The infamous Icethetics.info

Welcome to review #2

Today we are going to highlight…

I’m going to review one of the very first hockey blogs I encountered, icethetics.   The blog is basically a hybrid of hockey and art. Chris the owner has concept art competitions and a bunch of very cool fun features. I have seen this blog come from humble beginnings on blogspot (I’ll talk about platform b/c of this briefly)  to the great site that it is today. One thing that makes it great is that it’s a blog that is constantly improving.

Before I dive into the review, Im going to breifly talk about the blogspot platform. For icethetics I think blogspot was a mistake from day one. If you are a blogger and you use blogspot that’s okay, as long as it suits your purpose. My big issue with blogspot is that it doesn’t support custom urls.  If your goal is to build a brand I’d suggest using a platform that allows that type of integration. Starting with the correct platform will save headaches down the road.  That said one huge advantage to blogspot is that its probably the easiest blogging platform to use which is great for *new bloggers.

Moving forward… One disadvantage to the method (single blogger) Chris uses is that he is the only person producing content (even though some images are produced by the public). This makes it difficult to produce content on a regular basis particularly because life tends to happen in between blogs. I’m sure he has lost some eyeballs as a result of inconsistency which is sad. Add to that his multi page events that must be sustained and you can imagine how it becomes difficult to keep a promotion up to speed with what is going on on the site.

One cool feature I’d like to point out is that icethetics has a box in the sidebar highlighting his top stories. Consider using this if you have major themes you want new visitors to be aware of that may get buried in the day to day use of the blog!

Something else to notice  is that icethetics almost always has is an image above the fold (where browsers cut off). Newspapers have been using this concept for a long time. The idea is that you will only have eyes for a few seconds use images to draw readers in!

My biggest concern when I look at icethetics is the amount of content and the number of events he runs. If you are starting out try to keep your blog simple.  If possible dont be afraid to bring in other writers if you need to. Just keep content coming (ideally 3 to 5 times a week).

One way I keep content moving is to have blog posts prewritten but not published. This allows me to start with content in the bag, if life comes up I can just publish a pre-written post.

Im sure I will come back to icethetics in the future (he does so much well).

Vote on the blog reviewed below and comment comment comment! I want to know your take!

If you would like me to review your blog please send an e-mail to hockeyonabus@gmail.com or send me a twitter message @mhandy1