“All Habs” Day

Today I’d like to review a blog from a guy I follow on Twitter @all_habs his blog is appropriately called All Habs (aka Montreal Canadians).  I love the custom banner on his blog. Some might consider the banner to be a little large but it does a good job in one glance explaining the site you have arrived on.

One thing  Im a big fan of is a very simple side bar, or at the very least one that doesn’t complicate the blog. Sadly for my taste his sidebar is a little complicated. If your ‘re looking to sell ad space this can actually hurt click through rates because your audience will stop looking.

Another thing I noticed was the red background in the side bar can make text hard to see. If you want to use a red or yellow I would suggest adding transparency or go with a different color background with highlighted accents in red. The other option is to use a white or gray text so there is a greater contrast.

This blog is a collaboration blog (many authors) and lists the authors in the middle of the side bar. If your blog is going to mention who is offering content they deserve a place of honor at or really close to the top. I always suggest that writers get a top shelf spot on the side bar *within the first portion of the post. They really shouldn’t ever be relegated to the basement of the sidebar as an after thought (All Habs doesn’t do that).

If you use a lot of tags or categories that are unique try to graphically show them rather then list them. Graphics will keep the side bar from growing to unmanageable lengths and offer aesthetic appeal to your blog. If you are looking for a tool to make a graphic cloud on blogspot try THIS OUT.

If you see something I missed, disagree, agree, have suggestions let me know … Comment comment comment

If you would like me to offer my take on your blog let me know Via Twitter @mhandy1 or email me at hockeyonabus@gmail.com