Comments on: Website Review – GoBackpacking.com

By: Lissie

Lissie — Sun, 21 Oct 2007 02:30:07 +0000

I found this post again because I have a traditional website http://www.midilfetravel.com which I am thinking of adding a blog too just as Dave has done. One of the things I noticed is that having clicked the /blog link there was no indication that there was info on the top level domain& no way that I could see to go there without editing the url. Most of Dave’s visitors who have come via the blogsphere won’t realise its there.
So I am back to trying to work out technically of how to replace the top level with the blog whilst retaining the existing pages – any ideas?
Cheers
Lis

By: Cecilia

Cecilia — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 22:44:29 +0000

Fantastico, Kirsty! I’m still a lost soul and could only wish that I already have a travel site for you to review. You are ssoooooo right with the content stuff, or maybe it’s just because I’m still at a stage that I want to devour all information to get started. I can tell it would be for a long time…but I hope I’ll get there.

By the way, last weekend I was showing your site to my husband on his laptop, and it looked pleasantly different. (Not that it matter so much…I still love the content.) I thought the reason was my viewing it from Google, but now I’m in Yahoo. My next guess, hhmmm…it must be Vista since our desktop still runs on XP. Or, is it the Internet Explorer? Sometimes, I can only laugh at my own ignorance.

Furthermore, this might make your readers feel better…after 2 years or so, my husband received $100 from Google Adsense. Just when we had already stopped thinking that it was even real. We got tired of checking after a month, and had completely forgotten we have the Adsense. We didn’t really venture into other ways of monitising the website. Not that we know–we could only guess–surviving to keep it up was already a struggle. Perhaps it will be his project when he hopefully retires next year.

By: New Affiliate Discoveries » Blog Archive » The Sunday Seven - Fourth Edition

Mon, 17 Sep 2007 05:07:31 +0000

[...] 6) Nerdy Nomad shares with us a website review of GoBackpacking.com Lots of great insight here. [...]

By: Dave

Dave — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 22:24:52 +0000

Kirsty –

Thanks again for the review and answering my questions.

As Mike mentioned, I definitely try to move elements around to find what works best, though I really haven’t considered a new theme since I settled on Andreas009 near the beginning. I’ve been playing around with themes on another blog, so maybe I’ll take a risk with something new before hitting the road.

Brooke – your comment is very true, which is why it’s so valuable to seek feedback (even if it’s hard to read!).

By: Kirsty

Kirsty — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 22:13:05 +0000

Good suggestions Mike. I find it easier to make small changes here and there rather than diving in and trying all sorts of new ideas at once.

Brooke I totally agree. I think getting a fresh set of eyes to look at a site is the best way to get out of a rut. A lot of times websites can become our babies and we get a bit defensive and can be hesitant to make changes. Getting suggestions from others is good for a push in the right direction.

By: Brooke

Brooke — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 03:50:49 +0000

Great review, Kirsty! Sometimes when you’re looking closely at something for so long, it is hard to see the big picture. I’m sure these comments will do Dave wonders

By: Mike

Mike — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 18:47:17 +0000

Great write-up, Kirsty. One thing I’ll throw out there is that Dave is clearly testing and trying new things with his blog all the time – new ad placement; new revenue sources; etc. The problem with adding all of these different things is that it can make a site begin to feel a bit like patchwork – there’s little consistency or cohesive flow between all of the individual page elements.

I’ve been surprised at how just trying a new WP theme can make all the difference in conversions. Perhaps something he may want to try?

Just my $0.02.