Hip! Hip! Hurray! My Blog Overhaul Is Finally Done.
Well here I am almost a month later after I told you I was doing a major overhaul of my blog and if memory serves me correctly I said I would be done in a couple of days. So much for meeting my deadline. I just ran into many unexpected problems along the way and the final straw was when I couldn’t get online for three days. Three days may not seem like much but in Internet time it’s like an eternity. And if I’m going to be perfectly honest with you I must admit that I just got lazy for awhile and took some time off to boot.
But I’m back now and all fired up full of piss and vinegar ready to start giving you some great quality content here.
Even though the bulk of my blog overhaul is complete I expect it will be forever changing. So if you come here and things don’t look quite right come back in a bit and things may have changed, for the better I hope. I like the way it is pretty much but I still have plenty of tweaking to get it where I want it to be.
I have created this blog for you to enjoy so I want to make it work for you. If there’s something about the new design you like then tell me. On the other hand, if there’s something about the new design you don’t like then keep it to yourself. Just Kidding.
I want to know one way or another how you feel about the new look.
So Please, give it a mulling over and let me know what you think.
til next time…
Tagged with: blog • Internet Marketing
Filed under: General
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I guess I’ll be the first to comment on my blogs new look.
Not Happy.
I use Firefox as my web browser and when I was redesigning this site I just kept viewing in Firefox. No excuse, I know better than that.
When doing something like this you need to at least make sure it works in Internet Explorer as most people use it, even though I hate IE.
So if you’re viewing this using Internet Explorer you will see a red x and a white border around all the images.
If you use Firefox which I highly recommend because in my opinion it’s 10 times better, everything is OK.
Back to work I go…
Later,
Jeff Sargent
This is in response to my previous comment about image problems in IE6. I must have been semi-conscious when I looked at it. This morning on my laptop I’m viewing it as I type this and the problem is gone. I don’t think there was a problem. I’m guessing the page didn’t load properly and all I had to do was to probably refresh the page and everything would have been OK.
So, if you have the same issue with some images not showing properly just do a page refresh.
If you continue to have any problems please let me know by leaving a comment here.
Later,
Jeff Sargent
I think your blog looks lovely on netscape and firefox. However, I think you could put your name at the bottom of the posts or have an ‘about me sidebar at least.
Hey Ruth,
Thanks for your input.
I couldn’t agree with you more about putting my name in each post. In the theme I was using before this one I did have something at the top. I think it said “Author – Jeff Sargent” or something to that affect. I will be changing it back to that as soon as I figure out how to do it.
I do have a nav tab for an About Me page but I just haven’t put anything there yet. That’s very important and I need to get that done as quickly as possible.
This is still a work in progress and things will keep changing for the better I hope. The more input I get from people like you will help me make this a better and more functional site.
Later,
Jeff Sargent
Hey Jeff
Yeh site is looking very cool …
simple and clean …I like.!!
Not to sure about the green color . .
not one of my favorites.
I think you should give the dark background the sack …
sorry about that.!!
I’ve just signed up for your squeeze videos
as Im very interested in that ?!!
Later Dude …!!
Malcolm.t.
Hey Malcolm,
I appreciate your critique on my site.
That makes two of us that’s not sure about the green color although green is my favorite color. I played around with different shades of green and this is what I came up with for now. As far as the background being so dark the jury’s still out on that. I need to play with the colors throughout the site as time goes on. Eventually I’ll get it right and by then It will probably be time to change themes again. LOL!
Thanks for signing up to watch my videos on how to create a squeeze page. I think you’ll enjoy them. Just keep in mind sometimes simple is better. You don’t need all kinds of crap on your squeeze page. You should be brief, tell your prospects the benefits and not so much about the features of your product. They want to know what’s in it for them. And make sure there’s a call to action (ie. optin form).
I see you’re in Alex Jeffreys’ coaching program. Good for you. I went through it so I know what you’re in for. It’s very simple. If you listen and do what Alex tells you, you will be successful.
Good Luck,
Jeff Sargent
Hey jeff
Nice blog my man it looks great good theme nice colours and clean and clutter free.
hey jefff thanks for the awesome comments on my blog mate that makes me feel really great and confident.
keep in touch mate
cheers
marcus
Jeff,
The blog look good,
however i have 1 question for you.
i heard that the optin was suppose to be above the fold.
however yours is not, why ?
just wondering !
eddie
Hey Eddie,
Thanks for your reply.
You say you heard that the optin was suppose to be
above the fold and you ask why isn’t mine.
Yes, you’re absolutely right. Your optin form should
whenever possible be above the fold. But that is
on stand alone squeeze pages and not necessarily on blogs.
On a squeeze page there should be only one objective
and that’s to get someone’s name and email address.
That’s why it needs to be above the fold. In fact if you can
it’s best if the whole squeeze page fits above the fold. To
do this you must keep it very simple.
When it comes to a blog your main objective is to get your
visitors to read your posts. With a blog it’s way more important
that you give good content to your visitors first and foremost. If
they like what they read they will find your optin forms.
You’ll notice that on my blog if you read the first post on any page
you will be exposed to my optin forms.
I hope this answered your question.
Later,
Jeff Sargent
Hey Jeff
Here I am again I take it you do this full time my friend?
Once again thanks very much for your cool comments my friend you always take the time to give me a long detailed comment.
thanks my friend
speak soon
cheers
marcus
Hi Jeff,
Man it SUCKS!
Just kidding!
It looks very professional and I like it. One little thing – not sure if the lighter green really complements the darker green on the footer.
Your posts are also very conversational and tend to draw the reader in.
On another matter, I have had somebody impersonating you over at my blog. It seems that this is the latest little spammer trick. They read your blog to see who has been there, assume an identity and then make a perfunctory compliment. But their rotten URL always leads to porn or gambling.
A FAKE Jeff Sargent has made about 3 attempts to get onto my blog but I have deleted them all.
Well done here Sarge!
Gary Simpson
Hey Gary,
Thanks for the drive by.
I’m not sure about the footer colors either.
Actually I am sure. I don’t like them.
What I’m not sure about is what colors to
change them to. I’ll just keep experimenting
as this will always be a work in progress.
As for the other. Why would anyone want to impersonate
this ugly mug. haha!
Those damn spammers. Don’t they have anything better to
do than to make our lives miserable. I haven’t run into that
problem yet, in fact this is the first I hear of this type of spamming.
I’ll keep my eyes peeled for the little B**tards.
Later,
Jeff Sargent
Hey GazzMan,
As you can see I changed the lighter green to a darker green on the footer per your feedback. It’s a lot better now. I wasn’t sure if I was going to keep the green and I’m still not, but it’s starting to grow on me.
Have you found my impostor yet?
Later,
Jeff Sargent
Hey Jeff,
Likin’ the new theme, it’s the same as mine!
I have just asked Joe Fier to make me a header for mine so come and check mine out in a few days. I have seen some of his other work and it looks great, so one of his headers might just give yours a nice edge
Anyway, take care
Paul
Hey Paul,
Thanks for your input. I think the theme you and I are both using is very nice and very flexible. Thus the name “Flexibility 2″. I haven’t decided if I’m going to make a custom header or not. Right now I’m kind of liking the plain green look. I’ll have to wait and see how many other comments I get.
I just checked your blog and your header is still the same but I will be back periodically to see your new header.
Later,
Jeff Sargent
Hey Jeff,
I really like the green! Go figure? Maybe change the background though, could do with a bit of lightening up. Apart from that (and even with that in fact, it’s not a biggy) in my opinion you have a really smart, good looking blog here
Annie
Hey Ann Marie,
Thanks for the kind comments on the look of my new blog theme.
I did actually lighten the background before and I didn’t like it but
who knows, I may change it again to see what it looks like.
I didn’t know you were in my class of Alex Jeffreys coaching. It’s just
impossible to keep up with 500 students. Now that I know who you
are I will keep in touch.
Later,
Jeff Sargent
Hi Jeff,
This is the first I’ve seen of your blog…I didn’t see your old one so I have nothing to compare this one with…
Having said that, I’m glad you’ve gone ahead and put it out for all the world to see. Web sites and blogs are really a “work in progress”; if we wait for them “to be done” we might be waiting for a very long time.
I’m thinking the left side of your blog where you write your content and where these comments go ought to be wider. So that your right side-bar would be narrower. Perhaps that cannot be changed as that’s the way the theme is created.
If green is your favorite color and you like it, then that’s what you ought to use/stick with. I’m not a fan of the beige or fawn accents either, others might be or are. But it’s not a factor that would keep me from visiting.
Your site is easy to read, too, so the colors you’ve chosen work well for that.
Karen McGreevey
Hey Karen,
Thanks for stopping by with your critique.
I made the left sidebar this size so I could easily fit videos that are 480px wide. I can make the right sidebars narrower if I want but I made them this wide so I could fit certain widgets and optin forms in them. I thought of making one of the right sidebars narrower just for text related stuff like Blogroll, Categories and Archives. And use the wider one for my widgets and optin forms. But then all the text would be on one side and graphics on the other and I don’t think it would look balanced. Maybe I’ll try it out in my test blog to see what it looks like.
As far as color goes, that will forever be changing. Green is my favorite color but I’m not sure it works here. I think it does. I’ll wait and see how many more comments I get.
And last but most important. You said my blog is easy to read. That’s the one comment I want to hear. As long as it’s easy to read and the content is good people aren’t going to care about layout and colors.
Thanks.
Jeff Sargent
Hey Jeff,
Thanks for introducing yourself to me, over at my blog.
I too didn’t see your old blog theme, but the way you have it now is looking good. You may remember I have the same theme as you, but in red. I’m still experimenting with mine too, there’s so many options I’m spoilt for choice.
I don’t mind the green look you’ve gone for here, it looks fine to me, it’s easy on the eye.
I’m in the process of bookmarking all blogs to do with Alex Jeffreys Coaching, so your blog is now bookmarked. I’ll try & vist you again soon.
Take care,
Paul.
Hey Paul,
Thanks for dropping by and thanks for bookmarking my blog. I believe I subscribed to your
blog but don’t remember. I’ll have to check when I go down to my office on my other computer.
Now I’m on what I call my morning laptop. This is where I wake up every morning to a cup of
coffee and staring at my laptop. All my real work gets done on my desktop in my office.
I did change the green on the footer as it was much lighter and didn’t look good. I did that
on Gary Simpson’s advice.
Later,
Jeff Sargent
Hi Jeff,
This is my first visit of your blog so I can’t comment on whether it looks better or worse than before.
I do like the way it looks now. It is clean and not cluttered as so many blogs seem to be these days.
I like your idea of wanting to constantly improve the look and functionality. That is something I want to do with my blog. I wonder if you changed the theme as well from what you had before.
I realize that finding the right theme is important. So many themes I tried didn’t show what I had on my blog the way I wanted. The theme I use now is very basic but at least the text doesn’t overlap or is in the wrong place as it did with other themes that were attractive but didn’t do the job.
I’ll come back later to read more of your posts.
Vance.
Hey Vance,
Thanks for visiting and I’m glad you like the looks of
my blog now.
Always looking for ways to improve. If you don’t you’re
site will become stagnant.
Yes, when I said I was doing an overhaul that’s what I meant.
I did change themes because I was having the same problems
you’re having. In order to get things to work right I had to do way
to much php coding. I’m very happy with the theme I have now as
things are easy to change.
Maybe you should take a look at the theme. Download Flexibility 2.
Later,
Jeff Sargent
Hey Jeff,
Great looking blog (nice and clean). We’re connected on Twitter and I always drop in on my Twitter friends to see what they are up to. Keep up the good work and I look forward to dropping in again sometime in the near future…
Cheers,
Frank
Hey Frank,
Thanks for dropping by. I knew Twitter was good for something. It brought you to my blog.
Actually I get quite a bit of traffic from Twitter.
Look forward to running into you on Twitter and I’m headed over to your blog now to see
what you’re up to.
Later,
Jeff Sargent
Looks great Jeff
I was a big Firefox fan for along time but I am getting pissed of with it now as the new version crashes Google every time I use it – I know I am not alone in this – plenty of other people have reported the same thing
What would you recommend running as an alternative? Google Chrome maybe?
I can’t say that I’d recommend anything other than Firefox at this time as I haven’t had any troubles myself and I haven’t heard of anyone else having troubles. Plus the only two browsers I’ve really used are Firefox and Internet Explorer. I did use Netscape Navigator years ago and hated it.
Thanks for stopping by.
Later,
Jeff Sargent