This is a paid review and entirely of my own opinion. My opinion is in no way biased in any way due to being paid.

WebDesignDev is a website that is about exactly what it sounds like, web design development. It features high quality tutorials on creating web designs with Photoshop and other programs. It also has a splash of Make Money Online (MMO) in it describing how to set up a blog.

The thing I love about the reviews is there are screen shots with them. Not only do you get told step by step what to do but you get shown as well (example below).

For a Photoshop beginner like myself, this is very useful. My favorite post that I read through was Creating A Professional Business Layout Using Photoshop. I also really enjoyed the post on Creating Flash Websites. Both these posts like many others on the site were detailed and in depth while not being boring and dry.

The posting frequency has fallen off a bit. The last post was on July 2. That being said, the site is still active and contains tons of great posts. There are design gems hidden on the site and anyone can find them. Before June 2, there seems to have been frequent posts. This is the beauty about a design site, you don’t need to post all the time, there is enough static info to keep a reader enthralled for a while.

The website also prominently displays a lucrative offer. If you write your own tutorial you can get paid $100 (image below). This being said, the learn more text isn’t linked to anything, so I’m not sure if this is a current feature or one that is coming in the future.

The website also features a directory and semi active forums. The directory has lots of categories for design, but also features some for MMO such as advertising and marketing. I think Michael should take off the MMO categories to keep the site as design oriented as possible. I think this would appeal to the niche a lot more. He could replace the MMO categories with even more in-depth design ones such as a category exclusively for Photoshop tutorials.

A really cool thing the website has is a short how to on creating websites. It is a web design site so although it is a bit MMOish the tutorial does fit in. It offers advice on web hosting, domain names, ready made graphics and websites (don’t really get this one, since if you’re a designer you should create your own), and where to promote your website once it’s up and running. It’s not a bad resource for anyone (not necessarily someone with an interest in design) to check out.

I would also recommend that Michael touch up his about page. His description reads “I started Web Design 5 years ago, and I now make a substantial monthly income each and every month, and so can you.” When reading this, I’m not sure if it’s a blog about web design or a blog about MMO. I would make it more design focused. I would also write a more detailed about page. On the page there is a space for the sites writers. This is blank, until there are some writers, I would remove it.

There are also banners if you want to support the website (example below). I would add in the 125×125 size because it is the most popular among bloggers. I would also display his feed count (which at the time of writing this is over 675 readers) more prominently site wide. People like to read what others are reading and a high feedcount never hurts in convincing more people to subscribe.

My final suggestion would to be add a categories blurb to the sidebar (displayed prominently). I know as a user I would like to browse the category to find interesting tutorials and the blurb would make this 100% easier. It would also decrease the bounce rate (as curious users would be inclined to explore the site more) and increase the average time a user spends on the website.

All criticism aside WebDesignDev is a great resource. I recommend if you have any interest in design you check it out and subscribe. Michael is a great guy and once again has created a good resource. Check out WebDesignDev now.