Opinions wanted on Site Redesign | Bloggers Lair | Yakezie Forums

Hey Yakeziers! 

After Fincon13, I did a major redesign of my site (link in my signature), and I'd really appreciate if you all would take a look and make any suggestions for further improvement in this thread. 

I'll be eternally grateful.

Thanks!

I like it, looks sharp as Frugaling said.  The left sidebar as a title/menu section is unique in the PF space from what I've seen, which is a nice way to differentiate.  One small suggestion would be to make the blog title a bit more prominent, perhaps bolder/different color.  Nice job.

maria@moneyprinciple said:

I like it; hard to explain why but I suppose it is the contrast between the background and the rest. It is easy to read and you have added a picture (am I right on this one?) – someone has been loistening to Pat Flynn :).

 

One thing that I am puzzling over myself is how to make it easy for people to find the stuff they need/want – and no, top searches doesn't cut it. If you have any ideas, please share.

 

Maria

Absolutely right, Maria.  The picture is new.  I'm still planning on putting the logo back in addition, but haven't decided how I want to do that yet.  

Finding stuff is a difficult question, I think.  I agree that site search isn't the best way to do it.  I think, one of the ways to explore (I know I plan to) is some curated topical menus/pages.  Maybe pages that you've created to display categories, pages on certain topics that are cross-category, or some omnibus posts that go over certain topics.  I currently think the best way to do this is with a reverse funnel method.  One link to a topic, then multiple links to the smaller niche topics under that topic.  Of course, how you do that is going to be told by limitations in the design of the site (e.g. I don't have any more room for custom menus) and how you think will be best for your readers.

maria@moneyprinciple said:

Thanks; I have been thinking about doing a 'Start Here' page where I have three-four areas where TMP has made a difference and links to the main four-five posts (of course within the posts there will be links to the others in the cluster).

A thing I tend to forget is that this is not about finding everything, but about showcasing what is really helpful and great.

Maria

 

Exactly.  The real goal is to get the reader to where they belong!

Hi Shane,

Beautiful!! I'm so jealous that you have the expertise to do it all yourself!

I've heard a lot about site's being "mobile friendly". How does it test on mobile with 3 columns?