3,000th commenter deserves a mention
Comments are the life-blood of any blog community, and it’s with delight that I can give a special mention to the person who left the 3,000th comment here on my website.
Michael, of Michael Gabriel Communications (MGC), left this comment on my article about free PDF converters.
It has been just over a month since the 2,000th comment was left here and I gave a special mention to Lisa Sabin-Wilson. I’ll do the same if I’m able to reach 4,000 as it’s just another way to give a little back for your kind comments.
MGC is a Nova Scotia, Canada-based firm specialising in logo and web design. They also offer written, visual, and instructional services. To offer Michael some useful anchor text, I’ll link to his website using the words web design Canada.
Why web design Canada? According to the SEO keyword suggestion tool I’ve written about in my beginner SEO article, there are 2,177 monthly online searches for that term in the United States alone (I would’ve tried the Canadian searches if there was the option).
If you want to read more about why you should carefully choose the words you link with, check out Liz Strauss’ article, “Link Anchor Text: SEO and Relationships“.
Quick tips on the fly
Michael uses plenty of white space on his website, which is great, but the text legibility suffers in certain areas. My advice is to avoid using orange text on a yellow background. Also, stay well clear of tiny text sizes that eliminate a large portion of your target audience, such as in the MG Communications testimonials page.
Thank you to each and every one of you who has taken the time out of your day to comment here.
Related posts on David Airey dot com
20 appreciated comments to “3,000th commenter deserves a mention”
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The criticism isn’t asked fo but I can’t help myself. ;)
I think this is another case of unnecessary flash use. I think the top flash parts do not mesh well with the rest of the design and since it’s not really doing anything to use the flash capabilities it’s pointless. It also causes the page to load much slower than if it were an image or text + images.
I think Flash is being WAY over used to replace all those “flashy” animated GIFs of the past. ;) They didn’t need a replacement, they needed to DIE.
Kelly,
I have to agree about the over-use of Flash. If at all, I think that Flash should only be used as an addition to a website, perhaps as an animated banner or something similar.
Well! I actually did a double take when I saw your mention of my name, David! I’m grateful for the nod, comments, and courtesy, and thanks to Kelly, too, for your useful feedback, which I’ll take into serious consideration.
I do appreciate criticism from those in the know. I did want to do something a little splashy (hence the fairly discreet flash banner — which only occurs on the Home page, BTW).
As for the “marigold” text (that’s what some of my clients call the color) on yellow, I knew that it was chancey and perhaps a bit self-indulgent, but, well, I can take the heat! ;)
It seems as though my site is alway a case of the “cobbler’s children,” where it ironically gets the least time and effort of all my other sites, especially those of my clients.
Coincidently, David, even before I dropped by, I had already added a link to your excellent site (really, it is…) on my fledgeling blog. I hope that’s okay with you.
I look forward to more comments. It’s impossible to work in a vacuum, as you know, and constructive feedback helps us all learn and grow. Thanks and kudos to you!
I think it’s been used decently in ads once in a while, but more often not. I can see a website for a movie or a video game having a flash interface or uses like widgets, etc. Logos, navigation, etc., it’s usually terrible.
David – you are amazing! I think the rate at which your comments are growing is a direct testament to the quality of content you are creating as well as the welcoming atmosphere here. Congrats on another milestone.
PS – you won a pretty cool prize from my blogging birthday bash – I’ll send you a note shortly.
Michael,
It was my pleasure mentioning you and your website. Thanks very much for commenting here.
I used to pay more attention to client work than my own, mainly because it took me so long to decide on when my own work was finished! It’s not always possible to place client work in your portfolio, but instead modify it until it’s the design you’re pleased with, which again can take an eternity (if you’re as anal as I am).
The link from your new blog is much appreciated. Good luck with it buddy.
Kelly,
I think Flash can be excellent for viral games and the like. That’s certainly a use it excels in.
Char,
Thank you! Both for the kind words and the great prize you gave out in your blog birthday celebrations! For those who don’t know, Char recently held a competition on her blog following a one year birthday and I won a prize. I like prizes a lot.
Congrats on the milestone David, it is well deserved. Keep posting great articles and we will keep coming back.
Cheers!
Igor
I realized that I had received both a “plug and a prod” at the same time in your comments! ;)That’s a wonderful thing, a kind of kick in the pants to fix a nagging problem, and I’m sincerely grateful for it.
We took your comments to heart and already made some quick cosmetic changes to the site. I, for one, like it a lot better now, although we can’t think of a clever/creative way to keep all the testimonials we’ve got posted if we move to a larger font. I’m open to suggestions there, too, if anyone has something to venture.
Anyway, I feel honoured that my site has been the object of such scrutiny and welcomed comments. NOw that you have a “before” snapshot posted, aybe you can let me know if you like the current “after” version! :)
Cheers and best regards!
Ah, the good ol’ classic Rock N’ Rule. Congrats on the comments. It’s a sign you’re doing a great job blogging!
3000 that amazing,i wish i had 3000 comments on my blog :( maybe in do time.
Congrats David…and I love the image above.
I plan to be the 4000 visitor. Congratulations, David. Personally, I take comments as the best indicator of a blog’s worth. You’ve done a great job , David.
On the web site you mention, the biggest problem is the use of a redirect with frames! View the source and see. An absolute NO-NO-NO for search engines!
Sorry to post twice, but I was editing the post, but missed the 30 minute deadline!
…other than that (the above comment) the design is clean enough, layout good, but I think the menu could be better placed. Difficult to explain, so I spent 5 min’s with PhotoShop. You can see what I mean with this screen shot.
Hope that I don’t offend Scott by doing this–only a suggestion :)
Maybe it’s because it’s July 3rd but that picture…
Is a little bit funny.
Blogging without conversation and interaction is so boring. I left a comment in Dawud’s blog sometime ago that internet is just cables and wires if not for the people behind it. Like Ignor rightly pointed up, we’ll keep coming back when you kept us glued to good articles.
Congrats … David.
haha, I love that You Rock – You Rule comic :-)
David congrats with the success of your blog. Michael, congrats with the spotlight :-)
David, how do you calculate the number of comments? I noticed that Michael’s comment was #13233 in the URL. Does it mean that you subtracted the 10233 spam comments caught by Akismet to see 3000?
Congrats! I’m almost hitting my 1000 commenter as well and am looking forward to celebrating that!
Igor, Scot, Vivienne,
Thanks for the congrats guys. Couldn’t have got there without you.
John,
The screenshot you created certainly look tidier than it currently does. I wonder what Michael thinks of it.
Dawud,
It’s always a pleasure seeing your avatar crop up. Thanks for your many comments over the months.
Michael,
Your quick changes are for the better already, and the front page text is more legible. As for your testimonials, you could either focus on three of them, or create a couple of testimonial pages to allow for a larger type size. There’s also nothing wrong with a little scrolling these days.
DT,
Will you feature your 1,000th commenter? I think it’s a good way to give a little back.
Vivien,
My Akismet has caught over 12,000 spam comments as of today’s deletion. If you look at the right column in my footer you’ll see a little comment counter which helps me track numbers. I checked it a few times on the run up to 3,000.
I agree with Kelly that Flash needs to die :D I’ve had a few clients insisting on Flash menus and useless splash pages.
When will the cleanly designed Web 2.0 catch on with small businesses?
That comic is awesome! (I was tempted to say it rocks…but I couldn’t bring myself to do it)