Hey there,
I really like everything about the site.. Can I ask why are you wondering about the design? Is it because of conversions or something?
To me the site is great! It seems to me now all you need is to build a community to keep them coming back to the blog. Try just creating a solo squeeze page that you can drive traffic to and also create something to give them completely free for signing up.
It's super hard to get subscribers when they are just joining an email list for a newsletter. Give them something in immediate return for them signing up now. Like: Signup Now to get My _____!"
Also make it stand out it wasn't till quite a few seconds that I saw the subscription box because it blends in with the ads. So make it stand out, which is why a good single paged opt-in form that really draws the attention to the fact that they need to signup for your email list. That way as I'm sure you know you can stay in touch and keep bringing them back for every article you write.
Sorry for not being more design focused, but I think the design/layout of the site is phenomenal (nothing to be changed), but definitely focus more on your opt-in box because your email list is where most of your profit will come from.
I've made this reference before, but YouTubers are constantly begging people to subscribe to their YouTube channels because that is where the core of their views come from because their subscribers get updated overtime they post. The views they get by ranking high in YouTube is just a bonus, but the core of their views is from their subscribers.
Same goes with blogging.. Beg (don't beg, but you know what I mean
) people to subscribe and build that base. The people coming to your site from you just ranking high for certain keywords is just an added bonus. So BUILD THAT BASE!!
Sorry, can't stress it enough.. Really want to see you succeed
Hope this was somewhat helpful in a different kind of way
Talk soon,
Adam