I was struck today when Alder commented that his blog "looks good" to the point where it would signal reputability online. In line with Chris's comment, I had a different reaction to the look and feel of the site and would not necessarily realize the quality of the blog without his visit today.
I associate review/expert quality or site quality with the presence of visuals so I was surprised to see such a text-heavy blog. I fully believe that the writing is high quality but my friend who has a hobby blog has the same look and feel to her site. There are a number of tools to create blogs seamlessly and with text only it's hard for me to discern whether a blog is reputable or if someone watched an episode of an HBO show, got inspired, and created a blog.
Second, the presence of retargeting ads on the right navigation of the site make me suspicious of the content creator. I recognize that this could be a lucrative part of the business for Alder but it distracts me and is not in line with what I see on other blogs I follow.
Last, regardless of whether Alder is attempting to target a specific audience, his brand and presence could be stronger throughout the site. Vinography's font is relatively small compared to the body text and there is no photo of Alder on the homepage. Also, The Essence of Wine gets lost to me on the left navigation where it says "buy my award-winning book" in small font. I think Alder has an opportunity to more strongly align his brand with his blog title (Vinography) or his own persona.
Overall, similar to George, I am not swayed by the critics too much because I am a creature of habit and like to buy the same wines. However, I think Alder has an opportunity to bring his blog to a new audience by updating the visuals, ad structure, and branding.
Thanks for sharing this, Ellen! I was struck by how I am the opposite in almost every way, for example, the fact that there are less visuals and more text made me feel like he was more of an expert and less of a hobby blogger/marketer. I wonder if this is a generational difference? It would be really interesting to see what the demographics of his regular visitors are.
ReplyDeleteI was also struck by his website! It may be a generational difference like Jules mentioned, but to me a streamlined website is almost a baseline requirement at this point. If I had come across the website without any context, I likely would have doubted his credentials because the website is hard to navigate and feels outdated. In stark contrast, his book looks very sleek with high quality imagery. Bringing in that branding and tying his credentials to his book as well would have lent more credibility to his qualifications had I come across Vinography on my own.
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