Site Review: Geekster Philippines by Kira Permunian

Site Title: Geekster Philippines (http://www.seogeekster.com/)
Owner: Kira Permunian
Genre: SEO
Platform: Blogger
Description: Blogging for SEO blog from the Best SEO Consultant in the Philippines - Geekster Philippines

Cross Browser Check

• Google Chrome
• Mozilla Firefox
• Safari
• Internet Explorer 8
• Opera Mini

Things Worth Mentioning

• Site provides mobile template
• No flash and frames found on the site
• The link rel="me" is present inside the head tags (useful in google authorship)
• Doctype is HTML5 compliant

Things that Need Attention

• Found two H1 on your page
• Found too many JavaScript files

Tips from A++

1. Multiple H1 tags found
   
   SEO wise, it should be clear that proper using of header tags may affect your ranking. Though, even if it is now ok to use multiple H1 tags most specifically if your page is HTML5 ready, I still do not recommend it.
   
   HTML5 makes it legal now to use multiple H1 tags on your pages due to its hierarchical structure. There was also a video released by Matt Cutts, lead of Google's web spam team, last March 5, 2009 with regards to this. According to him, it is ok to use multiple H1 tags as long as you don't over do it. Example of overdoing it is by using H1 tags on all your content and using CSS to resize it.
   
   
   
   
   
   But the point is, Matt Cutts is from Google and Google is just one of the many search engines' point on this issue. Some search engines like Bing still don't recommend using multiple instances of this HTML header tags.
   
   Now the question is, even if Google is a giant on the industry, isn't it better to make a site that is good for all? I leave this one to you.
   
   
2. Broken Links Found
   
   Look for this part on your template. I'm not exactly sure what it shows up but the background image doesn't seem to exists. I suggest removing it instead.
   
   

   #nav li{background-image:url(../img/mainnav-sep.gif);background-repeat:no-repeat;background-position:100% 5px;cursor:pointer;float:left;margin:0 2px 0 0;padding:0 2px 0 0;height:40px;display:inline}
   

   
   
3. Social Networking Handlers
   
   This is just a suggestion -- For branding purpose, name, titles and account handlers should be the same. This is for consistency. If you prefer to let your users follow you on twitter, then go, but wouldn't it be better if you can also provide a twitter account for your own blog, I mean something different from your personal account? Same thing with Google Plus.
   
   

A++'s Opinion on Geekster Philippines

Design 3\5 ★★★★★

The uppper half of the design looks clean and pro looking. Except probably with the slideshow that seems to be the same slideshow over and over again. Usually a slideshow shows featured or popular posts but in this matter, your slideshow seems to be the old slideshow that I saw a few months ago. In short, it doesn't seem to change.

I also noticed that you are using Lijit for your search feature. I have nothing against this search bar but the design of it looks awkward. See the Lijit logo at the bottom? it would be ok if it was shown properly or else it would be nicer to just hide it.

I'm not sure if this violates any rules with this widget but isn't it better to hide that part via CSS? Try this style and see if it fits your taste.

#lwp_main #lwp_f{display:none;}

Regarding the lower part, I'm not sure if I'm the only one who find it a little bit messy. One floating object is fine but having three at the same time on all portion (e.g. right, left, middle) is a little bit messy. I also find the contact button irratating especially when I tried it to a lower resolution screen, it actually overlaps with your sidebar.

My suggestion is you use a different widget, see DaftCoder's contact widget as an example. He uses a floating widget too yet it doesn't look bad on his overall design. The technique here is, when you are trying to use a floating object on either left or right, make sure that the width is minimized in such a way that it will not overlap on your main content unless it is intentional.

Content 4\5 ★★★★★

Content is good. A visitor can sense that this niche is your forte. Technically, you know your craft well. There is nothing more I can say about this criteria. Keep it up!

Branding 3\5 ★★★★★

First thing to note here is your favicon. See the L symbol there, I don't get it's importance in your blog. Your blog is Geekster Philippines the 'L' is in the Philippines... so, how do I connect it with the favicon?.

With the title, Geekster Philippines and SEO Geekster in the domain, it doesn't give any recall to the user.

Header banner doesn't create any impact, I suggest replacing it with something eye-catchy.

About page, being the most visited page on a site, is well written. For an SEO expert or practioner, showing off your achievements are worth it.

Using your blog to offer SEO service is a nice trick. Once they read your articles, they might ask you for your services.

Other pages seems OK but one thing I noticed though is how the pagination appears at the bottom of such pages. Also, Advertise page needs more words though, just my opinion.

Audience Impact 4\5 ★★★★★

If I'm looking for a nice SEO related article, I might stumble to your blog. It answers my questions but one thing to note here is that, out of all the good SEO related blogs out there, what are the chances that your blog might shine out? Well, take a glimpse on your comments, it might give you a nice perspective on my question.

Aside from that, I suggest that you post often. One thing that push away the readers is the inactivity in your site.

Guest Judge's Opinion on Geekster Philippines

Returning guest judge for today is known as Genkaku. He is a freelance software engineer and this will be his second time to give his site review here in A++. Here is what he can say:

DISCLAIMER

The views expressed in comments by the guest judge published on this blog site are those of the comment writers alone. They do not represent the views or opinions of ajibanda++, nor do they represent the views or opinions of www.ajibanda.com, or any entity of, or affiliated with www.ajibanda.com

1. The banner may not seem very obvious but I have mistakenly seen the right side of the banner as an advertisement. I think it's better if the images were combined into a one-whole image.
   
   
2. The whole site seems busy. If I were to visit the site, I would go and find another blog rather than stay here. Number 1 rule, according to Steve Krug, "Don't make me think!".
   
   
3. Organization of the sidebar is neat and clean for me. Great job, but for me, I prefer white text over gray text (I have poor vision anyway.)
   
   
4. Social networking buttons were not organized properly on every post. The Facebook Like button's text seem to overlap with PunchTab's ribbon beside the Tweet button.
   
   
5. I find the "Contact Us!" tab/combo box/chat box, distracting. I do not find having a "Live Chat" on a blog useful, unless the site is a "technical support site" or a ticketing information system. A tagboard or chatbox would suffice that functionality. And a visitor like me would not care to chat when my only objective is to read your interesting posts. Or much better, give users an option to "hide" that.
   
   
6. I also observed that every post has only a small icon of a calendar and the time of posting. Where's the date? How could we know when did you even post this article of yours?
   
   
   
   
   
   
7. When I clicked the PunchTab achievement program, it states that "The PunchTab achievement program has not been set up properly on this website."
   
   
8. Copyright date on your footer is not yet updated to 2013.
   
   
9. Breadcrumbs on every blog post would be helpful aside from the directory found in the URL. Navigations are fine.
   
   
10. Slideshow is nice, but I suggest to slow down the speed a little. Users could not read your post summary very fast, though most of them do scanning only using the title. I tried to hover my mouse pointer on the slideshow, but it never stopped moving.
    
    
11. Your blog got a nice look when I tried to turn off Javascript. :)
    
    
12. Contents of your blog are very nice and interesting. Also, I tried to copy-paste at least two posts and checked the word count. Nice! You implement your rules strictly.
    
    
13. Branding is nice.
    
    
14. Audience impact. Nice, but not very good. But I feel that you can do much better than these.

RATING:

Design 2/5 ★★★★★
Content 5/5 ★★★★★
Branding 3/5 ★★★★★
Audience Impact 3/5 ★★★★★

Side note: Functionality, though does not count in the criteria, for me is 3/5 also. I did not even categorized my comments because I find my comments in "Uncategorized" section. All I can say is, consider trying to check with other people and let them also evaluate how do they find your blog.

Summary

A++ Total Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Guest Judge Rating: 3.25 out of 5

Final note -- Being in the niche of SEO, I think that you should make sure that you apply everything that you know. That way you can show everyone that you practice what you preach. Happy blogging! :)

---

So that's it, again this is just a friendly review from A++. We aim for a better site and not to insult the owners and administrators. Whether you follow our tips and suggestions depend on your decision. Ciao!

To submit your own blog simply fill-up the form on this page or read this post. Thank you, we'll be happy to review your sites for FREE!


** Video Embedded by GoogleWebmasterHelp from Youtube