Indianomics

The primary utility of internet is to find information. Now internet has grown much beyond being just an information engine but still the primary focus does not seem to have changed. That is evident in the popularity of websites giving information on technology, cookery, travel, books etc. These are more specialized topics. However there will be lot of people looking for answers on generic topics. There are very few blogs I have come across that give you answers to some of the simple questions regarding this complex world. And Indianomics run by Hemal Shah is one such blog.

Indianomics is an excellent name for a blog giving useful information that Indians are likely to look for. It would have however been good to have a catchy tag line conveying the blog’s mission. The layout and background have a nice, structured and dignified feel to it. That goes well with the theme of this blog. The widgets have been managed well and they blog does not look cluttered and none of the widgets feel unnecessary. I especially liked the related posts widget. The one used here is better than most similar widgets I have found and actually seems to throw up relevant results.

Coming to the content, I liked the simple and concise way he explains things. He has taken up relevant topics and manages to get his points through very effectively. However I found his articles related to stock markets a bit technical. I feel it would help a lay man if he avoided jargon and explained things in simpler terms. The other thing I felt is that there should be a bigger plan to the range of topics covered. Right now the topics have been randomly chosen. So if a reader is looking for information on a specific topic, she can’t be sure she will be able to find it here. It might be more helpful if he started covering topics with a broader plan in mind.

In terms of navigation, the blog has an excellent navigation structure consisting of static pages and tabs with options and the archives. The side bar has been used effectively to point readers to relevant pages. I am not too fond of label based navigation as such. But it works quite well here as short and appropriate summaries come up for the posts under each label. Possibly label based navigation is much more advanced in Wordpress. One area I have feedback is the tab titles. Some of the items seem to have been just put there to fill space. There are tabs titled ‘Sharepoint’, ‘Wild Life’ and ‘X/HTML’ that I find quite irrelevant.

The Contact and Testimonial sections on his blog promote really good interaction. I really liked the idea of Testimonials and am thinking of having one for my blog as well. He is prompt in responding to comments and general interaction on the blog is pretty good. One nice thing to add would be to have a section where readers can suggest topics they want explained by him. That way he can engage the reader better in the content creation.


Overall I would say a great blog for simple answers to questions we always wanted to ask with a sprinkling of nice personal reflections and poetry. Please do sample these 5 posts handpicked from this blog.


9 comments:

Hemal Shah said...

TF - Thank you very much for such a detailed review, and trust me I had been abandoning my blog for a bit, but this gives me the much needed shot in arm for me to start it again...

T F Carthick said...

Glad you found my review encouraging. Hope to see your blog vibrant again.

Ritu KT said...

Came across your blog through Indiblogger- Blog review thread. Lover website at first brush. If I have any specific thing to say, I will reply to you in the forum.
Great work!

T F Carthick said...

Thanks a lot, Ritu.

indu chhibber said...

Ah!So you are still continuing the reviews-glad!Because i too am somewhere down the line.

T F Carthick said...

Yes, Indu. Yours is coming very soon.

Jayashree Srivatsan said...

Crisp and to the point review TF. My knowledge in these fields is quite close to Nil and such blogs would definitely assist.

T F Carthick said...

Thanks Jaish. It is definitely a useful blog.

T F Carthick said...

Good to know, Hemal. Let me check it out.

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