John Chow takes his blog to the next level
Written by Kevin Muldoon from System0 on August 22, 2007
Yesterday, John Chow launched his new theme. John contacted me at the weekend about taking an ad spot in the new design so I was lucky enough to get a sneak preview of it a few days ago (I took him up in his offer).
In the past I have criticized some blogs for having too many advertisements but John’s blog previously had too few ads in my opinion. The design was done by Nate Whitehill , I think he’s done a fantastic job and I hope that he gets some more business through this.
What do you guys think, do you like the new design of John Chow’s blog.
Pablo | August 22nd, 2007 at 7:48 pm #
Hey Kevin,
i was wondering if you could tell us how much are you paying for that?
Kevin | August 22nd, 2007 at 7:54 pm #
Don’t think it’s a secret however I’d rather not say incase JC does not want that info made public
BeachBum | August 22nd, 2007 at 8:01 pm #
I give the design a thumbs down. I even unsubscribed from his RSS feed.
Yes, the John Chow blog is about making money. But that many ads is just uncalled for. If it works for him, then more power to him.
My guess is that we will see a design change in the next 2 months to remove some of the ads.
BeachBum
Kevin | August 22nd, 2007 at 8:09 pm #
I don’t think there are too many. Many information/content type sites have many more ads than that (for example cnet).
I doubt he will change the design back (thats my opinion anyways
)
John Chow | August 22nd, 2007 at 8:16 pm #
Early stats shows my traffic up 80%. If anything I’ll be adding, not taking away.
A Blog about Nothing | August 22nd, 2007 at 9:19 pm #
I said on his site and I will say here that it is way to busy at the top. Others have complained that you have to scroll down to even see his content (and I agree, you do). Chow’s response in the comment section was to advise people to run out and get a new monitor, or enter his contest and win one.
His traffic might well but up by 80% but it will be interesting to see how well that maintains once the buzz dies down over this new theme. Which to be honest I’m at a loss for. Maybe the next time I change my themes I’ll tell everyone. Of course and 80% increase in my traffic wouldn’t be quite as impressive.
Either way I wish him the best of luck with it and I hope it enables him to shatter all of his previous earning records.
kanak | August 23rd, 2007 at 1:27 am #
I find the site is looking more professional than personal. Previous design was pretty bad and I was wondering that a guy earning 12k per month doesnt have much time or money to change his blog theme. Now with this new theme john chow has branded his site and moreover , since you can read the blog through RSS , there is no need for you to get bothered about the advertisement. I dont have any problem in saying that i am a fan of johnchow blog and his blog is full of information … the best and evil
ways to make money online
Tay | August 23rd, 2007 at 3:33 am #
The new design is such an improvement from the old one. The new theme is sharp, bright, and organized but still not too flashy. In fact, I can’t take my eyes off of it because I’m so jealous. I wish I had a layout that fantastic.
Brian Heys | August 23rd, 2007 at 10:57 am #
I don’t really visit John’s site much these days, but I’ve just had a look, having seen your mention of the new design.
It’s much better. A vast improvement on that overused MistyLook theme he had before. This one comes across as much more professional, and might just tempt me back for a while.
Congratulations on getting the advertising slot, btw - it would be cool if you could let us know how that goes.
I’m off to check out Nate’s site.
Daniel Primed | August 24th, 2007 at 9:04 am #
Doing design, I think that the blog looks great but rather similar to Nate’s other works.
As a blogger, I think that its time that everyone stops obsessing about this Joh Chow trend.
John Leschinski | August 25th, 2007 at 12:52 am #
I agree with Daniel, it’s very generic. I also agree that it’s way too cluttered
Blogging Mix | August 26th, 2007 at 1:18 am #
I think the new design is much better. It’s also easier to navigate. There are more ads on JC’s blog this time though.