Bicycle Frenzy Website Review

Today we’re going to take a look at http://www.bicyclefrenzy.com/ created by Bradly Fletchall. Bradly won the competition we had a while back and so we’re going to take a look at his blog and see what we can learn.

Finding Your Passion

First up, bicycling is clearly Bradly’s passion. He enjoys it, he competes in races, and he rides to work. There is definitely no doubt that this is something that Brady loves to do. His passion clearly shines through in his posts and the way he maintains his blog. It is obvious that he isn’t just another person out there trying to make a quick buck through blogging, which for me, is a refreshing change.

Tip: Stick to your passions

Blog Design

The first thing that strikes me about Bradly’s blog is the design. I don’t know how else to say it apart from, “damn, your blog looks goooood!” It simply looks like a quality blog, and remember, perception is how you are perceived. Hence the name.

How did he achieve this look? Well, being a hard-hitting journalist type, I did a little digging (I clicked on the blog designed by links…) and found he just slightly modified a free blog template. Then had a few graphics designed, for example the very sleek logo.

The result? A low cost, but professional looking blog. Well worth the investment in my opinion.

Tip: Custom blog themes do not have to break the bank, and they are well worth the investment.

Another thing that I like about the design is the placement of the different blog necessities. He has an email sign up box in clear view. It doesn’t scream and try to get attention. But sits there, as if saying to you, “I know this blog is quality and you like it, here’s a convenient way to keep in touch with me.”

He also has RSS feed buttons that draw attention but don’t go overboard. The navigation is clear and simple. In total, the website fits a lot in, but never seems cluttered.

Tastefully Tasty

One last point is on how the advertising is tastefully done. Advertising can be tasteful, right? There’s no attempt to cram adverts into every free space on the blog. The advertising space is defined and the adverts rest nicely within it. Sure, it’s nice to make money from blogging, but Bradly has realised that a quality blog comes before making a quick buck. Kudos my good man! I tip my hat to you good sir!

You’ll also notice some of the ‘advertising’ is just products that Bradly supports and uses. This is another great aspect that adds to the feeling of quality, and it also adds to the trust factor.

Tip: Only advertise products you genuinly believe in

Content is King

So let’s have a look at the content. It’s obviously very cycling focused, but caters to a wide range of levels. There are posts about general bicycle advocacy and getting more people cycling. There are posts about competition that give valuable training and racing tips. There are also entertaining posts that help you add beer openers to your bike.

Another thing that adds to the look of the blog is the images he associates with each post. He does an excellent job of using these images to break up the text and make the blog more appealing. Finding and adding an image can take a little more time but you can judge the results for yourself.

Tip: Use images to break up long posts

Buzz Content

Bradly also displays his most popular posts in his sidebar. So visitors can easily find posts that received the most attention and are likely to be of interest.

And what do we find at the top of that list? A post that has a great buzz angle with 29 comments, and I’d imagine a lot of traffic. What was the post? “28 Reasons NOT to buy a mountain bike from Wal-Mart.” A bicycle enthusiast created a nice simple list that generated a large amount of buzz.

Comments arrived from Wal-Mart employees, Wal-Mart haters, other bicycle enthusiasts, and even the company that makes the bicycles for Wal-Mart asking to meet with Bradly. This type of attention brings his blog credibility and enhances his visibility in the bicycle community. Plus, now he’s ranked 15^th on Google for “walmart mountain bike.” Not bad for one post.

Tip: Write buzz content. There are topics that people just can’t help but have an opinion on. Just being the person who tells it like it really is can have enormous power.

Commenting for Comments

Anyway, back to comments, the blog has a host of regular contributors. If you look through most of his posts they have at least a comment or two. Bradly has also helped stimulate this by replying to all those comments.

Comments are great because they show new visitors the blog is active and worth reading. And any blogger knows that receiving comments feels great and that your hard work is valued by others!

Getting the first comments can be one of the hardest parts of starting a blog. But with a bit of effort, it doesn’t have to be so intimidating.

Tip: Give if you want to receive. If you want comments, become active on other blogs in your topic area.

A Critically Critical Eye

I guess since this is a review, I should try and find some things that are missing from the blog. To be honest, it’s quite difficult, as I’m very impressed with Bradly’s work. I only have three bits of advice:

One – His newsletter sign up box just says it’s a ‘newsletter.’ I found the post introducing the content he planned to have there and I think it could have a more accurate description. For example, “Sign up to receive Bicycle Frenzy members only content.” People won’t want to miss out on that one.

Two – Add social bookmarking buttons to the bottom of posts. This makes it easier for readers to share your content by email or websites like digg and Stumble Upon.

Three – Write more buzz content. Bradly has seen the effect that a popular post can have, so why not try to engineer a little more. It’s not as hard as it seems and you already know where to find great resources on the subject… www.webtrafficorgasm.com and www.deanhunt.com

In Summary

In summary, Bradly’s blog has a great design, backed by solid content, and a loyal community that will only grow with time. I look forward to his blog’s development in the future, and if it wasn’t so early in the morning, I would encourage you all to join me in singing “for he’s a jolly good fellow”.

Good work Bradley, keep those wheels turning.

Dean