Technology, business and change
Rarstview – Review of rarst.net
It is with a coffee, in this cold and full of snow Monday, that I am reviewing Rarst.net. I feel like this was planned because Rarst always complains about how he hates cold and how winter is usually a very depressing time. I must agree with him as I don’t really enjoy snow/winter and I just think Rarst sent me some snow today to make sure I’m stuck in the house, can’t go out, and write his review. So, after winning the contest the other day, here is my review.
The guy
First, let’s talk about Rarst himselft. No, I am not reviewing his personality, but I can still drop a few words about how he is a good guy. He is an early adopter of frogstr.com and went through all the changes frogstr went through. That’s why you might hear him say this design is not frogstr 2.0, but more something like frogstr 3.75. His real name is Andrey Savchenko and just like his blog’s tagline suggests, the guy is a bit cynical and has a very particular sense of humor. He his not trying to be someone else, sticks to his personality/what he is and I guess that’s why I also read him.
The blog in general
Now time to cover the blog. First of all, Rarst blogs about softwares, web and tech in general. He reviews software, but also talks about anything he feels like covering that is related to softwares, blogging, web or technology. I personally like that as software/tech websites are sometimes very formal and I love to hear people’s opinion.
I don’t remember Rarst.net using a different theme than the one he his using right now. This is not a bad thing as the theme has been optimized and tweaked a lot over the past months.
One of the thing I like about his blog is that it is using “previews” of posts and not full posts. Why do I like that while my blog has full posts on the front page? Well, I think it is appropriate for a tech blog. It is easy to just scroll down and find something that interests you without you having to read all his cynical thoughts. He also posts very regularly and has a lot of content so I think having a full feed on the front page wouldn’t be a good idea.
I just feel like mentioning he has a “Random” feature on his blog that redirects you to a random post. Great feature and I thought about implementing such feature on frogstr when I saw it.
RSS Icon
Now, Rarst might argue that I am changing my blog theme too often and making too many changes all the time to my layout, but I can tell you he probably changed his RSS Feed icon like a hundred times. You see, he’s so sick of changing his feed icon that he now use a random image! You’ll see a different image if you reload the page. OK, I really don’t mind, I just felt like throwing something back at him.
To be honest, he his the RSS subscribers king so I won’t argue too much. There is a lot we can learn from his RSS branding.
Getting into social networks
After saying for too long he wasn’t that much of a social person, Rarst finally decided to get into social networks like twitter and has a small social network strategy. I can tell you I feel the difference since he started that social network strategy. I don’t know about his traffic, but I see more comments on the posts that I used to see before which is a good thing. I don’t know if it’s because of me and all the kicks in the butt I gave him to get a small social strategy, but whatever the reason is, I think it’s working great. If you guys don’t follow him on twitter, he’s a great resource to follow. Not too many tweets on what he had for dinners and a lot of useful tweets.
Anything I don’t like?
Is there anything I don’t like about Rarst.net? Honestly, just the logo I think. Rarst branding is the big “R”. You’ve probably seen that big “R” on this blog before because he uses it as his gravatar and he has to keep that because that’s his brand. Being consistent with logo and everything is key to branding and I think Rarst understands that. What I am suggesting for the website is a different logo without the “www” in front of rarst, that would make it look better in my opinion. Whatever logo change he makes, it’s still possible to focus on the big “R” and keep using that for branding. That’s just a thought.
The design of the theme is very classic. Looks like it’s been working well for him and it also goes very well with his personality. But you know, I think putting some colors here and there so that the website sticks in our head wouldn’t be too bad of an idea. That would go very well with a logo change.
Formal reviews
One thing I once suggested to Rarst was to do more “formal reviews”. Something with a rating from 0 to 5 on different features at the end of each post so that we can know how he rates softwares and what he really thinks. He answered me something that having non-formal reviews is what sets him apart from the competition: cynical thoughts on softwares. I never really considered that when I asked the question the first time and I have to agree with him: he’s doing things differently and that’s the way to go. I still think there’s something that could be done to make reviews more “formal”, just to receive more Stumble Upon love and things like that and still bring the cynical thoughts in those reviews. Again, just a thought and I don’t have any concrete ways of doing it right now.
That’s it
There you go, so honestly if you like software and web, you have to subscribe to www.rarst.net and also follow Rarst on twitter. Hope you enjoyed and drop comments!
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twitter
Nice review. Looks like an ok blog but not my type.
Franklin Bishops last blog post..8 More Kick-Ass Blog Headlines
Nice review Ben , is my blog on your list to be reviewed
Internet Marketings last blog post..14 Thoughts Leaders on Social Media in 2009
The #1 blog critique got his fair share of critique? How ironic! You have a knack for doing review too, Ben. Good job, buddy.
Yan
Blog Tips for Beginnerss last blog post..Timeless Blogging Tips for Bloggers
Thanks, niiice one! Going to write reciprocate review later this evening.
Social is so not working for my traffic (actually not much does). Still twitter has other uses except hoarding followers and slave-driving them to increase pageviews, right?
Strategy is far from finalized, this is something for early next year. btw I am so kicking you to help put it together. 
My reasoning behind no ratings was slightly different. Rating work good when you review anything you see – you cover whole scale. I try to stick to good stuff most of the time, high-rating everything defeats purpose and authority of rating.
Some day I’ll just post email of designer that is third month into working on my logo… so you can all go and screw HIS brain about that.
Custom design update coming as well. Not sure about colors, it would take great bill, I mean skill to add color without screwing high contrast image I was building for months with this theme.
PS I am not into hundreds with my RSS icon! somewhere 80+ only.
PPS kick me when you get to implementing random, I’ll drop you plugin link
Rarsts last blog post..Text smileys vs graphical ones
@Franklin: Yep, you have to be into softwares/tools and stuff like that I guess to really apprcitate it, nice blog!
@ZK: Hehe thanks. For your review, maybe the day you win a contest?
@Yan: haha yep, that’s kind of ironic, but at least he got a good review
THanks for the comment, I do love doing the reviews.
@Rarst: Hey, glad you liked it and thanks for the review as well. It was a VERY nice one and you didn’t have too.
I feel you with the social strategy not bringing a lot of traffic. I have to agree as it’s not a traffic killer here either, but it helps putting your name out there and build a reputation. I am REALLY looking forward to be part of your “growth” strategy! Are you using skype, msn or something similar?
I remember your reasoning behind ratings: you review mostly high quality stuff so there wouldn’t be any clear winner. I hear you…But I’m sure there’s something we can do…
Is that the custom design you won a while ago or it’s a design you are actually paying for? Give us that designer email, we’ll ensure that design is getting done as soon as possible!
haha, the “flipping page” is worth at least 20 rss icons so that makes 100+
You can drop me the plugin link, I’ll save it for later…
@Ben
I need you more like advice than part.
Will have to choose what gets a cut and what services I will really work with next year.
Designs are those I won (logo and theme are different designers, I won both). I have some bucks around to spend on my blog as well (what made online gets spent online) but thinking about using them to fuel group writing/contest I am lazily planning.
Rarsts last blog post..frogstr.com – branding and marketing blog (jumpy)
Nice review Ben. I will contact u mayb after the holidays so u review my blogriffic website
Salwas last blog post..Blog Marketing Scams and What You Should Be Aware of
Interesting blog indeed. I like his blog design, as it is simple and focus is thrown on posts which are descriptive and perfectly separated on the front page.
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I don’t have Twitter so i will not follow him there, but i will follow his RSS feed for sure
Judits last blog post..Creating an Aromatherapy Retail Store Online
@Judit
Glad you like it and looking forward to see you among my readership.
Hm, I’ve though I am overcomplicating lately but people still refer to design as simple.
Probably I can stuff bit more in there.
Rarsts last blog post..frogstr.com – branding and marketing blog (jumpy)
Excellent review. he does have a really good blog if you’re into that sorta thing.
Dennis Edells last blog post..What Criteria Factors Into Your Link Love/Round-Up Posts?
Alright Frogstr, good review. I really like how you break your sections down and I agree with Yan that you have a real knack for doing reviews. Well done.!
Rarst, keep up the good work and I see you peeking on Twitter every now and then. I still have yet to become a regular reader, but am working way over there.
Freddie Taylors last blog post..IME#1: Conclusion to How to Create an eBook with Help
@Judit
Strange, I remember answering your comment from work but don’t see that comment. Anyway looking forward to see you as my reader.
@Freddie Taylor
Thanks.
I am daily on twitter, just don’t post much updates. They seem to come in inspired bulks for me.
Rarsts last blog post..WpRecipes.com – micro-blogging WordPress tweaks
I used to also not show the full post in the front page. It’s not that I want to increase my pageviews but it’s that user can easily see some of my previous posts.
Ben, good review. Andrey, congrats for winning the contest. I always see you also criticizing blogs in bloggingtips.com
Husseins last blog post..Happy Holidays and Some Update About Me
@Hussein
Full posts vs exceprts has nothing to do with page views, that argument is mostly used by people who aren’t web publishers themselves and have no clue. It’s about balancing screen space with amount and type of content.
I am somewhat good at winning contests.
Because I take part in those while most of people sit an complain that they never win anything.
Rarsts last blog post..Speed dialing sites in Opera
I love how Rarst care about feedback/comments and you guys. Just thought I’d share…
@Dennis Edell
Ben’s antispam drives me nuts in this thread.
Got email about your comment, came but no comment, now I see it way above what I already answered…
Thanks and lol @ “that sorta thing”
@Ben
It’s all about caring and listening, I definitely agree with certain web celebrity on this one.
Rarsts last blog post..Looking inside media files with MediaInfo
Great review ! I would love to visit rarst.net . Thanks for sharing !
@Italian Restaurant
Visiting is easy, you click link and you are there.