Week 2: Seeking a best of…

The blog that caught my eye the most in the list generated in my tutorial was http://www.karencheng.com.au/ due to its cleanness and simplicity. Unlike the other blogs, this one seemed to be the very personal yet retaining a professional look. Advertisements are placed in a spot where they aren’t intrusive. All her topics are categorized and archived so readers can have quick access to what they wish to read. Also navigation really stood out on this site because finding and locating where you want to go is very easy compared to some other blogs.

The blog revolves around the everyday life of Karen (the author), and has a vast range of topics she talks about including fashion, food, blogging, children, parenting, art, design, and blogging to name a few. Karen is a mother of 2, and has a BA in Design and Advertisement. This could explain why I was attracted to the layout of the site initially. All her posts are through first person and her topics are generally supported with pictures, which help keep the reader interested.

Though most of the topics she talks about are generally not in my interest, I find her style and content to be interesting and worth reading. Her content contains a lot of scannable text that allows readers like me to skip though topics that we aren’t interested in and go directly to parts where we find interesting.

As a personal blog, Karen shares a lot of detail and specifics of her personal life that you might not expect. She speaks about her personal problems that she faces such as her difficulty of raising a 2year old child. This allows readers to sympathize with her and also relate to her because we all face struggles daily. Also there are parts where she offers her knowledge of online shopping and variety of products that she has encountered in her daily life. This type of information could be very useful for her targeted audience.

Her ability to talk about a wide range of topics allows her blog to be successful. The pictures she incorporates are very personal, which makes the reader feel like they can identify with her. The layout of the blog is not cluttered and is elegantly designed. Nothing is intrusive and most importantly the blog is updated frequently, which keep readers coming back for more.