Matt, here is your site analysis.
Liberty’s Army is a political commentary and education site. It’s a bit of a political hodgepodge; some posts are merely boxes containing information on bills, and other posts are very long commentaries.
Looking at your site reminds me of my days at the Arizona Capitol Times. I spent two and a half years there, working on a state legislation tracking Web site called LOLA. I left that job to dedicate more time to my family, but I will always think fondly of the company, people, and the work I did there.
Nostalgia aside, I think your blog has potential. Here are some suggestions I have that might make it more effective.
Get Google Analytics ASAP
Your Wordpress system might come with its own statistics program, but don’t let that stop you from installing Google Analytics. It’s free and it’s worth the little bit of extra page load time.
Google Analytics gives you the ability to get a LOT of insight into your traffic. Even when your site is small, you will be able to get insight into your visitors. For example,
Here is an introductory presentation on GA to help you get started.
Page Display
Fix the search box
If you ever put something online where your visitors have to “read the instructions” to use it, think twice. With this search form, include a small “Go” button to the right of the box; you won’t have to tell your users to “hit enter.” You could have something like “Enter Search Text” inside the box, though.
Also, keep the same width as things around it. If you keep the box here, the amazon store widget beneath it is 250 pixels, so keep the total width of search box + “Go” button (including spacing) at 250 pixels. You may want to consider moving it to somewhere else on the page, though, such as to the right of the navigation tabs across the top of the page.
Lose the calendar
The most effective calendars I have seen are highly personalized. In this case, the calendar appears to be empty. If you want to keep calendar events there, include a few as a list of events as paragraphs with bolded event titles, rather than a date widget.
Users will be more able to see what is coming up; do you really expect them to click on a date to see if there’s an event on that day?
Use static widgets, not flashing widgets
Your amazon store widget and quote widget are very distracting. It makes it more difficult for your readers to pay attention to the blog contents. People tend to scan over a whole page in one big sweep with their eyes, then settle down to read the center content.
Changing the right and left rail content every few seconds will prompt them to scan the entire page again, interrupting their “flow.” If you replace them with widgets that won’t change until the page reloads (static widgets), you will find that they are more effective.
Also, if someone goes to click on a link below the quote widget just as it changes, their whole menu will move. It’s unsettling!
Brand your header
Try to brand your page titles a little more. On the home page, add some text after “Liberty’s Army” to explain your site. It will show up in search results. Also, add meta description to your page header. It will show up just below the title in search results.
Think of this as a free “ad” for your site on Google. What would you like it to say? How about something like this?
Liberty’s Army: Political Commentary and Education
Follow the latest news on economics, legislation, government, and politics. Get involved; share your thoughts.
Add some static pages
Add “About Us” and “Contact Us” pages to your site. Make it easy for people to give you feedback; it’s often a good way to get ideas for blog posts.
Content
Craft direct headlines
People will click on headlines that are direct, actionable, and interesting. The headline I consider most effective in this snapshot is “Great Pro-Life Video.”
This is because I can bet on what I’m going to get when I click on that headline. People like headlines and links that aren’t full of mystery; in the industry we call it “information scent.”
Use short paragraphs & bold titles
Try to keep your paragraphs at or below about 5 lines of text. It’s hard; I myself struggle with it when I’m blogging. But there’s a reason for it: people will often scan the whole page, looking for what they want.
If you “chunk” your paragraphs and insert titles in bold where appropriate, your users will get a better feel for the page in the first scan. It will help them stick around and read what you have to say.
Write at an 8th grade reading level
As much as possible, keep your writing at an 8th grade reading level. Even a highly educated audience appreciates easy-to-read content.
Matt, that’s all the advice I can give you tonight. Keep in mind that I learned this stuff from experts in usability and search optimization. You’ll get the same advice elsewhere; it’s really not just an issue of personal preference.
Best of luck to you! Let me know if you have questions about anything.