For this week’s third and final peer review, I had the pleasure of reviewing Makena Leyh’s site: iwearyourgrandadsclothes.com. What a great site and theme idea!
Starting off with design, the dynamic page element immediately grabbed my attention. I really like how the blog posts slightly move while scrolling the page, making the site more engaging from a user’s perspective. Upon landing on the homepage of the blog, I’m met with so many captivating images. This paired with the cream background, really makes the content pop. Great work! I also love how minimal the page is. This design decision allows the site’s content to shine through, rather than being too busy, cluttered, or distracting.
Makena has done a great job of creating a personal connection with the audience which invites them to engage with the blog further. For example, the site title: “I Wear Your Grandad’s Clothes”, paired with the slogan below “Because sustainability is SO in right now!” is witty, on brand, and a great way to introduce your audience to the site. It is definitely a form of expression and your personality is revealed to the audience. This reminds me of what Gertz (2015) had explained regarding making design and content decisions in a more authentic way to forge human connection. I noted this time and time again on your site which really is the framework of successfully marketing your website to the intended audience group.
I highly suggest you add an “About” page because this will definitely create an even more personalized and dynamic site for your audience. It would be nice to see how you put together an “About” page that reflects your site’s theme and invites your users to explore the blog more.
As for specific blog content, I loved your meme. The image once again had that captivating movement effect while scrolling which drew me in as the viewer. It was clever and again connected with your intended audience. Your guest post with Spiderman was also really clever. You did a good job tying it into the blog’s theme and speaking to the intended audience. This was effective particularly with the sentence:
“I’m really here to spread an important message of how YOU can help me and the rest of the Avengers save the world from our biggest threat EVER – like even worse than Thanos – climate change.”
Your content titles are also super creative and captivating. This once again makes your audience interested in diving into the site’s content.
My final feedback is regarding website marketability to the intended audience. While your designs are great, you could definitely add more content. I was looking forward to seeing more public posts from your site that engage with the theme. This way, someone that’s interested in thrifting and sustainability could connect more with your site. The guest post was a sneak peak into this discussion with an intended audience and I’m looking forward to seeing more.
It would also be nice to see a “contact us” page where viewers could get in touch and potentially request different blog post topics. More posts, and an “About” page will really drive in more user traffic, ultimately making your site more marketable. Organic search is a huge source of blog traffic (Hollingsworth, 2018), making SEOs and keywords great tools to grow your website audience.
It was a pleasure exploring such a fantastic and creative site!! Great work Makena 🙂
References:
Gertz, T. (2015). “Design Machines. How to survive in the digital Apocalypse.”
Hollingsworth, S. (2018). “12 Reasons Why You Business Absolutely Needs SEO.” https://www.searchenginejournal.com/why-seo-is-important-for-business/248101/#close
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