Website Review: Xavier Media Blog.

This blog is attached to Xavier Media which hosts websites and domain names. They advertise their own services and talk about being a webmaster/blog owner.

Don’t Get Rich Quick: In general I’ve sworn off of reviewing websites that focus on getting rich off the internet. Maybe I’ll pick one or two if I want to rail against something monumentally stupid but reviews of those sites all start to sound the same. That’s because they all recycle information found on the blogs of the people who started the “make money blogging” revolution and they don’t even offer a unique perspective that might draw in readers. With no small amount of irony they’re in it entirely for the money. But Xavier is different. They have some of the same crap the other sites have (one of the most recent stories is about affiliate marketing) but they actually focus on offering things that webmasters might be interested in. They’ve written several articles on the possible Yahoo/Microsoft deal and how it influences the little man. Also they discuss things related to website creation without a bent towards making money like articles on security. Kudos.

But Ultimately, It’s All About The Money: One day I Hate Your Website will be a global phenomenon and I’ll live in a mansion in Beverly Hill built out of hookers. I’ll finally be able to afford to hire that hit man to knock off my ex and I’ll be a truly happy man. Just like me Xavier is a whore. They’re after the money just like the rest of us. I’ll never subscribe to this blog because ultimately they just want to sell me crap. They host websites, they register domain names, they have affiliate sales and they want your money. I’m not saying you shouldn’t make money with your website and advertise legitimate services like web hosting. I’m just saying that I have no desire to read that kind of crap on a daily basis unless it’s very well written. And this isn’t well written or interesting enough to make me want to stick around.

Lamest Contest Ever: I’m going to roll out a contest really soon. It’s going to be so simple it will blow your mind. Xavier is also running a contest. Check those rules out. Register for this service, blog about us, link to us and then mail us your dirty underwear. Fuck that shit. Do you know how long it takes me to make $50 at work? I make that before I take my morning coffee break. I’m not going to redo my monetization strategy, whore myself out further and then link back to you to just for the remote possibility to win $50. I’ve just been motivated to write something about how to run a good contest. Check back Monday. I’ll announce my new contest and I’ll also write about why it’s better than this lame contest.

So Fresh and So Clean: This site is has a decent design. Nothing’s going to blow you away, but it’s decent. The colors are clean and work well. There are a few ads and I’d get rid of all of them. They’re trying to sell their own products, not drive their visitors away to other sites. I know some people disagree with this philosophy but why distract people? The left and right columns get a bit cluttered. Too much is going on. Most popular posts, least popular posts, newest posts, categories, newest comments. Drop at least a couple of them. Distractions, distractions, distractions.

Feh!: Really, that’s what I’ve got to say. Feh. There are a few interesting articles buried among some crap, useless information and attempts to sell me their services. Why can’t they do a little better job of letting their services sell themselves? Also what’s with that lame contest? Just wow, so incredibly lame. Kudos to them for giving away Entrecard credits to anyone who recommends them. That’s might nice and more in line with how to run a good promotion.