Greetings fellow Noomler,

As we announced just last week, we’re going to start reviewing Noomle hosted sites, to give you a better opportunity to gauge your options and evaluate where your own site stands withing the developmental options. As you all know, the Noomle.com engine provides a ton of options, from different advertiser inclusion to, templates, content, images, widgets, etc.

In the review below, we’ll look at the following:

• Template & Color
• Content & Keywords
• Advertiser inclusion
• General flow and presentation

Each section will have a score from 1-10 and include praise and/or criticism as applicable from the point of view of the reviewer.

Our first site to be reviewed is: Flight To Miami

Template and Color(s)

I didn’t give any preference whether the submitter(s) are contributors or non contributors. Simply based on the factors that all templates are available in many different colors, the choices are plenty and in the case of the site at hand, the DN owner hit the nail on the head.

A relatively straight forward template, with a clearly to distinguish nav bar on the top, including several “call to action” items such as the “Store” or the “Miami Souvenirs” tab – well thought out, the “Video” tab sits right in the middle, taking the visual entertainment level and diffusing it just a little. The challenge with Videos, particularly “YouTube” videos is that they will route your audience to YouTube.com, through a new window, upon double clicking the video presented on your site. The danger is quite obvious; Once caught on YouTube, it’s unlikely for your audience to return, as the suggested content on YouTube is designed to keep you there, viewing more videos. More about the tabs and content behind them, later on in this review. The rounded corners of the template flow well with the rounded corners of the nav bars, leaving as only item to be desired – more rounded corners on the Amazon inclusion behind the “Store” tab – since this is a limitation within Amazon though, the site builder did the best job possible with the tools at hand. 10/10 for Template

Colors: Well chosen pastel colors are not just present in the navigation bars, but also well adjusted in the adsense ads, flowing nicely with the template. This in itself deserves special mention as it’s something that’s quite frequently forgotten. Miami and its art deco district along Ocean Drive are well known for their pastel colors, it was definitely the right decision to represent the same within the template. 10/10 for Colors

Logo: The inclusion of a custom logo rounds the general feel of the site to have the touch of a fully designed and designated informational hub that truly caters to the audience and fulfills a need. Although, what I’m not sure about is the missing ocean in the logo, replaced by what looks to be … mountains? 8/10 for the logo.

Overall impression of the visual presentation: 18/20

Content and Keywords

Undoubtedly, the content is stellar. A plethora of choices awaits the audience. Tons of different options to either gain additional knowledge about the destination “Miami” (Link), or gather some helpful hints on how to vacation for less money (Link) 10/10 for general content and informational qualities

Reading each article, the wealth of information is almost overbearing, while it becomes quite obvious that all relevant keywords are included in either the title of the article, or within the first paragraph. Definitely the right choices for keyword placement: “Miami is the seventh largest city in the United States with a population of approximately 5,500,000. It is located on the Atlantic coast in South-eastern florida bordered by two national parks, the Biscayne National Park on the east and the Everglades National Park on the west. Miami’s nick name is “The Magic City”. – 2 items that stand out – Florida is a state; capitalize the first letter and go through your spelling: Centre is still Center in the USA – unless your key audience is British, you may loose a few points with the predominant American audience (1 point off). On the other hand; the interlinking to other articles from within your own content is stellar and provides a well placed network of opportunities to “bounce around” and learn more about the destination as you go. The interlinking is certainly used best when there’s a fair amount of content, which in the case of Flight To Miami is a non issue.

Keywords excerpt for Miami Information (main article): florida, flight, holiday, exotic, beach, miami, keys, cheap –  When looking at the Google Keyword Tool there are plenty of choices that render the used keywords as rather basic. There’s some homework to be done and better/more keywords to be used. 6/10 for use of Keywords

Particularly interesting are articles with the necessary support of visuals. The images are well chosen and the content behind Best Hotels and Miami International Airport with its map of terminals are helpful for the audience. The obvious word of caution – cover your bases and make sure that your images are either royalty free or used with permission.

While some of the articles certainly shine with their overall presentation, others, like the Airport Security content is missing some imagery. Snapshots of what can/cannot be taken on board of an aircraft, would probably round the picture of an otherwise very informative site up. 8/10 for use of images (provided that all are used legally)

Overall Content and Keywords: 24/30

Advertiser Inclusion

As mentioned above, outstanding use of the color palette through Google’s Adsense program. The colors flow well with the overall template and practically belong to the site.

The inclusion of Amazon at the Store tab and the use of eBay at the Miami Souvenirs are very well done, as is the hyperlinked banner on the Cocoa Beach section of the site as well as the inclusion of Commission Junction (CJ) on Preparing for your Flight

While the variety of advertiser inclusions doesn’t leave anything to complain, the challenge becomes to keep tabs on who’s active and which advertiser has been terminated from the affiliate program. Not keeping track of what’s going on such as (expired advertiser) on the Cruise Ship section of the site is not just a set back and deterrent for the audience, but could cost the site owner some serious “coin” when not making a sale. 7/10 for Advertiser Inclusion*

*The score for advertiser inclusion may seem a bit harsh, I understand. The reasoning is simple. In the effort of serving the critical audience with tools to complete what they’ve come to the site for; such as booking a vacation, not keeping track of an expired advertiser is more of a set back than not including an advertiser from the get-go. Audiences are easily frustrated and 404 links, particularly after having successfully completed a “Call to Sell” approach are unforgivable. Most often, unless the site is completely unique, you won’t get a second chance to complete that sale, which can present a good amount of money lost by not even having earned it in the first place.

General Flow & Presentation

Generally, I believe we can make the very fair assessment that this is a stellar site and most definitely shows off what Noomle can do for a DN owner, if the owner is willing to invest time and thought into a site. While the items above are subtracting some of the possible scores, I think the presentation, effort and general flow of the site is a slam dunk.

General Flow & Presentation: 10/10

Overall Score: 59/70

Keep in mind that any review of a website is purely subjective and only represents the opinion of the reviewer and therefore may not meet everyone’s standards or agreement. Feel free to add your comments to the review and weigh in with your professional opinion as a fellow Noomler. Together we can improve all sites and get the best case scenarios for all DN Owners who entrust their sites to the Noomle.com engine.

For the first review, I’ checking out with a hearty:

Noomle On!

Mike