Kevin, Thank you for your extensive feedback. I like the suggestion about the email. I will try that!

Always good to have you drop in.

Janis

Hi Janis,
As far as design and layout go, I think that what you’ve chosen really speaks to the core material you’ve chosen for your blog. It’s a little pink for my taste but that’s a personal issue, don’t change it if you like it.
The header is a little busy – I think the textured background distracts from the text. It’s going to be hard to find a good graphic to correspond with the title of your blog. Maybe a picture of someone putting headphones on?
The side bar is kind of long, so putting together a “categories” page for the top of your blog would probably help a reader navigate through different themes. Something else you can consider for the side bar is to replace the “archive” widget with a “top posts” or “most recent” function.
Text size, writing style and length are great. Be yourself. Be genuine. The moment you step out of yourself like Kevin said, and try to sound like someone else, is the moment your blog loses authenticity.
Another idea to increase blog traffic is to include it in your e-mail signature.
Great site overall, God Bless!

The design took longer to come up than the rest of the page. It caught me off gaurd when I popped back on this window. I don’t usually have an issue with slow loading pages. It is a bit busy and hard on the eyes. I do think though that if the post margin was wider, this would not be an issue.

I like Kevin’s idea for #9!!!

Thank you all for your helpful comments. I can hardly wait to implement them this weekend.

Hi Leah,
Okay, we’ll help each other out here. I am now following you as well. Those video ideas sound great. I will check them out this weekend.
Everyone agrees–the header has to change. Will gladly do that this weekend. I liked Seiji’s idea about headphones. Will play around with something new.
In Him,
Janis

Janis, except for the readability of the header image, your design is a good fit and helps show your personality.

I do think it would be good to move your categories from the sidebar to a page linked from your “menu” at the top. I am probably going to do the same on my blog. I may even move my blogroll, just to reduce the amount of “stuff” in the sidebar — though that’s more debatable, because I also want readers of those blogs to come by and say, “Oh, you read that, too? We have something in common.”

To reduce the length of your home page without shortening your posts, use split posts. Basically, it lets you decide how much of a single post will be shown on any page that shows multiples posts (front page, category pages). I think you can do this in Blogger by clicking the icon that looks like a page is torn in two, “Insert jump break.”

– Jon from 31DBBB

Hi Jon,
Thanks for your helpful comments. That header has definitely got to go! I will be working on that this weekend and a Categories Page to cut down on the clutter in my sidebar.
I guess I’m so pink because my household is full of males. We are sports central, ESPN 24/7. But I have wondered if I should become a little more neutral. I think I will want to keep it on the feminine side, though.
Good thought about keeping that blogroll on the side.
Thanks again,
In Him,
Janis

OK, Jon. Will try the page splitting. There is a page-break feature on the posts.
It is going to be a busy but exciting weekend!

Janis

Larry Westfall said…

1. The borders and design look fine to me.
2. I would go to flickr http://flickr.com and search the creative commons photos for a picture that would complement your layout and expresses your personality and add it to the header. Richard did a great job on his and he uses blogger.
3. I don’t think your “getting to know me” and “contact me” pages are considered sneeze pages. If you had a page with all the post from a specific category, I thing that would qualify as a sneeze page. As far as your categories I personally like searching these in the sidebar. But I realize this is personal preference. Again, this is personal preference, you may ask the others what they think, but I like to see the categories higher in the page. I would move them up above your google friend connect, the comments badge, and the archives. Your categories tell me more about what your blog is about and gives me more options to explore than the other items I just listed.
4. Don’t know.
5. It has been a while since I have worked with blogger but I think that this is just a widget in your sidebar and you should be able to delete it. If you choose to do this I think you should add your photo to the “getting to know me page.”
6. The text is fine to me. There are different thoughts on post length so I am not sure there is a right answer. I am shooting for an average of 500 words. Sometimes is is 370 and other times it is 640. However, 500 words seems to be enough for me to get my thought across and compact enough to prevent me from rambling.
7. I have enjoyed reading your posts. I like the way you look through the lens of your life and see God in the midst of it.
8. I am still working on my sidebar as well so I am no expert. But here are my thoughts. I don’t think you need the “all material is copyrighted” in the sidebar. I would try and put this in the footer area or at the end of each post somehow. You may be able to find a widget that would allow you to put text in one of these areas. If you removed that and the “view my complete profile” that would pull everything up. This would put your subscription options at the top right near you post title for everyone to see. And if you moved your categories up, they would be near the top and searchable. Again this is just my opinion, I don’t think having a blog roll in your sidebar is a good idea. It just gives your readers more opportunity to leave your sight and go somewhere else. The idea is to get them to stay and search your blog. You can link to these blogs in a single post by highlighting an article or sharing their links on twitter (just my opinion).
9. I am still trying to learn this myself.
10. Be persistent and keep writing. Even if it doesn’t draw big numbers, God will use it to change lives.

I hope this helps. Again, most of this is just my opinion with very limited experience. God Bless!!!

I somehow posted this by mistake on another post as I was surfing your blog. So I went back and found it and brought it where it is supposed to be. Sorry!

Hey, Janis

I like your design. If you want to make it more current, a less ornate look would do it — maybe a textured/mottled look for the sides. I like them like they are — but I’m old. 😉

You can do better on a header. It doesn’t have to be ears or headphones (though I like the headphone idea). It could be a bar of music artfully included; a singing bird (not animated!); a silhouette of a person listening to someone — maybe cupping a hand to an ear . . . there are lots of possibilities.

WordPress has themes to choose from, some wider than others. I learned that the design/development team makes the text columns narrower for ease of reading. I’d still like it a little wider, though.

I would get rid of much of the stuff in the sidebar. It’s so long no one’s going to read it. The categories page sounds good. You could also add a page for links to your friends’ blogs. Drop anything that’s there because you feel you “should” have it there and not because it will be used by your readers. I’ve trimmed mine down a LOT since I started.

I try to keep my posts to 750 words or less, but I will go longer if they’re especially engaging (in my opinion!). This is how you trim — not because I’ve analyzed your posts and find them to have these particular extraneous bits, but out of my own experiences writing to a word limit:

Go through the post and search for “ly”. If you can get rid of an “ly” word, do. (Instead of saying “She walked slowly.” you could say, “She shuffled” or “She inched forward.” This doesn’t always make your writing shorter, but it will always make it more interesting. So much for your adverbs.

Now do the same thing to your adjectives. Be merciless. In most cases, adjectives weaken writing and make it longer.

Now look for the “be” verbs. Replace them with active verbs if possible. (“I am sitting at my computer and typing” could become the more interesting and shorter “I sit at my computer, typing.”) Writing shorter takes more effort, but it’s worth it.

I like your writing style. It doesn’t call attention to itself. Your writing style allows me to enjoy your content without the distraction of awkward word usage.

To increase traffic to your site . . . first, I’d make the appearance more streamlined. There’s a lot going on and it distracts me from your content. I like the floral sides, but they do distract. And the sidebar — it shouldn’t be blank, but you don’t need all the things you’ve got there.

Second, comment often on other people’s blogs. Every time you post something, go through the blogs you read and comment on those you find interesting. Make sure your name is set up as a link to your blog. Your friends can easily click it and hop over to see what’s going on at your place. If your comments are interesting and knowledgeable, others may also click.

Link to other people’s blogs in your posts. Talk about the good things they’re doing. They may or may not reciprocate, but what goes around comes around. If you concentrate on blessing your friends, the return will take care of itself.

Post frequently. I like people to post no more than once a week because it’s hard for me to keep up. That said, I’ve discovered that when I post 3-4 times a week, my stats go up. So even if you’re only posting to link someone else, I’d try to post several times a week.

Love you, Sis!

Cindy

Janis – bit late but do have a couple of things to add. Before I dive into thatthough I think in general the whole effect ispleasing and works well together.

I think it’s a blogger blog restriction but for the size of font you use you could do with making the actual text area wider if you can.

I agree with all the comments about the header. It’s non-descript and a little tough to view.

The next thing – and possibly a reason for the slow loads – is that the sidebar is waaaaay too busy for me. After the first few bits I gave up reading it but it went on and on 🙂

Finally, your ‘About Me’ page doesn’t appear to have a link.

HTH?

I don’t know anything about blogging and so I do not know how it is supposed to look, but since you want comments from me, here it goes:

1. I personally don’t like the borders and the sides with all the information. I like the colors that are used but not the design.

2. I think the person who suggested headphones or something like that would be good.

3. I don’t know what sneeze pages are but your profile seems good.

4. I have no knowledge of this.

5. Same as above.

6. The text size seems good to me. Yes, the posts are long, but I know you and that is just you and your style of writing.

7. I think your writing style has improved with each of your blogs. At first, I think you were trying to hard, but now I think it just flows.

8. If the sidebar is all the things printed on the side. I think it is way too much and it looks cluttered.

9. Don’t know anything on this.

10. Don’t give up and just keep on writing!!! You are doing a Great job.