"What can I do to make this a more inviting yard??"

You can start by improving your planting base - the soil. The vast majority of plants want to grow in freely draining soil that has a decent amount of organic matter in it. The cracking would indicate that your soil has a high clay content so fast drainage is likely not present. Amending the soil before any planting with a decent percentage of organic matter - like compost - and working it in to a depth of 6-8" will loosen the clay, provide some needed aeration and improve drainage and provide a good seedbed for any lawn/grass seed and also create suitable planting beds for any ornamentals you may want to include.

btw, grass seeds need constant moisture to germinate and your soil looks very dry. Generally one topdresses a newly seeded lawn with a small layer of good soil or screened compost to protect the seed from wind and birds and to keep moisture present. Also, having a new lawn that is "taking" properly would not look like the photo :-) The green of the young grass blades should be uniform throughout the area seeded, not appear in patches.

Agreed. If you're just growing grass there, you might want to till in some compost, and definitely sprinkle some over the seed whether or not you have tilled first.

Clay can actually absorb massive amounts of compost so don't be stingy. If the area is large you might just get it delivered by the yard a lot cheaper.

Now if you don't want to do any of that, you can do something that's less effective but still beneficial, over a longer time. Get a lawn going and every spring layer on 1/2" of screened compost. The lawn will come right up through it and it will be incorporated into the soil (albeit more slowly than tilling) by the soil food web.

Thank you. I will try these suggestions!

That soil probably needs a lot of organic material added to it. A good reliable soil test for soil pH and major nutrients would be a start and these simple soil tests may also be of some use.

1) Soil test for organic
material. From that soil sample put enough of the rest to make a 4 inch level in
a clear 1 quart jar, with a tight fitting lid. Fill that jar with water and
replace the lid, tightly. Shake the jar vigorously and then let it stand for 24
hours. Your soil will settle out according to soil particle size and weight.
For example, a good loam will have about 1-3/4 inch (about 45%) of sand on the
bottom. about 1 inch (about 25%) of silt next, about 1 inch (25%) of clay above
that, and about 1/4 inch (about 5%) of organic matter on the top.

2) Drainage. Dig a hole
1 foot square and 1 foot deep and fill that with water. After that water drains
away refill the hole with more water and time how long it takes that to drain
away. Anything less than 2 hours and your soil drains’ too quickly and needs
more organic matter to slow that drainage down. Anything over 6 hours and the
soil drains too slowly and needs lots of organic matter to speed it up.

3) Tilth. Take a handful
of your slightly damp soil and squeeze it tightly. When the pressure is
released the soil should hold together in that clump, but when poked with a
finger that clump should fall apart.

4) Smell. What does your
soil smell like? A pleasant, rich earthy odor? Putrid, offensive, repugnant
odor? The more organic matter in your soil the more active the soil bacteria
will be and the nicer your soil will smell, to a point. Too much organic matter
can be bad as well.

5) Life. How many
earthworms per shovel full were there? 5 or more indicates a pretty healthy soil. Fewer than 5,
according to the Natural Resources Conservation Service, indicates a soil that
is not healthy.

kimmq is kimmsr

Thank you. I will try these tests and let you know. Not sure about worms, but there are a nice amount of grey pillbugs and lots of tiny tiny tiny white flys flying around the new grass.