Above the Fold: SmartWealthyRich.com

Couldn’t Resist SmartWealthyRich

I met Jonathan Phillips when he left a message with me at MyBlogLog. I took a side trip to his blog, before I replied. When I got there I saw something I couldn’t resist — the title of his blog.

Smart, Wealthy, Rich [dot] com

But that engaging title was in tiny typography . . .

So I invited Jonathan Phillips to get tweaked Above the Fold. Here’s how the Above the Fold Tweak Process works

I make a “before” screenshot.
We talk through some changes for readability.
The blogger makes the changes.
We talk while the tweaks are in process.
I take an “after” screenshot and share the results in a post.

Tweaking Smart, Wealthy, Rich

The blog: SmartWealthyRich.com
– How to create wealth, keep it, and make it grow!
URL: : http://www.smartwealthyrich.com
Blogger:: Jonathan-C. Philllips

Before

This is SmartWealthyRich.com before we started. Click to enlarge.

Three Tweaks that We Agreed Upon

In this series, we’ll concentrate only three important tweaks for each blog that is featured. On JonathanÃ¢â¬â¢s blog, those three tweaks were these.

His feed button was overpowering.
The title is too small.
The main body text block is too wide. A reader needs transportation to return to the next line.

Jonathan and I discussed how in a blink test, the feed button wins. We decided that it would be a much stronger presentation if the title got that first attention. Folks would remember where they were and where they wanted to return.

When choosing text the type size needs to match the line length. If they don’t match, the eye has trouble doing the “return sweep”Â to the next line correctly. Jonathan’s line was too long for the size of the type in the body text. We shortened the main body copy block and increased the type size.

We made other changes. Can you see them?

For the results, turn the page now.

After

This is SmartWealthyRich.com this morning. Click to enlarge.

Jonathan’s Turn to Talk

Jonathan, tell us about your blog.

I must say, to be totally honest, that when I started my blog I wasn’t exactly sure where I was going with it.. . . I just wanted to write, learn, and share stuff that I know, and help people.

I’ve worked in sales and marketing for about five years, and I thought I could maybe help others with my writing. There is a lot of things you kinda forget when you work in sales and marketing in a telecom company — things like formatting an article, how to attract more readers, make your site easy to navigate, and so on . . .

What advice do you think made the most difference? In what way?

Liz, you gave me a lot of useful advice! From where to put that widget on my sidebar to what to change in my header to make it more appealing, I think the best advice you gave me was how to make people (like you told me, we all are reluctant readers!) want to stay on my site and read more! That is something i’ll never forget! My blog is starting to take off, and it’s getting more and more readers and feed subscribers! That is just great!

How have your readers responded to the changes?

My readers responded to the changes in a really positive way. They started to comment on posts more, and get involved in the discussions. Many subscribed to my rss feed, and by that I mean. . . a lot more than I expected!

Many wrote me e-mails (some were really deep and meaningful discussions), offers for link exchanges and all. People responded to the changes positively, and it shows, that it’s way more interesting now than it was before the changes, That’s exactly what I needed.

It’s about the people, as Liz would say, and she’s right! Without the people it wouldn’t be as important to me as it is now! Thanx Liz! I’ll always be grateful!

Jonathan, you were a pleasure. I especially enjoyed hearing you say, Ã¢â¬ÅWow!Ã¢â¬Â

What other design tweaks do you suggest that Jonathan might consider?

–ME “Liz” Strauss