The latest SEO Industry news, notes, and chat.
Yesterday I purchased new office furniture from Leroy the long haired, caffeinated sales guy who reminded me of the value of excellent customer service. The furniture store was gigantic and a bit unorganized, so that if you stood at the entrance long enough you could piece together in your mind where the kitchen tables end and office furniture begins. An advertisement for a huge 80% off sale over the weekend… [Read More…]
When was the last time you purposely chose to visit a website just to not get what you came there for? A “Free” download means you have to do something before you get it, just as OZ made Dorothy bring back the broom from the Wicked Witch. You may be requested to “share” on Facebook the website name along with their promotion before the download will begin. It’s common to… [Read More…]
With a March 31 deadline looming for open enrollment, the broken Healthcare.gov web site is still a disaster. Let’s see how that 90 million dollar contract is working out. My favorite call to action was the “Apply by Phone” button used in the original homepage. Next is the new homepage, with images removed as a test for organic SEO, and meeting WCAG 2.0 and Section 508 accessibility standards. What is… [Read More…]
Putting two images of page layouts in front of an audience to ask them to choose which one converted best is both entertaining and frustrating. I was reminded of this again at a recent PubCon , where images for testing were put up and the audience was asked to guess which one converted better. I loathe these moments because as a usability analyst, I know that what I think might convert… [Read More…]
While the SEO industry cries foul at Matt Cutts’ latest onslaught against guest posts, the UX industry is all a flutter over flat web design. If you read posts from web designers, they absolutely love flat design. There is also a new strange rock on Mars resembling a jelly donut. Both are odd. Why Flat? The point of flat design is to make content adaptable for desktop and mobile use… [Read More…]
Despite all the predictions over new web design layouts and methods, plus hoopla over Google’s Knowledge Graph, one glaring item is missing. Websites are not answering our questions, when we ask them. We come to the Web to do something that we want to do and what we most want to do is find that thing we want (and we ask for it in a variety of ways). It can… [Read More…]
For two decades the Internet has captivated us by providing a common method of sharing and delivering information and within those 20 years the world grew by over a billion people. Just 20 years. On October 12, 1999, the world’s population had reached 6 billion. I was already five years into my web design and search engine optimization career by then. The scope of my efforts rested largely in getting… [Read More…]
If you own an Ecommerce website, here are some conversions design recommendations for improving user experience for holiday shoppers. Put on a New Hat Every Christmas morning when my husband, pile of kids and their significant others, pets and any family who comes by gathers together, I hand out Santa Claus hats to put on our heads. Why? A few years ago, when I bought the red and white comfy… [Read More…]
The Healthcare.gov website should be easy to use without frustration. Its guests should want to use it and feel satisfied with their experience. Here’s more feedback on the homepage. Usability and the “Abilities” Even now, usability is kicked under the rug as a last resort in web design and marketing. A poorly designed web page will not sell products, convey good customer service or make a good impression on your… [Read More…]
It pains me to think there are people who design, build, and push out a website like Healthcare.gov that is a national disgrace and were paid well for it. I know firsthand how contractors get away with billing state, local and federal government projects exaggerated fees and yet none of the people I’ve worked with on government sites would have delivered the nightmare that Healthcare.gov is. Troubles with the Back… [Read More…]
Say what you will about Google taking over the world’s information, but I have yet to see it know what I want, even when I give it so many clues. If you know me, you know I’m a fringe fanatic. My worst daily agony is figuring out which fringe boots to wear. Or worse, pack for a conference. I packed five pair of fringe boots for Pubcon Las Vegas, but… [Read More…]
For nearly two decades a disconnect between search engine marketing and user friendly web design created a wedge between two industries that have similar goals. They both want people to come to the websites they work on. Understandably, for the search engine optimization camp, it was enough to keep up with the roller coaster search engine ride to get pages indexed, ranked high, drawing in traffic and be out there… [Read More…]
Google has its eye on the future as being the only destination for getting and delivering information as accurately as possible to whomever wants it, with whatever device they use. Their techniques are invasive, as in collecting personal information on us every time we use one of their products, to creative, as in Google Glass. “Machine learning”, as Matt Cutts calls it, interests me as a human learner. What do… [Read More…]