How often do you evaluate your blog? Evaluating your blog is essential to its success. There are organizations which charge for blog evaluations but here are some free and simple ways to conduct your own evaluation.
When was the last time you evaluated your blog? #blogging #tips Click To Tweet
Visual Appeal
Look at your blog with fresh eyes. Imagine you’re seeing it for the first time. Ask yourself the following questions: What do you like? What do you want to fix? What stands out? What makes it unique? How easy is it to navigate? What makes you want to stick around?
After you’ve done your own assessment ask a trusted friend or family member for their opinion. Compare their feedback to your own.
Page Load Time
Page load time is so important! I won’t go into detail about this again, but you can look at my post Make Your Blog Stand Out to get an idea as to how to evaluate the speed of your site. Don’t lose readers because of a slow loading blog.
Bounce Rate
Bounce rate is a huge indicator as to how your readers are interacting with your content. Essentially, if you have a high bounce rate, that means your readers click your content and then quickly leave. Your bounce rate can be easily reviewed through a variety of websites. My personal favourites are: Google Analytics and Alexa.
Navigational Tools
As I mentioned previously, you want your readers to stick around.
How easy is it for readers to browse through your blog? Ideally, you want your readers to find treasures around every nook and cranny. You want them to browse and find surprises in multiple places. The longer they stick around, the lower your bounce rate.
Some great navigational tools for your blog include:
- Clearly defined pages with related content on each. You can look at my Blogging, Parenting, and Faith pages as an example.
- Have a search bar at the top of every page.
- Have a related links widget below each post.
- Several posts should be easily seen on your main page. Rather than having 3 or 4 full posts on the main page, consider having snippets of 7 or 8 posts). This increases your click rate and also helps with the load time of your home page.
- Include a popular posts widget in your sidebar.
- There should be a clear “Previous” and “Next” or “Older Post” and “Newer Post” button at the bottom of each posting.
- Most of your blog postings should have content that links to another post on your blog.
Interaction
How often do people visit and comment on your blog? This can be a key tool in evaluating your blog and a means to assess the content you provide. If visits, shares, and comments are low, then perhaps something needs to change.
With that being said, it’s important to be patient. I remember when I first started blogging, I expected to hit publish and have a mail box full of comments. Boy was I wrong! It takes time to build readership, so be patient with yourself. Do you want some tips about commenting? Check out my post, How to Kill the Conversation on Your Blog.
An Outside Opinion
Sometimes it’s hard to look at your blog with a discerning or critical eye. You may also be hesitant to enlist the assistance of friends or family to evaluate your blog.
I recently used the services of Peek User Testing. It’s a FREE service where you are given a 5 minute video of someone viewing your website. Their feedback with you is shared on the video “live” as they are experiencing your website for the first time. You can obtain feedback up to 3 times a month.
Remember, this is a brief evaluation and the person who reviews your blog may not normally be interested in your content… so some bias may be reflected in the nature of their feedback.
What tools do you use to evaluate your blog? Please comment below and then share this post with your blogging communities.
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Ooh I love the Peek Evaluation, totally going to do that (fresh eyes are so important!!). Thanks for sharing more of your keys to success Jennifer! Have a wonderful weekend xx
Meg, the Peek Evaluation tool is great! It’s awesome to get an outside opinion from someone who has never visited your blog before.
Glad you enjoyed these tips! I hope they help you out!
xoxo
Thanks a lot for sharing this tips Jennifer. I am heading to try the Peek User Testing tool. God bless you and do have a super blessed weekend!
You are so very welcome Ugochi! I love the Peek User Testing tool. It’s an interesting experience to watch and listen to someone encountering your blog for the first time.
I hope these tips help you out. Blessings to you too. Thanks for visiting.
Great stuff! Now that I have had a new makeover on the blog, I think I’m going to have someone take a look at it. I personally love the clean fresh look, but it would be nice to get evaluated on content. Does my content match my niche? Things like that…
Thanks for sharing, friend!
So glad you enjoyed this Dee! I LOVE the new look of your blog. Very clean and enticing! Good job!
I hope you’re having a lovely weekend.
Some great tips you have listed here. The visual appeal is one that I do quite often as I think that is so important. I am also very mindful of the time it takes for my page to load – a big one for me as well. I use Alexa and I also use Hubspot to assess my marketing strategy. I would be pinning this. Stopping by from SITS!
Thanks so much for stopping by Yvonne. I’ve never tried Hubspot before. Thanks for sharing that! I’ll have to check it out.
Thanks for pinning. I hope these tips help you in your blog building journey!
I admire your dedication to making your blog the best it can be!! I should probably take time to do the same, but I don’t haha! :)
Thanks Caroline. Building my blog was a goal for me this year. Next year I’ll probably be working on something else. Since I don’t work outside of the home, I like to give myself regular challenges or goals to work on.
I hope you’re having a lovely weekend!
This is such valuable and great advice. I’ve been blogging for almost two years and I still feel like I’m learning a ton. It is definitely a never ending process!
http://motheringfromscratch.com
I’m so glad you found this advice helpful. Don’t be too hard on yourself. I’ve been blogging for 3 1/2 years and just started “building” my blog. It is never-ending and its timeline and the process is completely individual.
Thanks for stopping by. I hope you’re having a lovely weekend.
You make some very valid points here. My big issue is my bounce rate, which I feel is high. I don’t understand it, since I have a high number of subscribers and and about 1 % or less have unsubscribed since I began my blog. I get a good number of comments, so again it makes no sense to me. How does that happen?
Hi Jodee. I’m glad you mentioned this. Have you tried Alexa to monitor your bounce rate? Google Analytics does have an issue with higher projected bounce rates which can be manually fixed in the HTML of your site. Here’s the link to the article if you’re interested.
http://analytics.blogspot.ca/2012/07/tracking-adjusted-bounce-rate-in-google.html
My bounce rate prior to fixing was about 80%. Now it’s about 30%. Alexa displays about a 30% bounce rate as well.
Jennifer I had never heard about Peek User Testing… I had always wondered what people think about my blog, other than my family and friends. I will make sure to do this too. Thanks for sharing this great information.
I love Peek. I’ve heard from some users that it can be fickle with the email address you use (It frequently rejects Yahoo and Gmail emails).
I found it a very useful service and will definitely use it regularly as long as it’s free.
Glad you enjoyed this Remy!
Wonderful tips. I am in the process of redesigning and remaking my blog so these were helpful as I go about my work.
So glad you enjoyed this Jenny. I hope these tips help you out as you work on your blog. It’s a process, that’s for sure!
Thanks for stopping by.
I need to do this but I feel so overwhelmed as is! (it’s 1 am and i have to be up early and here I am!). I wish I knew how to do it all. Thanks for this post. I’ll pin it for later.
Go easy on yourself. You and your health are most important. You can always build your blog slowly over time. There’s no rush.
Thanks for stopping by. I hope you got some much needed rest.
Wow Jennifer great post and so informative! I’m sure Peel is going to be overwhelmed with requests lol. I’m excited to see what you will be working on next year…hope you share with your readers! Have a great Sunday!
Carolann
Sassytownhouseliving.com
I am so delighted you enjoyed this post. Yes, Peek should have quite a few people coming their way!
Wishing you a lovely day.
Very helpful post! Thank you, Jennifer! The peek user testing sounds interesting. I watched most of the one for yours and it’s definitely biased (the faith thing) but I’m she had so many good things to say! :) How cool!
I’m delighted that you enjoyed this Kelli. Even though my faith was a huge turn off for her, she did have some very positive things to say. I don’t plan on changing my “About Me” description. My faith is part of my identity. I don’t believe in hiding it.
Thanks for stopping by.
Hi Jennifer! I just signed up to have a Peek Evaluation. Yikes! It’s a little intimidating, but what the heck, it’s free. I took a look at yours, and it’s too bad you had that particular person. I think someone with faith would have done a little better job.
I sure hope I don’t get an atheist, or I am sunk…
Always wonderful input. Thank you!
Ceil
Ooooh, I hope your evaluation gives you solid, informative, information.
I don’t mind that an atheist got my blog. It’s my identity, I don’t plan on hiding it… and perhaps it will minster to others, perhaps even her.
Wishing you a blessed week my friend!
great post! I just book marked it….I’m always looking for new ways to add to my blog! #sitssharefest
I am so delighted that you enjoyed this. I hope it helps you in your own blog building journey!
Thanks so much for stopping by.
Thanks for the insights. I’ve been thinking about making a few changes to my site as I reach the one year mark. This has given me some good ideas to think about.
It’s always good to evaluate, particularly if you’re thinking of changes. It will help you budget your time more effectively. Glad you enjoyed this. I hope it helps you.
Jennifer, thanks so much for these tips. The peek user testing site is 100% new to me and I can’t wait to try it out. Pinned and tweeted!
So glad you enjoyed this Jelli! The Peek user test is so informative. I really enjoyed the experience.
Thanks for sharing too! Wishing you a lovely day.
Jennifer, this is solid advice for bloggers. It is time to spring clean our blogs!
Thanks Yvette! It’s so important to do an evaluation and then begin our cleaning process. This way, we allocate our time and efforts to that which actually needs changing.
Thanks for stopping by! I hope you have a lovely day.
great tips!!
Glad you like them Elizabeth! Hopefully they help you with your own blogging journey.
So late in my comment, but another fabulous post Jennifer. I have SOOOOO much work to do on my blog, just need to find the time. Would it be bad to call in sick to my regular job just to have time to work on my blog :)
Thinking of you today my dear.
xoxo
Glad you enjoyed this Tiffany. I’ve been working on my blog for over 3 1/2 years… it takes time and it’s okay if it takes a while.
Thanks for the thoughts my friend.
xoxo
Great post. Thanks!
You are so very welcome!
I tried Peek too. It was interesting. At first I was irritated because she kept clicking on really old posts that weren’t my best, and she was super negative about my site. And then at the end after all that, she said she would be back, because there was something about my site that she liked. Talk about mixed messages. But it was good, if only for the standpoint that it made me think about my content going forward and things that I need to do to freshen it up.
I really liked the Peek service. The results were very interesting. I would like to try it again in a month or two and see if I can get any more useful feedback.
great post!
i never thought of evaluating my blog, at least not using your points. I will do that asap! I think it will help my blog grow and be better
xoxo
Orly
coffeebeansandhighheels.weebly.com
I am so glad you found this helpful. Best wishes to you as you grow your blog and start your evaluation process.
xoxo
Wonderful advice, Jennifer! Loved the links to the tools. I have been giving design a lot of thought lately and want to take a step back and look at it with fresh eyes. Love the idea of customizing the 404 page. I’m not on blogger, but I’m sure there is a way to do that with wordpress. I will poke around online. Looking forward to implementing some of these ideas. Thanks so much for sharing. You have such a lovely blog. It’s wonderful to meet you. xo ~Topaz
I’m thrilled that you enjoyed this Topaz. I’m certain you can customize your 404 page on WordPress – it’s such an awesome (yet often overlooked) design element.
I’m pleased that we’ve met too!
xoxo
Some great tips here, thank you! #PigAndDacBlogger’sDigest
Thanks! I hope you find this helpful. I appreciate you stopping by!
Peek Evaluation looks great! Bit scary for my site. Maybe when I’m more confident with Together we roam. xo
You should be more confident with Together We Roam – I love your blog! It’s unique and visually stunning.
Thanks Jennifer. I’m always on the lookout for tips to improve. Thanks for sharing!
You are so very welcome Karen! Evaluation is key to improvement. I hope these tips help you out in your own blogging journey.
Wishing you a delightful day.
GREAT tips, already pinned these!
So glad you enjoyed this Jennifer! Thanks for pinning.
Hi Jennifer,
This is really an informative post.
Good to know more about our own status
thru these Technic. I check mine by Alexa
thanks for the other links and other information
Keep up the good work
May you have a wonderful and blessed weekend
Best Regards
~ Philip
Thank you so very much. Glad you found this helpful!
Wishing you a blessed weekend as well.
Thank you for the great tips!! I pinned and will have to come back here often!!
Thank you Elizabeth! I periodically write posts about blogging. When I do, those posts are published on Saturdays.
Thanks for stopping by (and for pinning).
I love the Peek User Testing idea, I’ve never heard of it. I will definitely give it a try! I also use a Broke Link Checker plugin to automatically check for broken links so I can correct or remove them. This is a great post to use for a blog evaluation!
Kemya, I highly recommend the Peek User Testing – such an awesome service. I’m with Blogger so we don’t have those broke link checkers. What an awesome tool to have.
So glad you enjoyed this post. Thanks for stopping by!
A very helpful post, and thanks for the info about Peek – I had never heard of it! Found this post on Saturday Sharefest this morning!
I’m so glad you enjoyed this post Susan. Peek is awesome. It really gave me some good insights about how someone may view my blog.
I hope this helps you as you evaluate your own blog.
Wishing you a lovely day.
This Peek tool is really neat! Just submitted my request- I’m nervous! Thanks for the tip!
I love the Peek user testing. I’m stunned that more people don’t know about it. It’s great… and it’s free!