I recently started my first blog, the link is in my signature. I would appreciate any feedback you guys can provide me to help me improve the quality of it.

Ok first thing I notice is the design - you need to make it a little bit more appealing. its a fitness site, so perhaps some graphics etc to make it more "alive".

Personally I'd use a different theme, it's a little too distracting having these boxes everywhere and that striped background.
Not trying to be negative, just giving my honest opinion

Originally Posted by longroad

Ok first thing I notice is the design - you need to make it a little bit more appealing. its a fitness site, so perhaps some graphics etc to make it more "alive".

Personally I'd use a different theme, it's a little too distracting having these boxes everywhere and that striped background.
Not trying to be negative, just giving my honest opinion

Thanks for the honest feedback, I will start to look around for a more laid back theme, do you think it would be better to look for a free one, or should I just pay a little bit of money and get a more professional looking one? I will also try to add some more graphics to the site to improve the appearance.



How would you guys rate the placement of my ads?

There are alot of good free themes out there, go for one of those and just modify the header and colours etc

I think you should add a photo of yourself looking fit and healthy so your readers can see how your advice could benefit them. After all, you wouldn't take fitness advice from a fat guy, and until you add your photo we don't know that you're not a slob Seriously though, a photo will help you to build trust with your readers.

You should probably use a smaller ad size and get your sidebar to match the width of the ads.

With a better layout, i'm sure you'll have more visitors stay.
Blend your ads, maybe even embed some into the content.

Your on the right track, keep it up!:yes:

By the way, the width of the ads don't match that of the side bar.

OK, I changed the theme, and I am still working on fixing the ads. How do you embed and blend the ads into the site?

Thanks for all of your help!

Love the topic and the name, but I want to see some power in the logo. Show a graphic (even a stock photo) that slaps a visitor in the face.

A logo and a picture would improve the bog dramatically. Good luck!