Here we will look at another personal blog that is called Under the Quilt. The blogger here is known as Roxanne and has a true personal voice and invites you to ‘talk amongst yourselves’. She loves quilting, and better yet, cuddling up under a quilt. She is also married with two children who ‘keep her more than a little occupied’. You can get to know Roxanne a little bit better and see what kind of projects she is involved in through any of her recent bloggeries: I want to Live!, You know you’ve been married too long when…., MIA, A T-Shirt I spotted today, Is this phallic enough for you?, If I ever had a fantasy about being serenaded…, Log the Jog, Can’t Wait t’ill Monday, Body Image and Awareness.
You will find it very easy to navigate this blog as it is fairly straightforward as most personal blogs are. The blog has a light pink background with a fuschia border and the text is maroon. Bloggeries are left marginalized and there is a right navigation bar. The right navigation system contains Roxanne’s profile, a Links menu that currently contains some ‘Edit me’ sections, Previous Posts menu, and archives dating back to 2005. Each post contains one if not many relevant pictures that add to the intent of the blogging. The blog currently is not set up with a Categories menu, and if Roxanne wanted to organize her posts just a smidge more, it would probably benefit the blog.
I will go with a 3.2/5 for this one. There are a few things that could use some tweaking if this blogger wants the blog to stand out. The blog has a solid readership judging by its regular commentary in the bloggeries, and with this I might suggest some monetization. With increased exposure to the blog, monetization may bring in some money for the blog as this is a niche that is unique and definitely has a wide global following. I like the personal voice in the blog which really connects the posts to the readers and makes you want to read more. I would recommend also posting a little more frequently than weekly which is what the activity rate is sitting at now. More frequent posting may bring in additional traffic and lend to further success of the blog. Right now with the exception of the pictures, it does seem a little too simple, and with this I might suggest some widgets to give the blog a little life, and these can easily be found through any search engine. I would also make changes to the Links Menu as the ‘edit me’ links are a little distracting. Overall however I think this is a well-read personal blog that could generate a healthy following of fellow quilters.
-Chrissie