarge your post headings. Joe recommends post headings be at least 20% larger than the body of your posts. Set this once in your settings and you won't have to think about it again.

Ok, I'm done. Was that so bad? No, I suppose not. But I have to say that really none of this stuff matters that much because Theresa has mastered the number one most important thing about blogging: Building Relationships. Theresa is maybe the sweetest blogger out there. She responds to every comment and is so in tune with her followers. This is really the true artistry of blogging, isn't it?

Thanks for being here again, Theresa! You're always welcome.