QMusings

Kumiko from Kumiko’s Cash Quest is running a contest to predict her page rank. All you have to do is write a review of her site and include the prediction.

The prize is 30 bucks and the chance to write a post on her blog.

I admit to being less than enthused about the contest. For one thing, I am not into contests. For another, it takes me enough time to write a post for my own blog and now I’d supposed to be all fired up for the chance to write for someone else’s blog?

Then I saw that Michael Kwan had entered the contest which made me think, why not?

I first started noticing Kumiko’s blog because at one point she was one of John Chow’s Comment Whores. When I arrived at her blog I was engulfed in pinkness.

Ms. Q suffered a Serious Pirate Moment: ARrrgggh! Arrrggghh! Arrrgggh!

Yes, Ms. Q had Pink Overload.

Michael Kwan wrote, “I wouldn’t have opted for that particular color scheme myself, but then again, I’m not a girl.”

Ms. Q is a woman. Calling me a woman is not a feminist stance. Ms. Q is currently 42. It’s safe to assume she is NOT A GIRL.

Girl or woman, Ms. Q is not into pink.

I realize that everyone has their own style and taste so tried to ignore the pink and concentrated on the content.

Kumiko has a modified 3-column Blogger template. I have been thinking about a 3-column format myself but I find them a bit cluttered looking. Unfortunately, this is true for Kumiko’s blog.

If Kumiko decides to stick with a 3 column format I would suggest:

• Making each column more obvious via borders or shadings.
• Left-justifying leftmost (first) column.
• Eliminate Google Adsense ads in first column. She would be better off incorporating the ads in her central column and post area.

Kumiko needs to make her site easier to navigate. She could do this by:

• Adding an obvious way to return to her home page.
• Giving users the ability to search her posts. Most blog have a search feature. Hers does not.
• Add a visual break between posts. It’s difficult to quickly differentiate one post from another. This lack of break also makes the Adsense ads difficult to read. The ads just increase the overall sense of clutter.

Kumiko would benefit from creating a great About page. She writes well and an About page could help her shine.

With respect to content, Kumiko has a nice style and is not afraid to give her opinion. Her contrarian attitude towards Agloco illustrates this perfectly. Her usage of Britney Spears as a lesson in blogging shows her creativity.

What do I think her Page Rank will be?

As usual I had to do some research in order to determine Kumiko’s predicted page rank. In this case, I had to make do with the inexpensive Merlot that the hotel offered.

I decided to compare Kumiko’s Technorati rank with mine, Michael Kwan’s and HMTKSteve’s. I used PRChecker to check page ranks.

• hmtk.com has Technorati rank of 1985 and a Page Rank of 5.
• btr.michaelkwan.com has Technorati rank of 23,463, Page Rank of 4
• QMusings.com/blog has a Technorati rank of 263,792, Page Rank of 3.

Kumiko has Technorati rank of 6221 with no current page rank.

I predict that Kumiko will have a Page Rank of 5.

This is pure guesstimation based on the fact that hMTK.com has a 4-digit Technorati rank and so does Kumiko.

Besides giving me something to write about, this review gave me the opportunity to link to 2 blogs I have been reading: Beyond the Rhetoric and Ramblings From The Marginalized.

Plus, while I enjoy reading Kumiko’s blog, I’d like it better if she implemented a few of the changes I recommended.

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