Link Love Blog Review - AravindJose.com
Jul 25, 2008 
Aravind has been a regular user at Balkhis, and if you don’t know I am running a link love session, where I am giving away free blog reviews and free text links. Aravind happened to be the first commentator on that post therefore I have decided to review his site first.
Anytime you visit a site, the first impression you get is from the look of the website. While the free template that is being used on that template is not bad, the customizations done to it doesn’t make it look any more attractive. Usually, custom logos are supposed to blend in with the design, but at AravindJose.com it is not the case. My recommendation would be that try to use .png transparent files to make the logo. Use a better font. Something that looks a bit more simple and elegant. Add Fresh Thoughts Inside as the slogan right below the logo.
Next thing, I will come on is the ad placement. This website have very good positions. It is not crowded with ads. The only suggestion is, make your google adsense banner blend in. So instead of using the white background, use that grey background, so it matches with the template.
I really like the way the content is organized. As well as the featured posts. A thing that I would suggest is having a pagination system for your Older posts like I have with Balkhis.
Sidebar looks well, but the Tags section makes it a bit crowded. Perhaps leave the tags for an archive page.
I will suggest not displaying your feedcount when it is low. Because it discourage other readers from signing up. A big psychology theory. When people see low count, they think you know this guy must be doing something wrong thats why he have a low count. But if you show high count or no count, it will get users to subscribe to your feeds.
Image in the footer for RSS Feeds is broken, so that needs to be fixed.
I like your style of writing, the only thing I will say is stay consistent. If you are writing one post a day, then do one post a day. Don’t do 3 in one day, and 0 in the next two.
Other than the few things I mentioned, Aravind is doing a great job on his blog.
Fellas, please go check Aravind’s Blog at AravindJose.com. Reply to this post with what your feedback on his blog. Remember that you giving feedback will result in good karma for you. Meaning you might be the next person getting reviewed here.
I love the way Arvind displays featured articles.
The only problem I see is that you can’t easily differentiate between two posts. I’m no expert, but maybe using headers other than black should help. Else you could simply use a hr after every post. Looks good sometimes.
And you use just too many tags. No point displaying them if you use so many.
I have to agree with Angad, there’s a bit too much going on the left sidebar. It seems on some articles there’s more ad content than content. Also, I have to agree on the featured articles list. It’s easy to read and clean.
The only thing I do not like about the site is the fact that the two sidebars together are just as wide as the contents column. It looks as if the site consists of sidebars with a bit of content tagged on. I would lose one of the sidebars and widen the content. Just a thought…
Looks like he has taken some advice, I didn’t see the feed counter on his site. How can I get a review for my site?
Hi Paul,
You can either purchase a review for $50 or wait and see if you get picked for the review
Ask me questions, comment alot, so I notice you and write about you 
Nice review on the design and layout
What’s the minimum number of subscribers to start displaying it (your opinion)?
Micheal, in my preference, it should be over a 100.
First of all,
Great thanks and gratitude to you Syed on doing the wonderful review on my blog.
Of Course, “review” means a closer and deep look at all the aspects of an object/product.
I, with all delight, welcomes your opinions and criticisms.
I request you to have a look at my blog and have your opinion. Thank You.
@Syed
Does my logo look not-good and unblending ?
I felt it fits overall look, and that’s why i fixed it.
I will SURELY consider a redesign.
I’ve modified the pointless TAGs section, FeedCount (me too thought the same, but anyhow put it, now removed) and the footer RSS image (it was me who deliberately broke it.)
I’m pleased and happy to hear that you liked my Style Of Writing/Content, Featured Articles section, AD placement.
Thanks for a clear-cut review on my blog.
Here I am, your loyal reader.
@Angad Sodhi
Great that you like the Featured Posts area.
Two posts are difficult to be differentiated ?? (I’ll look into the matter)
And as Syed and Many here, pointed out, I’ve straight-away removed the TAGS as it was pointless.
@R. Alexander Spoerer
Thanks for the feedback.
@sailor
Not really. But, yes, the two sidebars, coupled together takes some notable screen space.
But, I believe that the content is not abused by any widgets/sidebars.
The Featured Posts area is two sidebar-long, so can’t remove as a single sidebar.
Thanks for the review as it helped me to make my blog better.
And syed, regarding consistency, I’ve got 6 days a week, schooling. So, as you clearly know, it is not that easy to produce regular content. But, I’ll try my best
Glad you took those comments seriously. The best way to learn is to observe other’s blogs. Read posts by bloggers who themselves have nice looking blogs (this blog for eg).
And if you get reviewed for free, nothing like it!
Can’t tell you much about consistency coz I’m an engg student and am very inconsistent myself. Have colg 5 days a week + tuitions + 8hr power cuts every day!! I’m sure you must be in the same situation.
Tags are not totally useless if you use them well. A new visitor can get a hang of your blog immediately after he sees a tag cloud. I think they are a bit more effective than categories.
Tags are indeed very useful.
I referred “the way tags were displayed on my blog” was pointless.
Thanks for the comments
looking better than before. Good job
Congrats to aravindjose for the review .. lucky guy
That’s a good effort there syed!
Hey Syed, how do you do the pagination system for older posts?? Looks really nice
its a plugin.
I checked out the blog being reviewed and think you covered it very well.
Glad I have your approval Bruce.
What could I do to get some free review?
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