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My website.
Hello all, a few weeks back it was suggested that I should get a website, I agreed and here we are.
http://callumdevereux.com/
The website is pretty much done, and the only thing that needs to be added is an image of myself on the front page. Before I send it out to the internet, I was hoping to get everyone's opinion on it. So, what do you think? It's quite bland, isn't it? I don't know, it's kind of growing on me. Anyway, my blogs are going to serve as a... well, it's a blog. I read over some of, Mrs Bear's, blogs and hers were very different to my own. My blogs are really nothing more than glorified diary entries. MB's, on the other hand, are more educational; more interesting and less self indulgent than mine. What do you guys think? I mean, I only started to do these daily blogs so I would have a permanent online presence, but now I think I might have gone down the wrong path with it all.
http://callumdevereux.com/
The website is pretty much done, and the only thing that needs to be added is an image of myself on the front page. Before I send it out to the internet, I was hoping to get everyone's opinion on it. So, what do you think? It's quite bland, isn't it? I don't know, it's kind of growing on me. Anyway, my blogs are going to serve as a... well, it's a blog. I read over some of, Mrs Bear's, blogs and hers were very different to my own. My blogs are really nothing more than glorified diary entries. MB's, on the other hand, are more educational; more interesting and less self indulgent than mine. What do you guys think? I mean, I only started to do these daily blogs so I would have a permanent online presence, but now I think I might have gone down the wrong path with it all.
Comments
Not bad for a start, but I think you could make it much better. Maybe it's just my personal preference, but what I miss are:
-Photo, which you've mentioned
-Social media links
-Newsletter subscribe button
-Much more pictures and visual stuff that attract the readers' eyes
-Colours
Regarding your About page,
It doesn't tell me why you've made this blog and it doesn't tell me how I can benefit from reading this blog. What is the blog about?
"See, a writer is what I want to be" - This is really good, you seem determined.
"a writer that is published… please, publish me, someone; anyone" - This is really bad, you seem desperate.
About your posts,
There is a rule that all bloggers must know: Readers don't care about you, they only care about themselves.
So each post must do at least one of two things: provide useful information, or entertain.
I think a home page that is more welcoming and interesting would also be useful; it would decrease your bounce rate, which represents the percentage of visitors who enter the site and "bounce" (leave the site) rather than continue viewing other pages within the same site. (Wikipedia)
My intention wasn't to discourage you, It's just my opinion. You're definitely on the right track. It's worth reading about how build a blog and how to run it; there are countless articles on it online.
Good Luck!
Social links are on the home page, bottom left, but they should be made more clear. Also, in regards to my About not explaining why I made this blog; it doesn't explain that because this is not a blogging website, this is my website full-stop. It shouldn't have to explained, and the blog is only a side attraction. The main purpose of the website is letting publishing houses find out a little about me and my style of writing; more importantly, it's a place that allows them to get in contact with me ect.
More pictures, though, for sure. Colour as well, that could do wonders. Thanks for the suggestions.
There are differences: I have my posts running consecutively, not in parallel: I use a larger font; and I use photos. Text (and particularly grey text) on its own doesn't draw the eye; stick something visually interesting up there, and people may linger longer. There is a very short time in which to grab a reader before they flip to the next blog on the list - you've really got to go out to hold them for long enough to want to read on.
As you're going with text, you should make sure it's punctuated/edited properly - you're using this as your shop window as a writer, so it should be as good as you can get. And no, I'm not perfect - BB spotted an error in my post yesterday, and I spotted another that I corrected before anyone noticed.
'returns to being warm not soon after.' - do you mean 'soon after?' Have another look through what you have written - put it into large print somewhere and you'll see errors more clearly.
Use tags so that people will find you when they search; if you can't think of any, maybe your content needs tightening up and acquiring a theme for each piece.
Everyone's blog is self-indulgent to an extent: we're all writing about what we want to write about, after all - this is unforced work. Keep in mind what it is you're trying to achieve, and do it in the best way possible. You're just starting out: you know you have a lot to learn. So have I - I'm no expert at all, and I've been blogging for a few years now.
Think of a bookshop: which would you rather have - one where all the book covers are white (as in literary French publications) or one where there are colours and artwork, and a clue to what's inside the cover of each book? I know which I prefer.
Also, it's quite daunting being presented with such a large "wall of text".
As Mrs Bear said, maybe have your posts running consecutively, rather than all over the page.
Good luck mate!
As a side MB, I remember spotting an error... I think it was a word duplicate? Or maybe it was a word missing. Sorry, I've actually forgotten where it was
I also think that there are too many words - a picture or two would break that up.
The occasional personal bits are okay but I wouldn't return to what amounts to a diary unless you were an adventurer!
Shorter is better.
But you've made a start, which is good.
edit: I glanced over the three posts, I think you are talking about the parts where I talk about my work ect, right? I seemed to go into a lot of detail over things that don't really have anything to do with the writing process itself. In my defense, I did this so as to add more of an entertainment value - after all, there are only so many things you can say about writing before you start repeating yourself. Honestly, did you the parts where I wasn't talking about writing interesting at all? Or should I just not bother with getting that personal?
None of us get it right first time, it will always be a work in progress until we get the right mix.
Good luck.
You have block paragraphs. No-one reads those.
Information has to be in tiny, bite-size chunks.
Each of your paragraphs could say the same thing in fewer words. I'd see how much you can précis each of those paragraphs and watch how quickly your writing becomes more interesting. I'd aim for two short sentences.
I wouldn't try to copy someone else's style or format. By all means try adding photos, having shorter chunks of writing and all the other suggestions, but only keep what you're happy with. This site and blog is for you and your readers - what works brilliantly for someone else could be wrong for you.
Support those people by following them.
Take note of how those other bloggers design and maintain their blogs. See what works and what doesn't for other bloggers.
I'm sure what you have written is very interesting, tir, but I have to concur with what's been said. I am a little weary right now - and that laziness inhibits me from reading too far into what you have written as it seems like hard work at the moment while I'm in this state of mind. Little snippets/images/various fonts & colours would have caught my attention better on a first viewing.
I think you have to bear in mind that visitors to website are only stopping for a cursory glance at first. If it floats their boat, they'll stay and peruse; otherwise, there are plenty of other websites to lay their hats.