For my third peer review, I had the opportunity to look at Melvin’s website called Smile Host Dream. Right off the bat, I really love the aesthetic and style of his blog and I love that he’s using his website to share a passion of his which is creating and editing documentaries, stop motion animation, and machinima. As a viewer and reader, I also really appreciate that his mission and explanation for his website is on his homepage and that I don’t need to scroll to far to find it. He has a very specific niche and a very clear purpose for his page, which I think it great!

At the moment, as a viewer I feel that his website is more of a personal blog than a business with a business strategy and plan. However, I think Smile Host Dream has great potential with growing his page and potentially monetization. Although I am not a part of his target audience, I do think that people would be inclined to engage with his call to actions. Specifically, his call to action on his homepage that suggests his reader to comment on his videos and engage with them! I think that it’s really inviting and that it would make someone who enjoys the content he posts write him comments and keep up to date with his content.

To showcase his productions he has linked the video thumbnail to the full video on his YouTube channel, and I really like that he did that because it could possibly allow him to gain more traction to his YouTube channel from his website. On the other hand, I think that Melvin could definitely leverage social media platforms by posting shorter versions of his videos in order to get his audience interested in watching his full creations on YouTube and also learning more about his production process on his website. In terms of monetization, I think that his website would be great with Google Ads and that it could be a main source of income for him if he developed his page into a business. Melvin’s YouTube channel also has monetization potential if he continues to develop it further and post videos more consistently.

One key suggestion from Melvin’s second peer review was to link his social accounts to his website for cross-promotion and to encourage more growth for his website and his brand overall. Melvin does have his YouTube channel and videos links throughout his page, which I really think is a key asset for his content! However, having social media accounts created specifically for his brand to promote his videos on platforms like Instagram and TikTok would definitely allow him to further grow his brand and treat it more like a business. Overall, I’m really loving Melvin’s style and the direction he’s heading with his page!

As you may already know, I have a whole section on my blog dedicated to my skincare product favs at the moment. HOWEVER. I try so many new products on the regular and therefore I always have new favourites that I’m loving and using constantly. So I thought it would only be fitting to include a little image carousel with all of my current favourite skincare products at the moment! I’m super excited about this because I want you all to know my favs and to keep them top of mind if you want to try some new products or if you’re looking for better ones. This little list of mine will allow you to do so in a quick and easy way!

This is something I’ll also keep up to date constantly as well. And since I mentioned that I have new fav products pretty often, I’ll be adding and subtracting to this image carousel every week to keep it fresh and relevant <3 ALSO by clicking on an image, you’ll be able to see the product and to purchase it if you’re interested in trying it! I’m so happy and excited about this new addition to my website and I’m looking forward to hearing your guys’ feedback about it as well!

Chat soon,

xx Marilyn

The website I had the opportunity to review for my second peer review is TMYLIFE by Nicole Tam! Nicole’s website is a blog created to write about her day-to-day life while sharing her personal thoughts on various topics and interests. Most of her blog posts are based on challenges or things she’s doing or going through, which I really love. Her blog feels super relatable, comfortable, and open because of the tone and language she uses in her posts. Being around the same age as Nicole and going through similar situations and challenges in life and reading through her posts make me feel that I’m not alone. Her blog definitely gives off big sister or best friend energy and I think because of that her website has the potential to be liked by many people similar to me! A lot of people nowadays want to be consuming content online that feels relatable, and I think Nicole’s blog definitely gives that feeling. 

Nicole’s first peer review mainly highlighted and complimented the aesthetic, style, and design of her blog, and I think that she’s done a great job at continuing to thrive in this area of her brand. I really love the different headings she has been posting within, “A Day in a Life” and “T Time!”, and I love the style of her blog posts and the format she’s been following in each of her posts. However, one suggestion I have is to create a PUB 201 category as well for all PUB 201 related posts. As a viewer, I’m not sure where I can find these posts and I think having a dedicated category for that content would be really helpful. Another suggestion I have is to add some of the content she has in her “About” section to her home page. Being on the TMYLIFE home page as a viewer, I wonder what about the purpose, value, and reason of the website so I think having a blurb to highlight the individual or personal aspect of the website would be helpful! Also, adding the mission statement to the home page somehow would be beneficial for the audience to keep them wanting more. 

In terms of social media channels and posting, I can see that Nicole has her Instagram and Pinterest linked which I think makes sense for the purpose of her website! I think it would also be great to make the social icons a bit bigger for her audience to recognize and know that she has social media platforms that they can follow her on for more content! Overall, I really love Nicole’s blog and aesthetic, and I think she has a lot of potential to expand her website more on social media and to gain a larger audience.