A Bad Site: Martha Stewart Gets "Vasperized"

Even public relations web sites must be user-centered in design and content. Narcissistic, arrogant PR sites are counter-productive in the digital age of transparency, fault-admission, and altruism via shared information. Find out why Martha Talks is a web site failure from a usability and ethics point of view.

Streight, Steven. Blogger.com (2004). Articles>Web Design>Public Relations>Marketing

Branding Copy and Web Sites: A Bad Fit

The trouble with using text as a branding tool on web pages is that it gets in the way of what visitors are looking for. Visitors want and expect text to be useful and information. They are in 'active' and 'engaged' mode. They are searching. They want something. Text that isn't useful is disappointing.

Usborne, Nick. Excess Voice (2004). Articles>Web Design>Writing>Marketing

Clicks that Stick: Retargeting Users that Leave Your Site

98 percent of Internet shoppers leave ecommerce sites without buying. That is why Internet-savvy marketers are starting to use retargeting technology to pursuing customers who have left their website and recapture lost sales.

Janisch, Troy. Icon Interactive (2007). Articles>Web Design>Marketing

Clickthru Is Evil II

Ten years ago, Tim Berners-Lee invented the web. Five years ago, advertisers started discovering it. Now they are poised to wreck it. Double-Click’s poison cookie has Alan Herrell foaming at the mouth as he explains why Clickthru is Evil.

Herrell, Alan. List Apart, A (2000). Articles>Web Design>Marketing

Content for Tourism and Hospitality Sites

My worst experiences with hospitality sites have been to do with vague location, online timetables, poor follow-up communication, and out of date information. I have wasted days as a result, which I hate.

McAlpine, Rachel. Quality Web Content (2004). Articles>Web Design>Marketing>Writing

Give Your Testimonials More Credibility

I think that the people who give the testimonials do so for the additional exposure they receive for their own names, sites and businesses. I also think they do some mutual back-scratching, and hype each other's products and services. In other words, the testimonials are just additional sales text. They have no credibility as outside, third-party endorsements.

Usborne, Nick. Excess Voice (2006). Articles>Writing>Web Design>Marketing

In-Text Ads Swap Clutter for Context

The prevalence of online banners and text ads have made all but the most annoying online ads nearly transparent to online users. To stand out from the crowd, some marketers are turning to a simple, relevant and transparent advertising format: the text link.

Janisch, Troy. Icon Interactive (2007). Articles>Web Design>Marketing

International Marketing for the Internet: The Power of Virtual Shopping

Linda, an American living abroad in a country with limited merchandise, orders online for books, contact lenses, and smoked ham. Her Dutch husband buys from www.amazon.com and www.ebay.com because U.S.-based retail web sites offer a wide range of goods at a cheaper price than their adopted country, including lower import duties and lower shipping costs from U.S.-based cargo carriers.

Lopez, Joselito T. Communication World Bulletin (2005). Articles>Web Design>Marketing>International

Internet Advertising and the Law

The Internet is a new marketing frontier where the rules and regulations are rapidly evolving. Governments throughout the world aim to redress this imbalance by providing protection to their citizens through laws and regulations which control the use of advertising.

Hudson, Roger. Usability.com.au (1999). Articles>Web Design>Legal>Marketing

Internet Marketing for 2005: Making Your Web Site Visible to Your Audience

The Internet is a free medium, just like roads and highways. There are those who walk and those who run, some who drive taxis, some Ferraris, and others tractor-trailers. To each his own-the roads are all free. Thank heaven. With such a powerful tool at our command, why is so much of the Internet so underutilized, and why is so much of Internet marketing so increasingly ineffective?

Javed, Naseem. Communication World Bulletin (2005). Articles>Web Design>Marketing

Laws of Web Site Management and Digital Branding

We urgently need a quick crash course on web site management; otherwise, connecting with potential customers will become a very tough challenge. Lucky are those who have a unique domain name without the additional baggage of extraneous language, numbers, dashes or slashes. Studies have shown that 90 percent of business names are problematic. These problems are serious issues for achieving higher visibility.

Javed, Naseem. Communication World Bulletin (2004). Articles>Web Design>Project Management>Marketing

Measuring Search Engine Marketing ROI

Spending on search engine marketing (SEM) is rising dramatically, yet surprisingly few companies are measuring the effectiveness of their campaigns. In a short survey conducted by web analytics vendor NetIQ, more than 800 participants responded to questions about their search engine marketing efforts and their attempts to measure success. The survey responses provide interesting insights into the state of search engine marketing ROI.

Sherman, Chris. Communication World Bulletin (2003). Articles>Web Design>Marketing>Assessment

My 50 Cents Worth: Web Sites and Pinball Machines

Instead of thinking of your web site in terms of flowcharts and site maps, consider these five reasons your web site is like a pinball game.

Janisch, Troy. icon Interactive (2004). Articles>Internet>Web Design>Marketing

Planning for One-to-One Web Marketing

The key to a successful advertising campaign is repetition. The same is true for a successful Web site. Marketing managers know that repeat contact with prospects develops an affinity for your products and services - and therefore, greater revenue.

Allen, Cliff. Allen.com (2003). Articles>Web Design>Marketing>Writing

The "Right" Keywords

Since finding the right keywords is the most important step in any SEO endeavor, it is imperative that you find the ones your target audience is using.

Leonard-Wilkinson, Theresa A. W-edge Design (2004). Articles>Web Design>HTML>Marketing

ROI: How Hard is Your Web Site Working?

Every web site needs to provide a tangible and timely return on investment (ROI). Your company's web site should be one of the most active and accountable members of its marketing team.

Janisch, Troy. Icon Interactive (2005). Articles>Web Design>Assessment>Marketing

Search Engine Marketing in Multiple Languages  

You can hear the sighs of relief as the website localization project comes to a close or enters maintenance mode. However organized the client and however professional the localization vendor, website localization is a painful process. Now it's over--at least we can tick the box that says 'have multilingual website.' After all, is that not the reason we localized in the first place?

Harris, Ian. TC World (2006). Articles>Web Design>Search>Marketing

Selling Your Brand by Using Your Web Site as a Customer Research Tool

With companies moving business online, the Internet has become a source of profit for them. We all know how this works. You establish an online presence, sell your brand well—and you make money. Let’s rewind. We are selling our brands online, but doing it well is the challenge. To do it well, keep the following in mind: customer research is an important factor in generating business revenues, so it must be done right—that is, at the right place and at the right time; the online medium should not be the only way of gathering customer information; recognizing emerging trends—behavioral, demographic and emotional—helps companies move forward strategically.

Kirmani, Afshan. UXmatters (2008). Articles>Web Design>Marketing>Audience Analysis

Ten Keys to Increasing Your Web Site's International Impact

People and organizations generally understand the concept of the Internet's global reach. However, few see their Web presence as international, and even fewer have sites appropriate for audiences beyond their borders. As global competition grows and new markets emerge, building an effective international Web presence is becoming ever more critical.

Tindal, Richard. Communication World Bulletin (2003). Articles>Web Design>Marketing>International

The Text Ads Deliver What You Pay For -- And More

Search engine text ads can outperform most banner ads, even when users aren't clicking. Five tips to make your text ads more effective.

Janisch, Troy. Icon Interactive (2004). Articles>Web Design>Marketing

Trends in Online Advertising

Regular web users will almost certainly be aware of an increasing amount of ‘invasive’ advertising appearing online. A variety of methods are now being used to make online advertising almost unavoidable for the user.

Farrell, Tom. Frontend Infocentre (2001). Articles>Web Design>Marketing>Usability

User Payments: Predictions for 2001 Revisited

Advertising-supported websites will soon be a thing of the past. As I predicted a year ago, sites began charging for services in 2001. Although most sites are still not handling payments right, two innovative European projects hold much hope for 2002.

Nielsen, Jakob. Alertbox (2001). Articles>Web Design>Marketing

The Web for Your Company: Magic Bullet or Poison Pill?

There are basically two types of companies. The first see the Internet as a poison pill, the rest see it a magic bullet. The poison pill companies fear the Web. They see the rush of companies onto the Internet, and they feel that they must join the stampede. They are bitter, they feel slow, and they are angry that the Web has changed the game. The magic bullet companies see the Web as a new frontier, they embrace change, and they capitalize on the Internet hysteria. Rather than simply throwing a Web site out there, they are making the Internet part of their business. They are building the Internet into their strategic plans, and they are taking it for a ride.

Rhodes, John S. WebWord (1999). Articles>Web Design>Marketing

What I Learned From Television

Despite the increasing number of website ads, consumers aren’t necessarily getting their feathers ruffled more, they’re getting smarter.

Danzico, Liz. Boxes and Arrows (2005). Articles>Web Design>Marketing>E Commerce

Building Viral Marketing Tools  

One of the best ways to spread the word about your website is to let your audience do it for you.

Walter, Aarron. Building Findable Websites (2008). Articles>Web Design>Marketing>Social Networking