So you want re-review ehh?

Well, we are here again.

A review you asked for. A review you shall get.

I honestly don't remember all I told you in my first review (yes, I don't.. I've seen too many sites over the past few months, don't be angry ehh) so I'm gonna approach this like I haven't reviewed your site before.

Are you ready?

Let's begin.

I. Design And Layout

Wow. I don't remember your previous design, but I have a strong feeling that this right here is light years better.

The background image has this techie-feel that makes me feel at home immediately. And a quick scan through your home page makes me feel as though I may have nothing to tell you (which is a good thing), but I still noticed a few... ahem.

(i) Your menu at the top of the page

Hmm... while it's good you have it, could you please esplain to me why you haff hay sitemap hin your primary menu?

And when we click on it, it takes us to a page that confuses us.

Here's a rule of thumb to remember- If you have to create a site map for visitors to use your site, then you're doing it wrong.

Your site is supposed to be user-friendly. Having to use a site map to understand your site = not user friendly.

Get my drift? Good.

Remove that Site Map thing in your menu, and add some categories (I see you haff plenty categories, some of which, could just be tags, but we'll come to that later)

Take Site map out, put some categories in.

(ii) Your site Title

While it doesn't rep your brand, it gives us a heads up as to what your site is about, which is a good thing.

I prefer it should have your brand name, but with a name like 9jaboizgist, I can see why you went with that.

(iii) Your Tagline

It starts off great, but it seems like you were trying to put too much in there so some of it got cut off.

Make it simpler- "9jaboiz gist keeps you updated on latest news in technology, business and the mobile world".

See how much sweeter that is?

Dem man dem fit get diabetes from that.

(iv) That blue bar below your tagline is for your primary nav menu.

Why is it not there?

That blue bar is one of the prominent parts of your header. Instead of leaving it blank, use it to display your primary nav menu.

(v) P.S. I love the social media icons displayed both at the top right of your page and in the left side bar. You haff been reading my reviews abi?

Let's just hope they actually lead somewhere... but we'll come to that later.

(vi) The Featured Slider

Everybody loves a good featured slider.

It catches our eyes and we want to see what image comes next.

Most of your images are great, except they all seem to be about tech. Try to get some that shows something related to business and mobile phones, and why in God's name do you have an image of I-Robot?

Take it out. You're not a movie review site (or are you?).

Overall, great images.

The words below the images though are a problem. They're all generic, saying either thank you or we love to see you here or share our posts on Facebook.

Please... Please... We just got to your site and you're talking plenty instead of telling us you have what we came for.

Imagine if you went to Shoprite and the security man kept telling you "Welcome to Shoprite", "We are happy to see you here", "Share our shop with your friends"... BEFORE YOU EVEN HAD A CHANCE TO SHOP OR PLACE AN ORDER!

At some point, you wee tell him "Bros, free me now!"

Exactly.

It's better to have the text beneath each feature image, tell them something about the image or about your different categories that your visitors will be interested in.

Never forget- Users don't care about you. They care about what you can give them if they give you their time and attention.

So all that "senrenre" there now is unnecessary.

Let them know you got what they want... you got what they need (I'm doing the dutty whine right now as I remember that song... no, not really)

Sha... straight to the point, no long thing.


(vii) I see you went with a 3 column layout... I haven't seen a lot of those, but when I visited your site, there was way too much action there for me.

It's like everything's screaming for attention and I don't know where to click.

I don't know where to click = I was confused.

I think I should have written this as a commandment of Usability for web design:

"Thou shalt not confuse the visitor"

Say it with me.

"THOU SHALT NOT CONFUSE THE VISITOR!"

Again!

Got it?

Good.

But then again, This User Dey Craze, so if you'd prefer to stick with your 3 column layout (and confuse your users), I won't hold it against you.

Umm... sorry. Actually I will.

Because the 2 column layout is just way cleaner than this 3 column layout so yes I will vex for you.

The current 3 column thing you have... lemme mess with it now.

Why is that the tab on popular posts shows your Blog Archive, the one called Tags shows a follow by email field and the one called Blog Archives shows nothing?

Why are your Categories placed in the last column?

If you can give me a great answer that makes sense to an average user, then please keep the 3 column layout.

Otherwise, kick it the f out.

Wooo... you almost got me worked up.

So back to our 2 column layout. This format right here is tried and true.

- Search bar
- Popular posts
- Categories
- Subscribe box (which I didn't see prominently displayed... why?)
- Social Media links
- Archive

You can have an ad in between any section after the first 2, and Archives should actually be last... I think I prolly didn't say that on other reviews, but the fact is, the last thing a user wants to see when they get to your site is a big Archive of 100+ posts.

True Story.

Anyway, switch to a 2 column layout which would not only make your site cleaner and clearer, but it will also allow your main content section to show more prominently.

(viii) Your Footer

She looks good. Slap on a subscribe field, a search bar and categories, and she could be the next Agbani Darego.


II. Content

(i) Your headlines, for the most part, look great. Just make sure you look through them and ensure the benefit for reading (which I think I'll begin to call "BFR" is well communicated to the prospective reader.

Also try to be specific. Saying "5 Android Phones with the best battery life" is more powerful than saying "Android phones with the best battery life"

Overall, I give you salute.

(ii) Body

You see why I said a 2 column layout is better?

Here, it looks like your content is squished and forced to suffer, like our people that were packed like sardines and taken as slaves back in the day.

Your main content should not suffer because of your layout.

Fix that.

Because I couldn't even begin to try straining to see your content.

I was just like screw this. I scanned through and bounced.

And now, another commandment- "IN ALL THAT THOU DOEST, THOU SHALT ALWAYS MAKE IT EASY FOR THY VISITOR!"

Heed that.


(iii) Your social media icons are too tiny, they're almost invisible.

Fix that.

Oh, I just scrolled down and saw another set. Abeg, use just one, and let them be prominent, not very low on the page.


(iv) Your comment section is way way too low, grabbing for straws, drowning under a sea of related posts.

Just have 2 related posts displayed and let the comment section be higher up, so people who actually want to comment don't leave because they don't have the patience to look for a comment box.


III. Promotion

(i) If you haven't, you really need to do some SEO.

Your content looks helpful (I can't really say for sure cos I couldn't read it cos of your layout ) and you're writing content for your niche.

Now, you need to know exactly what words your target audience is using to talk about the topics you want to write on, and use that to create content that is easier for them to find.

That is the long and short of SEO.

Either learn how to do it yourself or hire someone who does.

(ii) Social Media

Now, let's look at your links:

Well, the good part is they link to a profile of some sort.

I would recommend that your facebook button link to a Facebook page or group for your website, rather than your profile.

Same with your Twitter.

Your linked in should have your photo and maybe something like Head Blogger at 9jaboizgist.com.ng

Your Google + is just...

Okay, I think a general rule to follow with social media is to start with a few if you're the one who has to manage those profiles. If you have a social media manager, then you can do all at once.

Make those changes and start engaging your audience... aiight?


IV. Goals And Other Issues

- What are you selling? I can't see that.

- Why should we come to your site instead of somewhere else? What is unique about your site?

- Why don't you have a prominent visible subscribe button anywhere on your site? You don't want us to subscribe ni?



For now, that's it... I think I have stepped up a lot from the last review I did for you.

Yay-me!

Self hi-five.

Abeg, hunger don cash me... Bye.

P.S. If you want me to review your site... abeg don't post it here. Post it here- https://www.nairaland.com/3765331/post-website-blog-here-get or else I wee not review it... hokay?


Appy uzling!

A very big thank you for all this.


With this your 2nd review. I thought I've got 7/10 instead of 3/10 I got I the previous one.... I will see to all this very soon

Copycracker:
So you want re-review ehh?

Well, we are here again.

A review you asked for. A review you shall get.

I honestly don't remember all I told you in my first review (yes, I don't.. I've seen too many sites over the past few months, don't be angry ehh) so I'm gonna approach this like I haven't reviewed your site before.

Are you ready?

Let's begin.

I. Design And Layout

Wow. I don't remember your previous design, but I have a strong feeling that this right here is light years better.

The background image has this techie-feel that makes me feel at home immediately. And a quick scan through your home page makes me feel as though I may have nothing to tell you (which is a good thing), but I still noticed a few... ahem.

(i) Your menu at the top of the page

Hmm... while it's good you have it, could you please esplain to me why you haff hay sitemap hin your primary menu?

And when we click on it, it takes us to a page that confuses us.

Here's a rule of thumb to remember- If you have to create a site map for visitors to use your site, then you're doing it wrong.

Your site is supposed to be user-friendly. Having to use a site map to understand your site = not user friendly.

Get my drift? Good.

Remove that Site Map thing in your menu, and add some categories (I see you haff plenty categories, some of which, could just be tags, but we'll come to that later)

Take Site map out, put some categories in.

(ii) Your site Title

While it doesn't rep your brand, it gives us a heads up as to what your site is about, which is a good thing.

I prefer it should have your brand name, but with a name like 9jaboizgist, I can see why you went with that.

(iii) Your Tagline

It starts off great, but it seems like you were trying to put too much in there so some of it got cut off.

Make it simpler- "9jaboiz gist keeps you updated on latest news in technology, business and the mobile world".

See how much sweeter that is?

Dem man dem fit get diabetes from that.

(iv) That blue bar below your tagline is for your primary nav menu.

Why is it not there?

That blue bar is one of the prominent parts of your header. Instead of leaving it blank, use it to display your primary nav menu.

(v) P.S. I love the social media icons displayed both at the top right of your page and in the left side bar. You haff been reading my reviews abi?

Let's just hope they actually lead somewhere... but we'll come to that later.

(vi) The Featured Slider

Everybody loves a good featured slider.

It catches our eyes and we want to see what image comes next.

Most of your images are great, except they all seem to be about tech. Try to get some that shows something related to business and mobile phones, and why in God's name do you have an image of I-Robot?

Take it out. You're not a movie review site (or are you?).

Overall, great images.

The words below the images though are a problem. They're all generic, saying either thank you or we love to see you here or share our posts on Facebook.

Please... Please... We just got to your site and you're talking plenty instead of telling us you have what we came for.

Imagine if you went to Shoprite and the security man kept telling you "Welcome to Shoprite", "We are happy to see you here", "Share our shop with your friends"... BEFORE YOU EVEN HAD A CHANCE TO SHOP OR PLACE AN ORDER!

At some point, you wee tell him "Bros, free me now!"

Exactly.

It's better to have the text beneath each feature image, tell them something about the image or about your different categories that your visitors will be interested in.

Never forget- Users don't care about you. They care about what you can give them if they give you their time and attention.

So all that "senrenre" there now is unnecessary.

Let them know you got what they want... you got what they need (I'm doing the dutty whine right now as I remember that song... no, not really)

Sha... straight to the point, no long thing.


(vii) I see you went with a 3 column layout... I haven't seen a lot of those, but when I visited your site, there was way too much action there for me.

It's like everything's screaming for attention and I don't know where to click.

I don't know where to click = I was confused.

I think I should have written this as a commandment of Usability for web design:

"Thou shalt not confuse the visitor"

Say it with me.

"THOU SHALT NOT CONFUSE THE VISITOR!"

Again!

Got it?

Good.

But then again, This User Dey Craze, so if you'd prefer to stick with your 3 column layout (and confuse your users), I won't hold it against you.

Umm... sorry. Actually I will.

Because the 2 column layout is just way cleaner than this 3 column layout so yes I will vex for you.

The current 3 column thing you have... lemme mess with it now.

Why is that the tab on popular posts shows your Blog Archive, the one called Tags shows a follow by email field and the one called Blog Archives shows nothing?

Why are your Categories placed in the last column?

If you can give me a great answer that makes sense to an average user, then please keep the 3 column layout.

Otherwise, kick it the f out.

Wooo... you almost got me worked up.

So back to our 2 column layout. This format right here is tried and true.

- Search bar
- Popular posts
- Categories
- Subscribe box (which I didn't see prominently displayed... why?)
- Social Media links
- Archive

You can have an ad in between any section after the first 2, and Archives should actually be last... I think I prolly didn't say that on other reviews, but the fact is, the last thing a user wants to see when they get to your site is a big Archive of 100+ posts.

True Story.

Anyway, switch to a 2 column layout which would not only make your site cleaner and clearer, but it will also allow your main content section to show more prominently.

(viii) Your Footer

She looks good. Slap on a subscribe field, a search bar and categories, and she could be the next Agbani Darego.


II. Content

(i) Your headlines, for the most part, look great. Just make sure you look through them and ensure the benefit for reading (which I think I'll begin to call "BFR" is well communicated to the prospective reader.

Also try to be specific. Saying "5 Android Phones with the best battery life" is more powerful than saying "Android phones with the best battery life"

Overall, I give you salute.

(ii) Body

You see why I said a 2 column layout is better?

Here, it looks like your content is squished and forced to suffer, like our people that were packed like sardines and taken as slaves back in the day.

Your main content should not suffer because of your layout.

Fix that.

Because I couldn't even begin to try straining to see your content.

I was just like screw this. I scanned through and bounced.

And now, another commandment- "IN ALL THAT THOU DOEST, THOU SHALT ALWAYS MAKE IT EASY FOR THY VISITOR!"

Heed that.


(iii) Your social media icons are too tiny, they're almost invisible.

Fix that.

Oh, I just scrolled down and saw another set. Abeg, use just one, and let them be prominent, not very low on the page.


(iv) Your comment section is way way too low, grabbing for straws, drowning under a sea of related posts.

Just have 2 related posts displayed and let the comment section be higher up, so people who actually want to comment don't leave because they don't have the patience to look for a comment box.


III. Promotion

(i) If you haven't, you really need to do some SEO.

Your content looks helpful (I can't really say for sure cos I couldn't read it cos of your layout ) and you're writing content for your niche.

Now, you need to know exactly what words your target audience is using to talk about the topics you want to write on, and use that to create content that is easier for them to find.

That is the long and short of SEO.

Either learn how to do it yourself or hire someone who does.

(ii) Social Media

Now, let's look at your links:

Well, the good part is they link to a profile of some sort.

I would recommend that your facebook button link to a Facebook page or group for your website, rather than your profile.

Same with your Twitter.

Your linked in should have your photo and maybe something like Head Blogger at 9jaboizgist.com.ng

Your Google + is just...

Okay, I think a general rule to follow with social media is to start with a few if you're the one who has to manage those profiles. If you have a social media manager, then you can do all at once.

Make those changes and start engaging your audience... aiight?


IV. Goals And Other Issues

- What are you selling? I can't see that.

- Why should we come to your site instead of somewhere else? What is unique about your site?

- Why don't you have a prominent visible subscribe button anywhere on your site? You don't want us to subscribe ni?



For now, that's it... I think I have stepped up a lot from the last review I did for you.

Yay-me!

Self hi-five.

Abeg, hunger don cash me... Bye.

P.S. If you want me to review your site... abeg don't post it here. Post it here- https://www.nairaland.com/3765331/post-website-blog-here-get or else I wee not review it... hokay?


Appy uzling!

https://www.nairaland.com/3576902/review-9jaboizgist.com.ng




I need your help bro....

What do you need?

babatee126:

https://www.nairaland.com/3576902/review-9jaboizgist.com.ng



I need your help bro....

Copycracker:
What do you need?

I will like to ask you privately

Can I contact you via whatsapp or fb?

My whatsapp number is +2348147018718

babatee126:


I will like to ask you privately

Can I contact you via whatsapp or fb?