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05 Nov 09 Learn to Write a Website Review

Every reviewer has different reasons to write a website review. Some write it to get paid, while other write to get more traffic; yet another group of writers write it to get writing assignments. Bloggers also get paid for writing website reviews (paid review). Whatever your motivation is for writing a website review, there are certain principles that you need to follow, which you will know if you stick to this post till the end.

Elements of a website review

Introduction

A brief introduction about the purpose of the website you are going to review is very critical. In the introduction write in brief what the website is about, and give a brief history of the company and what it does. You can also mention in brief your opinion about the website.

Design

Design is the first thing anyone notice when he comes to a website. Analyze the following layout of the content and try to answer the following questions.

  • Is it too cluttered? Or is it clutter-free?
  • Does the color-scheme of the website good for the niche it operates in?
  • Is it appealing?
  • Is it easy to find information on the website?
  • Is the design SEO-friendly?

Navigation

Navigation plays an important role in the whole website. Try to answer the following question in your review.

  • Is the navigation intuitive?
  • How many clicks does it require before you can reach the desired page?
  • Are all page connected to the home page?
  • Is the website using flash, Java-script or any other scripting for the navigation?
  • How flat is the navigation? Or is it too-much layered?
  • Are there any broken link?
  • On which side of the website is the navigation?
  • Does the website have an HTML and an XML site map?
  • Is the navigation SEO-friendly?

Focus element

Focus element of the website is the core of the website, for which the website has been built. It’s the intent of the website is clear.

  • Is the intent of the website clear?
  • Does the focus element of the website express the objective?
  • How quickly can a visitor tell what the website is about?
  • What’s the website trying to accomplish?

Content

Content of a website is its lifeline. The quality of content will determine how long visitors stay on the website? The quality of the website’s content will determine if a visitor will return or not, and whether he will make a purchase or not.

  • Is the content relevant to the website? Does it serve the purpose of the website?
  • Is it well-written?
  • Does it make sense?
  • Does it contain grammatical, punctuation, or structural errors?
  • Is the content professionally written?
  • Is it SEO-friendly?

This is the basics of writing a website review. In case you need to go into more complex details when writing a website review then I will suggest you to wait till the next article comes along. Until then practice writing basic review using the elements suggested above.

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01 Nov 09 What Do You Do When You Are Bored of Writing

It is not uncommon for a writer to get bored of writing. Everyone gets bored at one time or another. And once you are bored, writing becomes a drag.

What do you do when writing becomes drag for you?

Do you continue to write as usual or do you do something else?

Believe it or not, despite how torturous writing become, many writers continue to write and what happens? They end up producing mediocre work. This is wrong. This pulls the motivation down. A writer should not continue when he or she is not feeling like writing.

Stop Writing! When writing seems like a drag. There are quite a few things that you can do when writing becomes drag for you, which I am listing below. These steps will not only relax your mind, but it will also infuse enthusiasm in you that will make writing once again a pleasant exercise.

Things to do when writing becomes drag

  • Take a walk in the woods.
  • Sit near a pond, lake or river and listen to the sound of bird chirping and watch the water forming shapes.
  • Listen to soulful music.
  • Watch a movie.
  • Read a book or a short story.
  • Recite a poem.
  • Dance
  • Go out and take a walk
  • See teenagers falling in love for the first time
  • Surf the internet, but do not go to the usual sites that you visit
  • Talk to an elderly person in your community and ask him about his life’s experience.
  • Visit an orphanage, talk to kids there and play with them.
  • Watch a game of sports.
  • Paint, if you like painting.
  • Observe the nature.
  • Lie on the ground and watch the empty sky. Focus on the bubble that forms in the sky (it is actually an illusion).
  • Relax
  • Above all, follow your heart

You should not limit yourself to doing these things. Do whatever you wish is good for you, apart from writing, and see how the experience enriches you.

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06 Oct 09 Make Yourself Into A Leader

Becoming a leader is different than becoming a manager at your place of work.  Not everyone in management knows how to lead, and the problem that sort of manager, is that they don’t last very long.  To truly become a manager worth your mettle and paycheck, able to lead a team to success, you have to develop your leadership skills.  Developing those skills is hard work, and can take a very long time.  But in the end becoming a true leader is worth your time, because leaders always distinguish themselves.  Because the leadership quality is fairly rare, employers are always willing to stick with a good one.

Think of what you would expect from a leader, and what you hope to gain out of becoming one.  If it helps make a list of each, preferably side by side, to figure out your motivation.  These factors will give you a guide to follow.  By writing out what you want, and what you expect, you have a good idea of whether or not being a leader works for you.  In most cases being a leader means taking a back seat for the better good of the team sometimes.  If you aren’t prepared to do that, you’ll have a hard time developing your leadership skills.

To be a leader you have to be prepared to take charge.  Being a leader is just what the title implies, you are expected to lead your followers, or your team.  The best way to do that is to lead by example.  You have to be the best performer, so that the rest of the team can feed off your leadership.  Nobody wants to follow a coworker that can’t achieve goals as well as they can.  This doesn’t mean you have to be the best at doing the job, but rather the best at meeting goals and following directions.  This way you inspire through example, making yourself a natural leader before you ever have the title.

Finally, you have to be the anchor of the team.  When the cards look like they’re stacked against everyone, you have to be the person to bring the motivation to get the job done.  A leader motivates the team by any means available.  So if you want to be a leader, you have to be able to stay positive to help your team get the job done, no matter the situation.

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