New website layout - what do you think?? | Yakezie Reader Insights | Yakezie Forums

It looks good. This was my first time visiting your site so I had never seen the old layout. I would recommend that you keep the site clean looking as it is now. Don't clutter it with ads. Display your Feed and Facebook icons prominently so that new readers can find them.

I like it!  Easy to read and navigate.  I agree with BITFS about the footer ad.  Drop it like a hot stone.  No one pays attention to it.

Hey Everybody,

Thanks for the advice and comments!!  I dropped the footer ad and replaced it with a seach button – not to sure what else I should put there.  Also, I put in a tag cloud which seems like a good idea in case people are looking for specific tags.  I am looking into adjusting my RSS and FB locations, just need to figure them out!

Where do you find are the most effective places to put ads if you dont mind giving away your secrets?! This question is probably already posted somewhere on here, so im going to take a look around just in case!

Followed you all on twitter!  Thanks Everybody! 

Benjamin

Maybe change your read color to green to brand your logo and company. That is just a suggestion based on the look and feel of the site. I feel like your logo is being overpowered by all the red on the site and your logo isn't even that color. 

Move your adsense into the content if you are looking to improve click through rate and use that space in the right side bar for a large, adsense image ad. That way you can also make adverts for that space for private advertisers in the future.

If you are looking for slick ways to incorporate more adsense, try a faux menu below your navigation bar. This is the adsense link units. Just put it right below your nav menu maybe in a shaded area to make it look official.

At the end of articles, give the people options for more content, encourage them to sign up for your newsletter, put more adsense there or even some affiliate content. The thought is if the person is reading your content that far, then they may be interested in more of what you have to say and offer.

Don't think you are going to get much mileage out of that long adsense in the sidebar on the bottom right, but I guess it is worth a shot. Heat maps show that area of most sites are dead, but that is a case by case thing.

Overall, you are doing great. I know this is going to contridict my suggestions, you maybe revenue isn't the focus right now. You need to get a solid seo and promotion plan in place in order to start ranking organically for your keywords or promoting the site and driving traffic via social bookmarketing, twitter and networking.

Also, get those share buttons on your site as well. Sexy Bookmarker is a good one that puts your share buttons right in the content or place them manually.

That is enough for now. 

Good luck!