I want to preface this review with this note: If you are not interested in Vermont travel, this is not the blog for you. Mr. Connor has created a blog that fits a specific niche and audience, so I will critique it accordingly.
Vermont Travel Notes was created on April 5th, 2006. Although the blog started off pretty slowly (only three posts during the first two months), the posting frequency has gradually increased over time (between three to five posts per week). During less than four months of existence, this blog has had over fifteen thousand visitors, which is pretty impressive for a niche blog.
As far as the content of the site goes, the title says it all. Jeff’s blog is a collection of events, tips and personal stories about traveling through Vermont. Whether you want to hear about Route 100 or current attractions in Vermont, this blog probably addresses it. In addition to providing plenty of useful information, the blog also provides external links for users to follow. On a topic that is as extensive as this, it is very wise of the author to supplement his posts with additional information from other sources.
The Vermont Travel Notes blog is actually a part of a larger site for the Grunberg Haus Inn. If you couldn’t figure this out, the Grunbeg Haus Inn is located in Vermont. I was impressed that Jeff avoided making the blog a blatant plug for the inn and actually made it a useful resource.
Although I think the content of this blog is useful, there are some areas of the template that I didn’t particularly like. In my humble opinion, the blog had way too many links to bookmarking and feed subscription services. A simple FeedBurner link (along with a couple bookmark links) would suffice. The excess of links makes the margins of the blog appear a little too cluttered.
I rated this blog a three for two main reasons. First of all, as I mentioned above, I think the template could be improved through some minor changes. Second (and most importantly), this blog is fairly new and needs to stand the test of time. Although it is being updated three to five times per week, less than a month and a half ago it was being updated much less frequently. As long as Jeff continues to maintain his current posting rate, he will have no problem making his blog grow and flourish.