Tell me the truth
I purchased a sponsored review at Baggage Reclaim, and received some constructive feedback.
I would like your feedback, as well:
Subscribe to this blog.
I would like your feedback, as well:
- Does the "very loud" pink and purple make this blog difficult to read?
- How easy do you find it to navigate through the blog?
- Do the twelve Sun signs at the top blend too well with the ads below?
- Do you use the Google search box (on the right sidebar) to find topics you are looking for?
- Is there anything else I can do to make it easier to find what you are looking for?
- Would the blog benefit from an image-based logo that shows what the blog is about?
- I also realize that many of you read this blog via email or RSS feed. Do you remember your first visual impressions of this blog?
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Stumble It!
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posted by Jeffrey Kishner at 5/10/2007
22 Comments:
Just yesterday, I was thinking about the purple background and saying something but I figured that you liked it so... I don't mind the color, per se, the thing is, some of us surf during the off-time at work and the pink and purple is a definite tip-off. Which is not to say that you should enable our internet addiction habit but, yeah, in a sense the color is problematic for me. I never even click on the Sun signs at the top but I don't much like scrolling that far down to read your new entry. I never use the Google search box.
Thank you, eme. What do you mean when you write that you "don't much like scrolling that far down to read your new entry"? Do you mean that there is too much navigation and ad space above the first entry?
I do like purple and pink, but I'm willing to "tone it down" if it scares readers away.
Hi Jeffrey; I am newbie in posting at your site, but I have been following it as well as Lunar Tunes. Love them both. As far as the feedback is concerned:
- Love the title - Seduction Central. But I wish the little blurb about what is Seduction Central was put next to the title and not buried at the bottom of the blog. It is a really good definition. The one that starts with... Seduction Central addresses concerns about love, romance, sex and seduction,....
- The colors. It's hideous, it doesn't do anything for the blog. It scares people away. I only read it because I was coming from Lunar Tunes who had a good review from KT the Astrologer. The fact that your posts are really interesting, thoughtful, emotional triggering count for a lot and keeps me wanting to come back and see what the next post is about. I can relate to a lot of them. They make me think, reflect, ponder and smile. But don't push it. The pink and purple are really bad (can you tell I am an Aries?). The funny side of it, is that both myself and my boyfriend work from home and he always know when I am surfing an astrological blog by the colors. If it's purple and pink, it's an astrological blog! I say this, because you are not the only astrological blog I know that uses this color scheme. Go figure! I prefer more neutral colors, like grey, blacks, silver, ocher, beige, tone down hues. However, a touch of red is mandatory.
- Yes, the signs blend too well. Until you mentioned, I had not seen them. After, I clicked on them to see where it would take me. I was expecting something like practical tidbits on how to seduce each sign, like, how each sign kiss, or what food is best to seduce each sign, etc… Not to be sent back to a post. Double duty with the Google search function?
- No, I do not use Google search box. Maybe in the future, when the archives are much bigger. Before coming back to a blog , I like to read the archives to get a feeling for it.
- I agree with the assessment from Baggage Reclaim that the some titles need to be less blah. Your sense of humor is good. Use it! Seduce your readers! After all, this is Seduction Central.
- An image based logo will certainly help. As the concept for the blog is about love, romance, sex and seduction, our senses should be stimulated.
- I subscribe to Lunar Tunes ( I am partial to it) by email, so that I can be notified of a new post, but I don’t read it. I go to the website and from there go to Seduction Central.
- To finish, this post, I had a hard time finding the Post a comment button. Can it be improved?
Thanks, Fabienne. Much food for thought.
Oh, so much better, Jeff! Thanks!
breathes sigh of relief
dances
"What do you mean when you write that you "don't much like scrolling that far down to read your new entry"? Do you mean that there is too much navigation and ad space above the first entry?"
Yes, that's what I meant, that there is too much ad space above the latest entry.
Much, much, really much better!It's feels cleaner, crisper, the features are sharper(title, your picture, tag line). A lot more inviting. But you don't need to go from one extreme to the other. A little color is good. (Preferably red since it's the color of seduction.) A shade darker maybe?
Eme, Glad you like it. I removed the 12 signs, but I'm reluctant to remove the ads because they're my primary source of blog income.
Fabienne, I know you love red because you're an Aries, but it's not for me. I'm a purple Pisces at heart.
Just a thought. A bigger font for the tag line beneath the blog's title. It's rather small. Also, bring over some features from Lunar Tunes, like Chat me up, subscribe, etc...so both blogs have symmetry.
BTW, I am a Pisces rising. That's maybe why I always did react strongly to the purple color.
I appreciate you taking it out, since it's so close to your heart.
Fabienne, the tag line is a good idea. There actually has always been a mailing list sign-up box on 'Seduction Central,' it's just less obvious because I want people to subscribe to this blog's feed via email or RSS. As for "Chat Me Up" -- I'm thinking about it. The traffic is here is much higher than 'Lunar Tunes' (other than the day of lunations) so I'm somewhat afraid I won't get any work done if the Chat widget is on this blog. I really appreciate your feedback!
WOW, I really like the new colors! I actually had no idea the sun signs were links..lol. The color didnt bother me but, I do get tired of the same color on a web page after a while, so this is a nice change.
Hi Jeffrey. I'm already impressed with the initial changes that you've made and the concerted effort that you've gone to ensure that you get reader feedback. I've been reading the feedback and this stuff is gold. If you need any pointers about anything, drop me an email. Kind regards NML
Tanya left a comment, but I removed a query following this quote, since it contains her husband's birth data: "Hi Jeffrey,a regular to the blog, i understand its not possible to answer every quarry, but will be great to let us know that atleast you have recieved our mails or suggest some other alternative or leave it online for other readers to comment because we write to you with faith & hope, and at times even a word holds enough of the support ur looking for. i've written to you a lot many times and still waiting ..."
Tanya, I have received your query. Please bear in mind that I receive many questions. I have now enabled an automatic response so that questioners get an email after they have submitted their queries. Additionally, I would suggest you consult an astrologer if you feel an urgency to have your question addressed.
You would like an alternative to leave questions online for other readers to comment. There are many bulletin boards on the internet that offer this type of support ... I am not up to creating one for 'Seduction Central' at this stage of its development.
I do empathize with your marital troubles, however my resources on this blog are limited. I hope you understand.
I didn't much care for the purple/pink colors because the contrast wasn't pleasing to my eyes.
BUT now I think the new color(s) are too blah. Not eye-catching enough. Throw in some blue somewhere, please. :)
Also, I don't like having to scroll down so far to find the first blog entry. The ads should be on the sides like in gmail (which I know you have, Jeffrey). There if we're looking for it, but not so obtrusive as to making navigating the site difficult, frustrating, or annoying.
I agree with the suggestion to put the description of the blog at the top near the header.
Hope this helps!
P.S.
Keep up the great entries! They're so good that I try very hard to ignore the other stuff I don't like. :)
Also, I would like to see the new colors be maroon or red to reflect "seduction."
Blah Blah, How can the current colors be too blah for your namesake? But really, I'm wondering how I can incorporate red without legibility being an issue.
I appreciate that you are willing to read my posts however cumbersome it is to scroll down. This morning, I reduced the size of the ad above the first post. I'm just not willing to axe it completely. But it seems like a good compromise, no?
I liked the purple better--to accomodate everyone(well almost everyone) how about purple and blue,but muted colors.The beige is too light.
I didn't see when you asked for thoughts on it, or I would have said earlier.
I am not surfing during work, and so it doesn't matter to me.
It's hard to find a muted purple. And it's also hard to accomodate everyone. I rarely visit blogs anymore ... I just subscribe to their feeds. That way, "looks" don't matter. Anyway, I have an idea I'll share later this week ...
Jeffrey, of course you can't accomodate everyone.I was just making a suggestion, and I'd wished I'd seen it earlier when you'd asked.
I much preferred the pink and purple to gray-beige.
But whatever.
The content is moe important than the colors anyway.:-)
Jeffrey, it's becoming amusing how many post as you received now that you asked for suggestions, and made some changes, LOL.
How about (if you do any more changes at all, that is) you ask an artistic/designer type friend to help or suggest what would be pleasing to the eye, but serious enough that it doesn't look silly? [I say ask a friend because we all have our different tastes,you can't accomodate everyone, and, you also don't want to hire another person just for this,(not at this point anyway :-)]
But it's still amusing that so many of us like different things/colors and are telling you now, LOL.
Pink and purplish-red did make sense for the matters of sex and love.--
Normally I think of *seduction* as a not- very- nice -thing to do to another person, but it *is* eye-catching for your purposes. ;-)
I like the current color scheme... I shudder to think what past iterations may have been, considering the comments before mine. I think I may be fortunate to be a newbie. Overall, I think you've done well with the visual layout.
One teensy suggestion would be to look into search-engine-optimization. Add the keywords astrology, love, relationships, romance, etc. into the blue title bar as well as in your page header. The nicely crafted paragraph at the bottom serves you well for keywords, without looking like a keyword dumping ground (although it is a little heterosexual-female-skewed).
I think I found you through a search engine, and the reason was that paragraph at the footer. Build on that, and get higher-hitting results for natural search. If the searcher is anything like me, once they click and read the first entry, they're hooked and looking to mark as a favorite, sign up for RSS, or join the mailing list.
OK, I'm done speaking like a marketing geek. No matter what the place looks like, the content is well worth any eyesore. I wish you growing success.
Cheryll, Thanks for your feedback.
I did try adding all those keywords in the title bar, but then when search results show up in google, a reader sees "Seduction Central: The astrology of sex, love, romance ..." without seeing the title of the post, which I think would be important for clickability.
I am totally aware of the gynoheterosexism in the footer. I just figure that's the majority. I could quadruple the size and discuss other possible combinations, but then I'd still be leaving out transgendered people.
But seriously, if you have more good SEO tips I can implement, bring them on. I'd love more readers.
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